Tag Archives: care
Norfolk’s army of ‘critically important’ volunteers
Care minister Norman Lamb praised the efforts of volunteers in enriching people’s lives as he opened a new charity hub in Norwich.
Care minister Norman Lamb MP opening Voluntary Norfolk’s new headquarters with Helen Johnson and John Archibald. Photo: Bill Smith
How YOU can become a friend in need
A Friend in Need is a campaign run by the Norwich Evening News and Voluntary Norfolk to increase the number of volunteer befrienders in the city.
It aims to reduce loneliness and isolation among vulnerable people by pairing them with volunteers, and was launched after the tragic death of a Lakenham man in January 2012, who may have been dead for months before being discovered.
Councils may have to outsource ‘low-level’ assessments to free up social workers, say sector leaders
Large hike in assessments on back of Care Bill reforms is likely to lead to two-tier system with some cases outsourced to charities or providers
Councils may have to outsource low-level assessments to free up social workers for more complex cases and deal with a big hike in demand arising from care funding reforms.
That was the message from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass), the Local Government Association (LGA) and council chief executives’ body Solace, in their response to the government’s consultation on the reforms, under the Care Bill.
Councils are expected to assess an additional 180,000 to 230,000 people and carry out an additional 440,000 to 530,000 reviews in 2016-17, because the reforms will incentivise many more self-funders to approach their council.
Only by having their needs assessed and regularly reviewed will self-funders be able to take advantage of the £72,000 cap on their eligible care costs that is the centrepiece of the government’s funding reforms. This would provide them with an “independent personal budget”, setting out what their council would spend on their care if it were meeting it, which would accumulate in a “care account” until they reached the cap.
