Council has to repay care cost for more than 1,500

Lincolnshire County Council faces a £500,000 bill after wrongly charging people seeking short-term residential care.

A report from the Ombudsman found the local authority was not adhering to the Care Act 2014 and people had suffered financially as a result.

The county council was using a flat-fee system of payment for short-term residential care, without a financial assessment of those concerned.

A report to the county’s Adult and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee says the council is in the process of reimbursing those affected by the charge system.

A total of 1,525 people are being written to offering reimbursement which could total £500,000.

“Letters continue to be distributed with all 1,525 expected to have received a letter confirming their entitlement to a reimbursement by October 31 2021,” says a report to go before committee members.

As of June 11, a total of 140 people had received a letter saying they were entitled to a reimbursement.

“There was a fault in the council’s policy on flat rate charges for short-term residential care,” it adds.

The report from the Ombudsman was first published in March, but is due to be discussed this week. It will also go before the full executive of the county council in September.

The council has made changes to ensure it is now acting as it should and it is not challenging the findings of the report.

“The Care Act is clear the council intends to charge for any services it intends to provide, it must assess the level of the adult’s financial resources,” the report says.

Prior to the 2014 Act, the council was at liberty to decide if a financial assessment should be carried out on the first eight weeks of someone’s care.

The Act did not include the provision and the council should have been making financial assessments.

So far the largest amount repaid has been £2,523, with most cases involving much smaller amounts.

“The Care Act is clear the council intends to charge for any services it intends to provide, it must assess the level of the adult’s financial resources,” said the report.

“The reimbursements to individuals are included in Adult Care and Community Wellbeing financial position. Resources are in place within financial strategy to ensure all letters are responded to are acted upon and individuals reimbursed by October 21 2021,” members will be told.

The Ombudsman’s report said people: “suffered a financial loss” and added that “These are charges that might make a material difference to someone’s income.”