A Revised Overview of the Care Act…
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Luke Clements (Cerebra Professor of Law at Cardiff University, and solicitor with Scott-Moncrieff & Associates Ltd.) has now (1st May) published his updated Overview of the Care Act 2014,which he describes as ‘a briefing concerning the impact of the Act, the guidance and regulations’. This is a comprehensive critique of the Care Act and its implementation: it also comprises hyperlinks to many useful related sites, pages, and resources on the web. We recommend this overview – especially to family and other carers.

Note that Clements has considerable reservations regarding the scheduled implementation of the Act: “The implementation timetable for the Care Act 2014 has been the subject of significant criticism. The Statutory Guidance that accompanies it extends to almost 500 pages and there are in addition 17 sets of regulations.  The final guidance and regulations were approved in mid-October leaving local authorities less than 5 months to make the necessary (and major) reconfigurations (including training their workforce) before the Act comes into force: an Act described by the Government as ‘the most significant reform of care and support in more than 60 years’.”

Clements has many ‘reservations’ about other aspects of the Act e.g. it has complicated the situation regarding the legislation now applicable to  ‘persons under 18’ – as opposed to adults whose care is the focus of the Act; and he has particlar concerns about the ordinary residence provisions and associated guidance.

On the other hand, the Government assures us that “Care and Support is changing for the better”

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As Clements notes, the Government, to be specific the lead ministry, the Department of Health, has launched its promotional ‘Care and Support & you’ campaign to inform the public of their new rights, via large numbers of radio adverts and around 2.5 million leaflets.

For the benefit those  who have not head an advert or received a leaflet, we can advise you that information is now available online on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/careandsupport . BUT we strongly recommend you to read Luke Clements’ critique as a ‘counterbalance’.