Vulnerable adults with care and support - Find a freedom of information request

1. Do you complete a financial assessment to confirm whether vulnerable adults with care and support needs can afford to contribute to their care package?

2. Charging for care and support services can be very complex and difficult for vulnerable adults (or their representatives) to understand. How do you support understanding in this area?

3. Do you receive complaints about charging vulnerable adults for care and support services?

4. If yes, what was the total number of complaints you received in adult social care across the financial years for 2017 – 2018, 2018 – 2019, 2019 – 2020, and how many related to charging either wholly or partially?

5. Do you use online tools or systems to support vulnerable adults in understanding how much they might have to pay for services? If yes, what systems and tools are used?

6. Do you have a financial assessment calculator either online or through an app, which vulnerable adults can complete to get an idea of what they may have to pay for their care package, prior to a full financial assessment?

7. If yes, who provides this system?

8. What did it cost to implement the system and what does it subsequently cost on an annual basis?

1. Yes, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) does complete a financial assessment to confirm whether vulnerable adults with care and support needs can afford to contribute to their care package.

2. LCC supports understanding of care services through information and advice provided by fieldwork teams, leaflets and links to organisations such as Age UK that may be able to assist.

3. Yes, LCC receives complaints about charging vulnerable adults for care and support services.

4. The 2017-2018 total complaint number was 220 the number of those cited as finance related was 34. The 2018-2019 total complaint number was 232 the number of those cited as finance related was 41. LCC does not keep the information in the detail requested, finance complaints can be about charging but could be related to other areas of finance as well. With regards to locating and collating the information to fully comply with your request however, this information is not routinely collected or recorded centrally in the detail requested. Therefore, we would not be able to provide an answer without undertaking searches that would exceed the appropriate limit as set out in section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information 2000 does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit. The appropriate limit is currently £450 or 18 hours at a cost of £25 per hour.

5. Yes, LCC use online tools or systems to support vulnerable adults in understanding how much they might have to pay for services. An online financial assessment form has been developed and is currently being piloted. This product is known as Bettercare and provided by Looking Local.

6. Yes, as per question 5, an online calculator is being piloted alongside the online financial assessment form.

7. Looking Local provide a financial assessment form as per question 5.

8. It cost £12,000 to implement the system; £24,000 per annum licence.