Consultation outcome

Charging reform: government response to the consultation on 'supporting local preparation' guidance

Updated 16 January 2023

Following an announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 July 2024, the planned adult social care charging reforms, which were inherited from the previous government, will not be taken forward in October 2025.

Introduction

The government is changing how personal care is paid for and ending the risk of unpredictable and unlimited care costs. On 7 September 2021 the Prime Minister announced that from October 2023, the government will introduce:

• a new £86,000 lifetime cap on the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime; only personal contributions will count towards the cap

• an extended means test, enabling state support for anyone with up to £100,000 of assets – more than 4 times the current limit – and ensuring that anyone with assets under £20,000 will not have to pay anything for their care from their assets

The government launched a consultation on the charging reform statutory guidance on 4 March which ran until 1 April. The government also published the charging reform consultation guidance in an easy read format on 14 March. The main purpose of this consultation was to seek views on the statutory guidance which sets out how a cap on care cost would operate in practice, as well as to inform how the government can support local authorities in their preparations for its implementation from October 2023.

On 4 March, we published 3 documents:

• a consultation: ‘operational guidance to implement a lifetime cap on care costs’
• draft guidance: ‘supporting local preparation’
• draft guidance: ‘implementing the cap on care costs’

The consultation received 154 responses, which have been analysed by the government. Overall consultation responses are supportive of the policy principles and the aims of the reforms. The feedback, however, suggests that some sections of the operational guidance need further development to ensure they are clear and workable. At the same time, there are areas of the guidance where clarity can be provided now to enable timely planning and preparation.

As such, we will respond to the consultation in 2 parts – with one set of documents published now (mid-June) and a further set published shortly.

We are now publishing:

• the government response to the chapter of the consultation which covers guidance on ‘supporting local preparation’

• revised guidance on ‘supporting local preparation’ (see Chapter 23 of Care and support statutory guidance)

• allocations for financial year 2022 to 2023 charging reform implementation funding

The ‘supporting local preparation’ guidance sets best practice expectations for local authorities and aims to support them to prepare for the introduction of reforms. It covers sections on:

• understanding the likely demand due to reforms
• awareness raising of reforms
• carrying out early assessments
• managing capacity
• system requirements

It replaces Chapter 23 in the Care and support statutory guidance.

The implementation funding will enable local authorities to begin preparations for delivering the adult social care charging reforms. This includes recruiting workforce and implementing IT system changes. We intend to consult on a proposed approach to distribution for financial year 2023 to 2024 funding later this year.

Shortly, we will also publish:

• the full government response document to the ‘operational guidance to implement a lifetime cap on care costs’ consultation

• revised guidance on ‘implementing the cap on care costs’

The consultation provided helpful responses and we are making improvements and clarifications in several areas. However, we do not intend to revise the guidance that would require changes to the fundamental processes that local authorities will need to develop to implement the cap on care cost from October 2023.

We therefore require local authorities to continue preparing for implementation based on the draft operational guidance published in the interim period. This contains all essential parameters to begin planning and preparations for implementation from October 2023. In addition, the government is developing a tailored provider guide to help providers interpret aspects of the operational guidance that are most relevant to them.

We will keep the guidance under review, and we will continue to publish updates as necessary to support implementation. As part of this, we will be working closely with the sector as our delivery partners, including our trailblazer local authorities, who will be implementing charging reform early and providing valuable insights to inform the national roll-out.

This document sets out our analysis and a summary of the consultation responses to the ‘supporting local preparation’ guidance, and the government response to each of the consultation questions.

Overview of the consultation

Purpose of the consultation

The main purpose of the consultation was to seek views on the statutory guidance which sets out how a cap on care costs would operate in practice, as well as to inform how government can support local authorities in their preparations for its implementation from October 2023.

The consultation set out different elements of the operational policy covered in the guidance, and for each section we asked whether the guidance is ‘clear’ and ‘workable’. It also asked questions on the ‘supporting local preparation’ draft guidance, provided to support local authorities in the implementation of charging reforms.

This consultation response document focuses on the ‘supporting local preparation’ draft guidance only.

Through this consultation and beyond we seek to collaborate as widely as possible with stakeholders to further improve the guidance and our approach to implementation.

