The Department of Health and Social Care issued a Policy Paper on 16th December 2021 that set out additional funding available to councils to support reform and ‘move towards paying providers a fair cost of care’.
As a condition of receiving future funding, local authorities will need to evidence the work they are doing to prepare their markets and submit the following to DHSC by 14 October 2022:
•cost of care exercises for 65+ care homes and 18+ domiciliary care
•a provisional market sustainability plan, using the cost of care exercise as a key input to identify risks in the local market, with particular consideration given to the further commencement of Section 18(3) of the Care Act 2014 (which is currently in force only for domiciliary care)
•a spend report detailing how funding allocated for 2022 to 2023 is being spent in line with the fund’s purpose
Local authorities are required to survey a range of providers (representative of the local market) as part of the cost of care exercise, to improve their understanding of the actual costs of delivering care in their area. It is important that as many local providers take part as possible and submit returns, in order to ensure that the cost exercise and market sustainability plan provide an accurate reflection.
In recognition of the time that it takes for Providers to complete, some local authorities across the country are offering small one-off payments, and other incentives, to encourage completion.