Commentary on Sections Next steps after assessments Section 29 – Care account
201.This section requires local authorities to keep a care account for adults whose care costs are counted towards the costs cap. The purpose of the account is to maintain a record of the adult’s total accrued care costs, and progress towards the costs cap.
202.Subsection (1) requires the local authority to keep a record of the accrued costs of an adult. It also requires the local authority to inform the adult if the level of accrued costs in their care account reaches the cap.
203.If an adult moves to another local authority’s area, the local authority from which the adult is moving must retain the record of their care account up to the point they left for either 99 years, or until they are notified that the person has died (subsection (2)).
204.Where the care account includes daily living costs, these must be specified separately (subsection (3)).
205.Subsection (4) provides a regulation making power that will require the local authority to provide adults with a regular statement of their care account. We anticipate that this will be an annual requirement and will show the adult how they are progressing towards the cap.