Summary and Background
3.Local authorities providing certain social care services have the power under section 17 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 to recover such charges as they consider reasonable in respect of those services. Those services include personal care.
4.The Secretary of State has power under section 15 of the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act 2003 (“the 2003 Act”) to make regulations requiring certain social care services to be provided by local authorities free of charge. However the regulations cannot require some of those services to be provided free for a period longer than six weeks. These services include personal care provided to a person in any place where that person is living.
5.The Act enables regulations to be made requiring personal care to be provided free to persons in their own homes for an indefinite period. It does this by amending the regulation-making power in the 2003 Act to restrict the six-week limitation to personal care provided to people living in certain types of accommodation.