Key aspects of the ‘supporting local preparation’ guidance

Section	Summary
Understanding the likely demand	Local authorities should take steps to understand additional demand, as far as possible. This could involve working with local partners such as provider organisations, NHS services and the voluntary sector.
Awareness raising	Local authorities should take steps to raise awareness of reforms, in line with their obligations to provide information and advice.
Carrying out early assessments	Local authorities should start conducting needs and financial assessments, where appropriate, from April 2023 onwards to help smooth the introduction of reforms. The current position is based on previous consultations on charging reforms.
Capacity requirements	Local authorities should increase their workforce and operational efficiency as required to meet additional demand for assessments and commissioning.
Systems requirements	Local authorities must implement the required system upgrades to account for the cap and metering following the publication of a detailed technology specification in the coming months.

Stakeholder engagement exercises

As part of the consultation, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) ran 8 consultation information sessions, tailored to different stakeholder groups including:

• local government
• care providers
• the voluntary sector
• lived experience groups

Over 480 local authority representatives across over 120 local authorities attended sessions, providing a wide representative sample from across England.

Provider-focused sessions were attended by 5 of the largest provider representative groups, as well as several large individual providers.

Ten different charities and lived experience groups, including working-age disabled adults charities, attended sessions. We also circulated an information email to other lived experience groups, signposting to the easy read guidance and outlining the purpose of the consultation.

We also co-hosted CEO information sessions with the Local Government Association (LGA), with over 80 attendees.

Channels such as GOV.UK, adult social care newsletter (cascaded to LGA, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC)) and Local Government Bulletin from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities were used to spread awareness of the consultation and encourage participation.

DHSC is extremely grateful to all those who contributed their time to responding to the consultation, as well as those who arranged, ran and attended the consultation events.

Responses and analysis

We received 154 responses via the portal or by email. Of these, 84 responses were from local authorities and 5 from local authority representative groups.

Responses to the consultation were received from a range of respondents, including:

• interested individuals
• people with care and support needs
• carers
• local authorities
• provider organisations
• voluntary organisations
• representative groups
• user-led organisations
• NHS and other public bodies
• legal and financial sector organisations

Statistical analysis could be conducted on a total of 126 responses (111 responses via the online portal and a further 15 email responses that could be coded; the additional 28 email responses provided general comments rather than specific answers to consultation questions and so were analysed separately). Of the 126 respondents in the statistical analysis, 95 (75%) described their capacity as ‘on behalf of an organisation’, 16 (13%) as an ‘individual sharing my professional views’ and 15 (12%) as ‘an individual sharing my personal views and experiences’. 75 responses were on behalf of local authorities.  

Feedback from the various stakeholder engagement events held as part of the consultation was also captured to feed into this final response document. 

A list of the organisations that responded is detailed in the ‘list of respondents’ appendix at the bottom of this page. 

We have analysed the responses by theming and coding responses and summarised this analysis below. We have also held 6 working group sessions with our trailblazer local authorities and 3 working group sessions with local authority representative groups to help analyse responses and work with the sector to best improve the guidance for this publication.

Summary of responses

Overall consultation responses are supportive of the policy principles and the aims of the reforms. The responses do highlight the complexity and intricacy of the charging reforms for existing operational policy, both through responses to individual questions, but also through comments more widely. We have grouped these responses into 4 overarching themes:

• implementation timescale

• funding

• workforce capacity

• communications

These themes are consistent across the sector – however, there is variation in focus. As examples, many local authorities cited affordability concerns against the backdrop of existing pressures and recruitment challenges, whereas providers and charities have highlighted funding concerns primarily around the fair cost of care and section 18(3).

On communications, local authorities’ and charities’ responses focused on engagement with people who draw on care and support, their families and carers, while provider responses focused on communication between local authorities and providers.

Overarching themes in the response

Implementation timescales

Many respondents, including local authorities and local authority representative organisations, have concerns about implementation timescales. Comments highlight the context of other pressures on local authorities’ resource – for example, pandemic recovery, system reforms on social care and wider pressures outside of social care.

Some respondents have suggested a phased approach, to allow more time for system and workforce solutions and leveraging trailblazer learning.

A significant number of local authorities and representative organisations shared concerns about building and testing IT capability within the timescales. Many requested clarity from the government on how to manage the risk of delays by IT suppliers in meeting the technical specification.

The local authority representative group mentioned above also commented:

As a key part of the reform architecture, technology will need to be tested and rolled out, adding to timetable pressures and creating a potentially significant risk if, for instance, software launches are delayed. IT suppliers may face challenges in meeting the technological changes required to their systems by the deadlines councils are having to work to.

