Social care charging: Homes for Ukraine scheme
Published 11 April 2022
Applies to England
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Introduction
The invasion of Ukraine has caused a humanitarian crisis whereby the government is now asking people to respond to the humanitarian aid efforts by offering rooms in their own homes or alternative self-contained accommodation to those seeking safety in the UK.
The purpose of this circular is to assist local authorities in dealing with payments made to care recipients who sponsor refugees under that scheme, when carrying out financial assessments in relation to adult social care.
Homes for Ukraine scheme
The government has set up the Homes for Ukraine scheme and has launched a webpage for sponsors to record their interest, ahead of phase 1 of the scheme, which opened for applications on Friday 19 March 2022. You can find more information on the scheme on the government website Homes for Ukraine.
‘Thank you’ payments
In recognition of the generous offer of accommodation, which must be provided for a minimum of 6 months, the sponsor can receive a £350 per month ‘thank you’ payment which is payable up to a maximum of 12 months.
Where a sponsor is currently receiving means-tested support towards meeting their care costs, it is the government’s intention that any payments received under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are disregarded when a local authority carries out a social care financial assessment.
Schedule 1 to the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 (‘the Charging Regulations’) sets out certain sums which must be disregarded when a local authority calculates income as part of an adult’s social care financial assessment. Paragraph 6 contains a disregard for a situation where a payment is for any expenses incurred by the adult who is engaged by a charitable or voluntary body, or a volunteer, if the adult derives no remuneration or profit from the employment.
Under the circumstances, sponsors should be considered to be volunteers engaged in a voluntary activity as a host, where they incur costs.
Where a sponsor undertakes the charitable act of opening up their own home to a refugee person or family, it is reasonable to assume the home or property will be subjected to additional wear and tear or unintentional damage than would otherwise be the case. There is also an expectation on the host to provide sufficient furnishings and display acts of kindness which may come at a cost, while the refugee settles into their temporary home and environment. It would be unreasonable to ask the sponsor to break down and itemise all expenditure incurred while hosting a refugee.
On that basis, local authorities should disregard these payments when carrying out social care financial assessments, and it is the government’s view that local authorities may rely on Schedule 1, paragraph 6 in the Charging Regulations to do so. This will allow the care recipient to retain the £350 payment in line with the intention of the Homes for Ukrainians policy.