The Care and Support (Review of Charging Decisions and Determinations) (Wales) Regulations 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 59 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (“the Act”) gives local authorities in Wales a discretionary power to impose a reasonable charge where care and support are being provided under the Act.

Section 60 of the Act sets out the categories of persons upon whom a charge may be imposed. Where a local authority has decided to exercise the power to impose a charge, section 63 of the Act imposes a duty upon the local authority to carry out a financial assessment of the person upon whom the charge will be imposed.

Section 66 of the Act places a duty upon the local authority to make a determination in relation to the ability of a person, upon whom a charge will be imposed under section 59, to pay the standard charge or a proportion of it in relation to the care and support provided.

Section 72 of the Act creates a liability to pay a charge for care and support upon a person to whom an asset has been transferred by the person whose needs are being met under the Act where the purpose of that transfer was to avoid the charge being imposed.

Section 73 of the Act requires regulations to be made to provide for review of charging decisions and determinations made by the local authority under sections 59, 66 and 72 of the Act.

Sections 50 to 53 of the Act permit regulations to be made to give local authorities a power to make direct payments to meet a person’s needs for care and support under the Act. Section 53(3) provides that regulations under sections 50 to 52 may make provision in relation to direct payments which correspond with provisions made under sections 59, 67 and 73.

Regulation 3 sets out the categories of people who are permitted to request a review (“requester”) of those decisions and regulation 4 sets out the circumstances in which a review may be requested.

Regulations 5 and 6 set out details of the process for requesting a review and appointing a representative to deal with the review on behalf of the requester. Regulation 7 provides that the local authority must appoint a person, who is a member of staff of the local authority, to deal with the request. Regulation 8 permits a withdrawal of a request for review.

Regulation 9 sets out the circumstances in which a request for review must be accepted and circumstances in which the local authority may reject the request.

Regulation 10 requires a local authority to provide the requester with a written acknowledgement within 5 working days of receiving the request. This regulation also prescribes what the acknowledgement must contain.

In the event that the local authority requires further information or documentation to carry out the review, regulations 11, 12 and 13 provide for, whom the information can be requested from and how and when that information must be provided.

Regulation 14 requires the local authority to provide the requester with a decision, with reasons, within 10 working days of having sufficient information and documentation to carry out the review. This regulation also sets out what the local authority must have regard to before making its decision.

Regulation 15 deals with what happens to the charge from the date the request is received by a local authority until its withdrawal or until the local authority sends a decision to the requester (“review period”). A requester is not obliged to pay the charge that is the subject of the review during the review period but the liability continues to accrue. The local authority may recover the accrued amount after the review period.

In relation to direct payments, if the requester notifies the local authority that they will not pay the contribution during the review period, the local authority must make gross payments during the review period.

In the event that the local authority decides that the charge was too high it must return any over payment to the requester within 10 working days. If a local authority decides that the charge was too low, it may recover any underpayment from the requester.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Health and Social Services Group, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.