Ministers urged to provide full funding for impact of Cheshire West ruling

The Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services have written to the Health Secretary and called on the Government to fully fund the impact of the Cheshire West Supreme Court ruling.

ADASS research – conducted at the request of the courts following the Supreme Court judgment – suggested that assessments under the MCA Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) for individuals would  increase from a projected figure of 13,719 in 2013/14 to projected figures of more than 138,000 in 2014/15 and nearly 176,000 in 2015/16 in hospitals and residential settings.

The projected figure in relation to DoLS requests for settings outside of hospitals and care is meanwhile expected to rise from 212 to over 28,500 in 2014/15 and over 31,000 in 2015/16.

The LGA and ADASS claimed that the extra work created by the judgment in requiring the assessment of thousands more people under the safeguards would cost councils at least £88m. There is likely to be an increase in waiting times for assessments, they added.

The two bodies said full funding was required “to ensure that local authorities are able to implement these changes and maintain the quality of other social care services protecting the most vulnerable”.

Adult social care budgets have already seen reductions of £3.5bn over the last four years, the LGA and ADASS argued.

“Local authorities support the broadening of criteria for assessments,” they said. “However, if funding for extra assessments is not resolved, the significant impact on budgets will have an unavoidable and hugely damaging impact on crucial services that protect the most vulnerable people in our society.

“The changes also mean that it could be harder for councils to meet their statutory duties in protecting this vulnerable group of people.”

LGA Chair Cllr David Sparks said: "Up until now councils have protected our most vulnerable people as far as possible and we will continue to prioritise those most in need. But it's simple – if we are struggling to afford to run the services we provide now, we will definitely not be able to afford to run additional services in the future."

ADASS President, David Pearson, said: “In any changes that are made, we need to make sure that the best interests of the most vulnerable in our society are identified and met.

"This is not all about money, we also need to see urgent changes to the law which make sure that the system is clear for people to use and ensures that all people are treated the same throughout the safeguarding process, whether they are living in residential care homes, hospital settings or in the community."