Next steps

The government recognises the challenging timescale for implementation and the significant work required locally. To support local delivery, DHSC is currently working with local authority experts and representative bodies to develop a support model, as well as providing implementation funding to enable local authorities to prepare and plan.

We are working with trailblazer and pathfinder local authorities to develop implementation plans across several workstreams, including technology and assessments.

Trailblazers are a small number of local authorities that will implement charging reform earlier than others, to generate valuable evidence and insight that will help the government to monitor progress and improve its understanding of the barriers to implementation.

Pathfinder local authorities will work alongside trailblazers on the technology work and help develop the technology solution. They have been objectively chosen to represent a wide range of current adult social care IT suppliers, ensuring care account functionality and technology implementation plans are developed to be workable for all suppliers.

To further support the implementation of local authority system updates, the government is working with local authorities and IT system suppliers to co-design a detailed technical specification building on the minimum capabilities required for October 2023. Government analysis of the recent digital readiness survey sent to all local authorities will help inform technology solution delivery and development of the broader support offering within the sector. 

Funding

Many respondents raised concerns that the level of funding available for charging reforms would be insufficient, particularly to implement the fair cost of care, and within the context of wider constraints on local authority budgets.

Concerns have also been raised about the modelling used for the impact assessment published on 5 January 2022.

A significant number of respondents have referenced County Council Network’s commissioned impact assessment report by LaingBuisson on the impacts of the implementation of section 18(3) and fair cost of care (published March 2022). Respondents particularly cite the report’s estimation of underfunding of section 18(3) and fair cost of care.

Next steps

Funding available for the introduction of charging reforms has been confirmed and announced as part of the Spending Review and included within the social care charging reform impact assessment published on 5 January 2022. The modelling that underpins the impact assessment has been through extensive external peer review on several occasions. For example, the modelling for adults aged 65 and over has been reviewed by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and the Government Actuarial Department. The government is working with the sector and intends to consult on a proposed approach to distribution for 2023 to 2024 funding later this year.

We are providing £1.36 billion over the next 3 years to support local authorities to make significant progress towards paying providers a fair cost of care. This includes £162 million in 2022 to 2023, followed by £600 million in each of the following 2 years. We recognise this is a transformational change, and that the market sustainability and fair cost of care fund is one of the first steps in our 10-year vision. We will continue to work with local authorities and providers to monitor market changes, and determine appropriate grant conditions, guidance, and distribution mechanisms, ahead of allocating money for 2023 to 2024. 

Alongside this consultation response and transitional guidance, we are publishing the grant determination letters and guidance for financial year 2022 to 2023 charging reform implementation funding. This funding will enable local authorities to begin preparations for delivering the adult social care charging reforms. This includes recruiting the workforce and implementing IT systems.

Workforce capacity

Many respondents commented that local authorities will require a significant increase in operational and administrative teams, and this challenge will be compounded by existing difficulties in recruitment and retainment, as well as the impact of a possible increase in complaints and disputes.

Next steps

We recognise that local authorities will face increased workforce capacity requirements through the introductions of the reforms, against an already challenging backdrop. We are making funding available for the implementation of charging reform, including costs of conducting assessments and costs associated with planning and preparation, such as recruitment of staff and technology upgrades. However, we recognise that this alone will not overcome the challenge, and local authorities will need to deploy a range of initiatives to implement the charging reform.

Local authorities should consider the steps that could be taken to address potential capacity issues, through increasing the supply of the workforce, reducing demands on the workforce, and improving efficiency. We set out examples of such initiatives in the guidance, and we will continue to engage with sector representatives to further develop these approaches, test with trailblazer local authorities and provide national or regional support as required.

Communications

A significant number of respondents have called for a national approach to raise awareness and communicate reforms clearly, as well as for government support in local communications to ensure consistency of messaging to the public.

A local authority representative group said:

Communication will be an important enabler of successful implementation. Communications will be needed with partner organisations as well as people who draw on social care and their loved ones; for the latter group, clarity about what is ‘eligible’ care is likely to resurface as an important issue and point of understanding and awareness raising.

Next steps

We recognise the need for both national and local communications to ensure those who draw on care and support, their families, carers and the wider public are aware of, and understand, the reforms. There will be national communications through the Transforming Social Care campaign website, social media and our general media and information sharing channels.

