Guidance

Annex A: grant determination - No. 31/6357

Updated 16 March 2023

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-discharge-fund/annex-a-grant-determination-no-316357

The Minister of State for Care (‘the Minister of State’), in exercise of the powers conferred by section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, makes the following determination:

Background

On 22 September 2022, the government announced its Plan for Patients. This plan committed £500 million for the rest of this financial year, to support timely and safe discharge from hospital into the community by reducing the number of people delayed in hospital awaiting social care and reducing the number of bed days lost to delayed discharges. The focus will be on (but not limited to) a ‘home first’ approach and discharge to assess (D2A).

This additional funding will be distributed to both local authorities and integrated care boards (ICBs) to pool into the local Better Care Fund (BCF). In line with usual BCF requirements, the use of both elements of this funding must be agreed between local health and social care leaders.

40% (£200 million) of the £500 million Discharge Fund has been allocated to local authorities via this section 31 grant. This grant determination letter sets out the conditions and allocations governing the £200 million that is allocated to local authorities. For further information on the entire fund, please see the BCF addendum.

Citation

This determination may be cited as the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund Determination (2022-2023) No 31/6357.

Purpose of the grant

The purpose of the grant is to provide support to local authorities in England towards expenditure lawfully incurred, or to be incurred by them, up to 31 March 2023. The Department of Health and Social Care is providing this funding to support local authorities to:

  • enable more people to be discharged to an appropriate setting, including from mental health inpatient settings, with adequate and timely social care support as required
  • prioritise those approaches that are most effective in freeing up the maximum number of hospital beds and reducing bed days lost within the funding available. D2A and provision of homecare is recognised as an effective option for discharging more people in a safe and timely manner. Residential care to meet complex health and care needs may be more appropriate for people who have been waiting to be discharged for a long time
  • boost general adult social care workforce capacity through recruitment and retention, where that will help to reduce delayed discharges. This could include, but is not limited to, measures which: increase hours worked by existing workforce; improve retention of existing workforce; provide additional or redeployed capacity from current care workers; or support local recruitment initiatives

Determination

The Minister of State determines the authorities to which the grant is to be paid and the amount of grant to be paid, and the authorities and the amounts set out in annex C.

Grant conditions

Pursuant to section 31(4) of the Local Government Act 2003, the Minister of State determines that the grant will be paid subject to the conditions in annex B.

Before making this determination in relation to local authorities in England, the Minister of State obtained the consent of the Treasury.

Signed by authority of the Minister of State for Care, Tom Surrey, Director for Adult Social Care Policy

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