Questions
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, opportunity is provided for Members of the Council to ask the Chairman, the appropriate Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a Committee any question about a matter which the Council, the Cabinet or the Committee has powers, duties or responsibilities.
Questions must be sent in writing to the Monitoring Officer at least 3 clear working days before the meeting.
Minutes:
The Following questions had been submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 11:-
Question 1 – Cllr Jeuda
The phasing out by the Government of the Independent Living Fund, which allows disabled people with high support needs to live independently will affect people living in Cheshire East who are in receipt of the benefit.
Can the Cabinet member assure those affected by this change that they will not suffer further hardship by a reduction in their care and income from Cheshire East and that funding will be at the same level protected by inflation?
Response from Cllr Domleo
Independent Living Funds were awarded to individuals who meet specific ILF eligibility criteria. Funding awards were made on an individual basis depending upon the service users circumstances and particular needs. Awards received by Cheshire East Council service users range from £30 per week to the maximum award of £475 per week. Current awards are protected as long as the eligibility criteria continues to be met but are frozen, which means there are no increases for current claimants and no new awards for new eligible service users. If a claimants circumstances change the ILF award can be reduced or withdrawn but will not be increased to meet additional need.
All Local Authorities await further news on the future of ILF and it is, therefore difficult to assess the impact as the future of the funding stream is currently under review. Cheshire East Council has amended its charging policy to enable the collection of client contributions directly from ILF recipients should the ILF funding devolve to Local Authority control - however, this is certainly not confirmed as an outcome of the ILF review at this stage. Any shift is likely to be subject to tight controls and guidance from Government.
Cheshire East Council, Adult Services has supported 83 service users to access additional care and support through the Independent Living Fund amounting to a total annual funding figure of £1.5m. This is made up of £1.3m direct funding to our service users from the ILF organisation and £200k in client contributions to their ILF monies as claimants are required to contribute.
Cheshire East Council has an Officer with responsibility for overseeing ILF reviews with the current priority to retain as much of this award as possible, given there is no growth.
The total estimated financial impact on costs for Cheshire East Council as a result of these changes to ILF funding is £1.3m per annum.
The Council has a statutory duty to fund unmet substantial and critical care needs. Irrespective of the changes to ILF the Council's obligation to fund such care needs remains and will be fulfilled
Supplementary Question
What is the likely financial impact of such support in current and forthcoming years?
Response from Cllr Domleo
£1.3M.
Question 2 – Cllr Jeuda
In view of the changes proposed to the salaries of employees of Cheshire East detailed in the Harmonisation of Terms and Conditions document. For many this will mean a significant cut ... view the full minutes text for item 39