We are considering how we can support local communications, including providing tailorable marketing assets, and will be engaging with sector representatives on this. 

Responses to individual questions

Question

To what extent do you agree or disagree that the requirement to conduct early assessment offers local authorities enough flexibility in preparing for the introduction of reforms?

100% of respondents answered this question. Of those that responded:

• 20% answered ‘strongly disagree’

• 36% answered ‘disagree’

• 21% answered ‘neither agree or disagree’

• 21% answered ‘agree’

• 2% answered ‘strongly agree’

Key themes

Responses to this question were largely similar. Most responses understood the rationale for conducting early assessments and thought the guidance was clearly drafted, with some noting the importance of conducting them. However, there were widespread concerns raised about local authority readiness to conduct them from April 2023 (specifically in relation to workforce and technology) and the potential need for reassessments in advance of October 2023 causing duplication of effort.

One local authority said:

This will be vital to manage the assessment of thousands of individuals and to spread the demand for these over a period of time to avoid a large peak in demand in October 2023… It may be challenging to have all of this in place from April 2023.

Another local authority said:

We agree the guidance is relatively clear and sufficient to enable the Council to formulate a policy, however there is a burden to translate this into council delivery/processes and suitably resource…With the national sector recruitment challenges, we are concerned by the overall timeline and ability to recruit suitably qualified social care and finance staff for April 23 and as well as the final deadline of October 23.

The key themes included:

Overall operational readiness by April 2023 – local authorities are concerned about the level of transformation required to begin early assessments and the available time period. This is largely due to workforce capacity issues, but respondents also cite system upgrades as another barrier with the majority assuming these are required for early assessments.

Concerns regarding recruitment and workforce capacity – the majority of respondents raised workforce capacity as the biggest barrier to conducting assessments early. Many respondents flagged current high vacancy rates, wider challenges with recruiting into the sector and the COVID recovery context. There was widespread anticipation of this being a local, regional, and national challenge.

Relatedly, many local authorities expressed that the need to contact people prior to October 2023 is unhelpful and likely to lead to duplication. Concern for the potentially unhelpful burden from early assessments was expressed most among local authorities who reported to already be struggling to meet demand for assessments and reviewing existing users.

A local authority said:

The council agrees that this requirement provides flexibility in preparing for the introduction of reforms. However, the requirement to follow up every early assessment undertaken in October 2023 is not workable and undermines the flexibility that early assessments would have afforded.

Government response

We have noted the concerns regarding operational readiness and capacity to begin early assessments from April 2023. The guidance was intended to provide local authorities the flexibility and discretion to tailor their approach to early assessments for local circumstances. We have therefore clarified this in the guidance to emphasise the discretion local authorities have in when early assessments are conducted and for whom.

We have also clarified the scope of assessments in general for those brought into the local authority remit through the introduction of reforms. The guidance reiterates the scope of assessments which should follow existing care and support statutory (CASS) guidance of proportionality.

The IT solution required for ‘go live’ will focus on the development of a new care account module in local authorities’ existing case management systems. The new module will be populated by relevant data drawn in from existing local authority systems and processes. The government is working with suppliers to ensure the care account module is embedded in all local authority IT systems for October 2023. Local authorities should work with suppliers to generate a new workflow within existing systems to record information captured through early assessments. This has been clarified in the updated guidance.

We have noted advice from the responses and therefore have removed the requirement for a local authority to contact those who have been assessed early around October 2023 to satisfy itself that the needs or other circumstances of the person have not changed. Local authorities should continue with existing review and assessment processes when they identify or are notified that needs may have changed. The guidance continues to recommend that local authorities consider which groups may be preferable to assess early – for example, those where needs are less likely to change.

Question

Will you consider adopting ‘self-service’ assessments?

106 respondents answered this question. Of those that responded:

• 51% answered ‘yes’

• 9% answered ‘no’

• 29% responded ‘I don’t know’

• 10% responded ‘not applicable’

Key themes

Half of the respondents said they would consider adopting ‘self-service’ assessments, the large majority of whom were local authorities, with a few providers and systems suppliers.

Those who responded ‘I don’t know’ or ‘not applicable’ were a mix of stakeholder groups. A minority of respondents responded ‘no’ – mainly local authorities, as well as a person receiving support and a carer.

