Adult Care, Housing and Public Health Market Position Statement: Market Overview

Self-funders

The information collected and known about self funders across Rotherham is fundamental to meet the Care Act 2014 S18(3) requirements and introduction of the care cap from October 2023 as part of the Government's Adult Social Care Reform Plans. The Government will introduce a £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime.

Who Are Self Funders?

A self-funder is someone who:

'pays for all of their social care or support from their own private resources (including social security benefits such as state pension or attendance allowance), or 'tops up' their local authority residential or domiciliary care funding with additional private spending' (Source IPC).

Rotherham Self Funders

The Council currently has limited information regarding self-funders in Rotherham.

The Fair Cost of Care and Market Sustainability exercise will identify the number of self-funders in receipt of services and provide further accurate information once completed.

Given the demographics of Rotherham, the Council is the majority purchaser in most markets, though the self-funder market is growing, particularly in residential care where the Council's market share is now 48%.

From a March 2022 self-funder data request, the Council have received the following insight to self-funders.

Self Funders in Care Homes

1 self-funder identified in under 65 specialist care home provision out of the 21 care homes who responded.

210 self-funders identified from the 19 out of the 32 independent sector older people care homes who responded.

The overall predicted percentage of self-funders in older people's home is 22%.

Self Funders in Home Care and Support

The Council is the dominant purchaser of home care and support services, but information on self- funders in this sector is difficult to obtain.

11 out of the 46 home care providers who work in Rotherham responded to our recent request for self funder information, these providers support 188 people providing 1306.45 hours of care per week. Therefore, the actual number of self funders is predicted to be much higher.

The Council is a dominant purchaser of services for people with a learning or physical disability, excluding people who have exercised choice to receive their personal budget as a Direct Payment.

The Council is keen to see older people maximise their benefit entitlement and works closely with the voluntary sector to encourage greater take up of Attendance Allowance and Carers Allowance.

Table 10. Data from Financial Assessments. (Snapshot February 2022)

Type of funding Residential and or Nursing Homes Other Services e.g., supported living, home care, day care, Direct Payments, and community support
Fully Funded by Council 148 969
Partially Funded: The Council contributes to some of the care and support costs 582 1257
Deferred: Charges deferred due to capital funds 8 0
Fully Self-Funded: No contribution by the Council to care and support costs 67 202
Total 805 2428

The Council will update this section as result of the Fair Cost of Care and Market Sustainability Exercise (Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund: purpose and conditions 2022 to 2023) - GOV.UK Policy paper: Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund: purpose and conditions 2022 to 2023 in line with the Adult Social Care Reform and the Care Cap.

More information and detail on the Policy paper: Adult social care charging reform: further details