The Community Care Act

In July 2000, the Care Standards Act received Royal Assent and replaced the Registered Homes Act 1984 as the framework to regulate care homes. The Care Standards Act came into force on 1st April 2002 accompanied by the Regulations setting out the details of what is required from the sector. The body that has responsibility to regulate all adult and childcare services in England and which inspects care settings to check that they comply with the new standards and regulations is called the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). There is a corresponding Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSIW) and a Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (SCRC) in Scotland.

 

National Minimum Standards and the accompanying Regulations have been published for Care Homes for Older People and also for Younger Adults. National Minimum Standards and Regulations for Adult Placements, where people over 18 can live in a domestic setting as part of the Adult Placement Carer's family have also been agreed and published. All of these standards and accompanying regulations can be found on the website at www.csci.org.uk. There is also National Minimum Standards and Regulations for domiciliary care providers (agencies that provide people to care for people in their own home).

 

In England, The Commission for Social Care Inspection works at a local and national level, and across all sectors. The CSCI registers the private and voluntary care services that are required to meet national standards. It inspects, assesses and reviews all care services in that area. This includes private and voluntary care services and local council social services departments. It also inspects boarding schools, residential special schools and further education colleges with residential students under 18. Each time an inspection is carried out on a private, voluntary or council care service, the Commission publishes an inspection report detailing its findings. The Commission deals with complaints about service providers, and since 2005 complaints about council social services departments.

 

The starting point in the care system is the funding status of the individual in need of care. If you have assets of more than £21,500 you will be deemed to be self funding and will be required to meet the cost of your care from your own resources. The value of your assets will include savings, investments and your share in the value of your house. However, if your care need will be provided whilst you remain at home, or if you intend to enter a care home whilst your partner or a dependent relative remains resident in your home, then its value is excluded from the calculation.