A draft policy looking into charging for care and support is to be scrutinised and put out for public comments.

If accepted, the Rutland County Council policy would replace an existing policy from 1 April 2024.

Speaking to members of the strategic overview and scrutiny committee at a recent meeting, chairman, Labour Cllr Ramsay Ross, said: "We have received the draft policy for charging and care support from Andrea Grinney, revenue's and benefits manager for the council, asking that we scrutinise the document before it goes to cabinet in October, and before they make a decision on it going out for public consultation.

"That public consultation period is due to run from 1 November 2023, until 24 January 2024. The results of the public consultation will be available for the scrutiny committee to review at our meeting on February 2, 2024, with final approval of the policy sought at full council on March 3, 2024.

As part of the government's adult social care reform agenda, councils were required to complete a 'Fair Cost of Care' exercise by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This involved working with adult social care providers to determine the local cost of providing care.

Councils must also publish a market sustainability plan, showing how they will support local providers over the next three years.

This included the following types of services: care homes for people aged 65 and over (standard residential care, residential care for enhanced needs and nursing care); home care for people aged 18 and over.

The government has delayed its adult social care charging reforms from October 2023 to October 2025 for the implementation of: the extended means test; the lifetime cap on personal care costs; and the extension of Section 18(3) to enable self-funders in residential care to access local authority commissioning.

Details of the current charging for care and support policy of Rutland County Council can be found online.

The final decision on the public consultation of the draft policy will be taken by the cabinet at its meeting on 17 October 2023.