Frequently Asked Questions

You will have received a letter if any of the following apply:

• You have more than £23,250 in savings and other capital (not including the value of your main or only home) and pay the full cost of your care and support. 
• You act on behalf of someone who receives a service.

If you have not received a letter and you believe you should have, please contact the ASC consultation team using the contact details under Q9 or in the ‘Who’s listening’ section on the main webpage. 

KCC has already made substantial improvements and efficiencies to the way social care is delivered in Kent and this has achieved significant savings, alongside trying to limit the impact on the people that draw on care and support. 

Whilst KCC continues to strive to provide the best services we can, we continue to have the following growing pressures: 

• Significantly less government funding compared to nine years ago and we are expected to fund services through council tax contributions and income from other sources such as charging.
• Increasing demand for adult social care services, including people having complex care and support needs. 
• Significant annual increases in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) since 1999, which have impacted on the fees charged by care and other providers. 
• Continuing impact of inflation, which means we face growing pressures in the care market, including workforce challenges and rising costs for delivering care packages.

Alongside making our own savings, we need to look at the amount of income we can generate by people contributing towards the cost of their own care. This is why we are proposing to introduce a one-off Self-Funding Arrangement Fee for new self-funders. This fee would be in addition to the existing annual arrangement Fee. 

More detailed information on the above can be found in the consultation document. 

The proposal is fully in line with the Care Act 2014 and clarified guidance released by the Department for Health and Social Care. The Care Act is the law that sets out how adult social care in England should be provided.

It is proposed that the new fee would be £352. This would be a one-off fee and would not be charged to existing self-funders supported by KCC.

This one-off set-up fee would be in addition to the existing annual Arrangement Fee paid by all self-funders. 

All new self-funders would be able to decide if they wish to pay the proposed new set-up fee or make their own arrangements for their care and support that do not involve KCC, meaning that the fee would not be required. This could include arranging care and support directly with their care provider or asking a relative or friend to do this on their behalf. 

Your own personal circumstances will be very specific to you, so we recommend that you read through the consultation document and supporting information for further details. If you need any help understanding how this proposal could affect you, please contact us using the details in the ‘Who’s listening’ section or under Q9.

A decision about the proposed changes is expected to be taken in late May 2024 after the consultation responses have been fully analysed and considered. If the changes go ahead, it is expected that all new self-funders will be charged the one-off Self-Funding Arrangement Fee from July 2024.

The current capital threshold set by the government is £23,250. If a person has over £23,250 in savings and capital (not including the value of their main or only home) or the person’s share of joint capital is over £23,250 they must pay the full cost of their care and support - these people are known as self-funders.

This consultation is taking place before any decisions have been taken. It provides the opportunity for us to tell people about the proposed change and for them to be able to tell us their views and how the change could affect them. 

KCC will fully analyse and consider the responses to the consultation. These responses will be used to help us understand the potential impact any change could have. 

The views expressed in this consultation are expected to be reported to Members at the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee in May 2024 and will be taken into consideration before a decision is taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health.

This is a proposed change to an existing charging policy, which is subject to legislation. The proposal will also bring us in line with other councils. This means that there is not the opportunity to undertake meaningful co-production.

If anything is unclear, or if you have any further questions on the proposal, you can contact the ASC consultation team on the following details:

Telephone: 03000 422 557

Please note that this number will be open on Monday – Friday between the hours of 9am-5pm

Email: adultsocialcarecharging@kent.gov.uk