While there was no open text Q&A for this question, some respondents provided specific comments on self-service assessments elsewhere in their responses, including several local authorities and a few sector representative organisations.

The comments were supportive in principle. However, there were some concerns around workability, specifically the implementation timeline and the technology needed, with the designing of a self-service tool being burdensome. Others raised concerns around the risks of low uptake as individuals may prefer professional help in assessment; inaccuracies; and the need to verify this information potentially causing increased workforce and financial pressures, rather than helping to manage these pressures.

The need to align self-service assessments with the Care Act principles of prioritising the promotion of independence and taking a ‘strengths-based approach’ to assessments was also reflected on, noting that the responsibilities remain with local authorities even if self-service assessments were to be introduced.

Government response

We note the concerns on workability but are encouraged by a significant number of respondents considering this. We are exploring how the government can support with self-service assessments, as part of an improvement programme working jointly with sector experts. We will work to share best practice where possible so local authorities can learn how others implement self-service assessments and leverage learnings if they choose to include this in their implementation plans. This is further explored in the response to the question ‘How might technology improve productivity and manage demand from assessments?’.

Question

To what extent do you agree or disagree that the options listed offer sufficient flexibility and effectiveness to address potential capacity issues?

100% of respondents answered this question. Of those that responded:

• 29% answered ‘strongly disagree’

• 38% answered ‘disagree’

• 19% answered ‘neither agree or disagree’

• 11% answered ‘agree’

• 3% answered ‘strongly agree’

Two thirds of respondents disagreed that the options listed provided sufficient flexibility and effectiveness to address potential capacity issues, with this view largely being held by local authorities, sector representative organisations and health and social care professionals.

Key themes

Workforce is an existing challenge for local authorities and insufficient supply of workforce was the most common concern among respondents. One local authority said:  

We have 70 social worker vacancies; these vacancies are putting additional demand and pressure on the remaining workforce. […] The social work teams have demonstrated their ability to stretch and manage additional work pressures, however, this is now maximised.

The majority of respondents did not feel that the options listed provided sufficient flexibility to completely mitigate capacity issues, particularly when considering existing capacity issues and assessment backlogs. However, these respondents did recognise that the options individually would help in addressing challenges.

Among those who disagreed that the options offered significant flexibility, the second most common criticism was that the timeline for implementing suggestions ahead of early assessments is unrealistic.

Some respondents also requested additional information on the funding available to local authorities to begin planning and preparations.

Local authorities raised concerns that the impact of reform would go beyond the workforce required to carry out additional assessments. They expect complaints, legal and commissioning staff to be affected by increases in assessments. Others suggested that additional support from government to calculate their self-funder population would enable them to prepare more effectively.

Government response

In response to comments regarding workforce pressures and assessment backlogs, we are setting out additional options to support local authorities to improve efficiency, to reduce demand on the workforce and to increase the supply of the workforce.

In particular, we are strengthening the guidance for conducting early assessments to highlight the flexibility provided by the Care Act, with existing regulations encouraging assessments to be “appropriate and proportionate to the needs and circumstances of the individual” (see Regulation 3, ‘Assessment – general requirements’).

The regulations made under the Care Act also allows for assessments to be carried by other staff besides social workers if said staff have the “skills, knowledge and competence to carry out the assessment in question” and are “appropriately trained” (see Regulation 5, ‘Training, expertise and consultation’).

We have noted in the guidance various options to increase efficiencies in the assessment process, decrease demands on workforce and increase workforce supply, all of which will help local authorities to deal with assessment backlogs and preparing for the expected increase in demand. The government also intends to work with the sector to fund technology products or digital solutions to improve workforce productivity, and therefore reduce workforce needs.

Charging reform implementation funding to support local authorities to bolster workforce capacity will be included in the grant determination letter and guidance for financial year 2022 to 2023 to be published at the end of May. This funding will enable local authorities to begin preparations for delivering the adult social care charging reforms. Importantly, this funding will not be restricted to increasing the capacity of assessing workforce and may be used to bolster other local authority workforce impacted by reform.

Question

Reflecting on the ‘Capacity requirements’ section of the implementation guidance, where might you need additional central government support to manage potential capacity issues?

Key themes

Several respondents raised concerns about current workforce shortages and the difficulties local authorities face to recruit and retain staff. The respondents cited insufficient workforce supply, including social workers, financial assessment officers as well as several back-office functions such as complaints teams and legal support.

One local authority said:

Our demand across all aspects of our service will significantly increase and we expect to require more staff at every step of this process.

Some respondents expressed concern about how the reforms would impact people waiting for care or the quality of assessments, due to the lack of workforce capacity. Responses highlighted the recent increases in waiting lists and stressed the impact this has on local authorities’ ability to meet their Care Act duties.

Several respondents raised funding as a particular issue. They primarily asked for clarity on funding as soon as possible to enable planning. Some respondents expressed concerns that the funding already announced would place financial burden on local authorities to deliver the required recruitment processes, training for new staff and resource required to manage business and IT change.

Several respondents stated their concerns about the time allocated to deliver the reforms. These respondents felt that there was not sufficient time to recruit enough staff and train them before early assessments, or that the necessary infrastructure (systems, process, communications) would not be in place in time.

In response to workforce capacity issues, some respondents suggested the need for a national workforce strategy. These were based on the difficulties in recruiting and concerns local authorities would be recruiting from the same finite source, meaning a national strategy for social workers would be beneficial. A few respondents recommended a national recruitment drive to bolster recruitment for social workers and needs assessors.

Finally, some respondents requested additional guidance or information on understanding local demand, through government modelling and best practice or learning from trailblazers. 

Government response

We have outlined the government response on managing workforce capacity under the question above.

Alongside this consultation response and transitional guidance, we are publishing the grant determination letters and guidance for financial year 2022 to 2023 charging reform implementation funding. This funding will enable local authorities to begin preparations for delivering the adult social care charging reforms. This includes recruiting additional workforce and implementing IT system changes. The ongoing costs of assessments will be funded next financial year. The details are set out in our impact assessment.

The government has committed to delivering adult social care charging reforms for October 2023. We will work closely with the sector to ensure readiness to implement these reforms. The government recognises that significant work is required locally to implement charging reform and is establishing an implementation team and accompanying infrastructure to support local authorities. This includes further funding to enable councils to prepare and plan and clear escalation routes within DHSC to seek advice and raise concerns during the implementation period.

In advance of introducing the reforms in October 2023, there will be a period of testing and learning from a small number of trailblazer authorities that will implement charging reform earlier than all other local authorities. The trailblazer initiative will generate valuable evidence and insight that will shape the national introduction of reforms and information and data from this testing phase will be shared with all local authorities.

Question

How might technology improve productivity and manage demand from assessments?

Key themes

Several local authority responses highlighted the risk around implementing necessary system requirements ahead of the delivery of charging reform. For example, there was a perceived concern that technology solutions would not be in place for April 2023 to enable early assessments.

As outlined in the related response to the question ‘Will you consider adopting ‘self-service’ assessments?’ (see above), many local authority responses highlighted the need for self-assessment tools for care users to help manage the expected increases in demand. However, a small number of local authorities, and some charities, advised caution around the potential use of self-assessments. Some charities raised the point that self-assessment tools could lead to digital exclusion while local authorities expressed concern about potential inaccuracies in assessments due to a lack of personalisation.

Some respondents expressed the need for a national care account system, highlighting that this approach would create consistency across local authorities. The portability of a care accounts and complications around care users moving between authorities was a particular concern among local authority respondents. Some argued that the implementation of a national system would mitigate this issue.

The introduction of self-service portals, often through a proposed national system, was also requested by respondents. It was suggested that the use of portals could ease workforce burdens, as this would enable care users to self-serve rather than seeking local authority assistance

One local authority said:

IT solutions that make the recording and issuing of care accounts simple, including a system that allows people [to] access their accounts in real time like they would a bank account or credit card statement.

Finally, local authorities requested more information from the government, such as greater clarity on funding and support to implement the necessary system updates. Some authorities stated they were unable to produce delivery strategies until more information was provided. More information to the general public was also requested, through the use of a proposed national communications plan to highlight the upcoming changes and implications of reform. 

Government response

The government is working with local authorities, sector experts and IT suppliers to support the delivery of system updates to enable charging reform for October 2023. The delivery of system updates across local authorities will be an iterative process, building on minimum statutory requirements in place for October 2023.

A technology specification will be published shortly setting out requirements for IT suppliers with regards to a care account module. This care account module will sit within existing case management systems and will be required for the implementation of reforms from October 2023. Local authorities should work with suppliers to generate a new workflow within existing systems to record information captured through early assessments. Data and information will need to flow into this module from existing business processes and systems to record information, such as those for early assessments. Further work is being undertaken on how technology can support the wider charging reform implementation and local authorities more broadly.

The government has discounted a national care account system for October 2023. Following government-conducted research on current local authority capabilities, it has been identified that a national system is not achievable in the required timeframes. The government will scope out future digital opportunities in care, including a national system and self-service tools. The government will do this in partnership with the sector to develop an improvement and innovation programme, using technology to support the wider charging reform implementation and local authorities more broadly.

To support delivery of care account functionality required for October 2023, the government will continue to work with IT suppliers to understand their implementation plans. The trailblazer and pathfinder programmes offer further opportunities to further test the technology delivery plans with local authorities. The government is also regularly engaging with the sector and undertaking surveys and information gathering to assess digital readiness to mitigate potential risks to delivery.

Information and action from the charging reform programme is shared across both DHSC and the NHS Transformation Directorate to help align work strategically and ensure any dependencies or overlap of work is identified and opportunities for efficient use of resources are identified.

Conclusion

The government will publish its full response to the operational guidance to ‘implementing the cap on care costs’ in due course.

DHSC is keen to continue working with the sector as delivery partners, making sure they are involved in the evolution of policy, service design and delivery of the reforms. To do this, we will:

• work closely with trailblazer local authorities, including disseminating learning from these local authorities to all local authorities

• continue to test and develop policy with our external working groups on tech, data and workforce

• continue to leverage the views of external stakeholders through our governance structures, to provide expert advice on the delivery of the programme

• lead regular engagement activities and sessions with local authorities, providers and lived experience groups and individuals

Appendix: list of respondents

The following organisations responded to the consultation on ‘supporting local preparation’ draft guidance:

• ABI
• Access Social Care
• ADASS
• Age UK
• Alzheimer’s Society
• Associated Retirement Community Operators
• Barchester Healthcare
• Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
• BASW
• Bath and North East Somerset Council
• Birmingham City Council
• Blackpool County Council
• Bolton Council
• Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council
• Bracknell Forest Council
• Brent Council
• Buckinghamshire Council
• BUPA
• Cambridgeshire County Council
• Care England
• Carers UK
• CASCAIDr
• Cheshire East Council
• Cheshire West and Chester Council
• City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
• Cornwall Council
• Countrywide Tax and Trust Corporation Ltd
• County Councils Network
• Derbyshire County Council
• Devon County Council
• Disability Network Norfolk Group – Steering Group
• Durham County Council
• Ealing Council
• East Sussex County Council
• Essex County Council
• Financial Assessment Team, Dorset Council
• Forest Care Ltd
• Gateshead Council
• Gloucestershire County Council
• Hampshire County Council
• Hertfordshire County Council
• Hull City Council
• Independent Age
• Isle of Wight Council
• Just Group
• Kent County Council
• Kingston
• Kirklees Council
• Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
• Lambeth
• Lancashire County Council
• Leicester City Council
• LGA
• Liquidlogic
• Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
• London Borough of Camden
• London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• London Borough of Havering
• London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth Borough Council
• Manchester City Council Financial Assessment/Charging Team only
• Medway Council
• Mencap
• MHA
• Middleton Hall Retirement Village
• Milton Keynes Council
• NAFAO
• National Care Forum
• National LGBT Partnership
• Newcastle City Council
• Newham Council
• Norfolk Care Association
• Norfolk County Council
• North East Lincolnshire Council
• North Somerset Council
• North Tyneside Council
• North Yorkshire County Council
• Northumberland County Council
• Nottinghamshire County Council
• Oldham Council
• Oxfordshire County Council
• Peterborough City Council
• Portsmouth City Council
• Royal Borough of Greenwich
• Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council
• Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
• Royal British Legion
• Sense
• Sheffield City Council
• Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin
• Society of County Treasurers
• Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
• Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
• Somerset County Council
• St Helens Council
• Staffordshire County Council
• Stockton Borough Council
• Suffolk County Council
• Surrey Care Association
• Surrey County Council
• Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
• The Access Group
• The Orders of St John Care Trust
• The Relatives and Residents Association
• Thurrock Council
• Tower Hamlets Council
• Trafford Council
• Wakefield Council
• West Berkshire Council
• West Sussex County Council
• Westminster City Council
• Wiltshire Council
• Wokingham Borough Council
• Worcestershire County Council – Finance Directorate