Changes to deferred payments legislation:5 February 2018
The legislation underpinning Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs) did not work as intended. It meant that local authorities (LAs) in England were not required to offer DPAs unless they were also meeting that individual’s needs or believed they would have to meet their needs if asked. Because LAs were not required to meet the needs of self-funders in care homes, this meant that LAs could choose whether to offer self-funders a DPA.
Changes to the legislation were laid before parliament on 21st December 2017 which amended the Care and Support (Deferred Payment) Regulations 2014. This means that LAs must offer a DPA to people who meet the qualifying criteria (paragraph 9.7 of the statutory guidance) but do not require LAs to arrange care on their behalf ie people who self-fund their own care. In this situation, LAs can offer both types of DPA: a ‘traditional’ type where the LA holds the contract with the care home to meet the individual’s needs or a ‘loan-type’ DPA where the person contracts with the care home and is loaned the money to pay the care home directly by the LA.
When considering their approach as to which type of DPA should be offered, LAs should have regard to their duties under the Care Act, including the well-being principle and their market shaping duties. LAs cannot refuse to enter into a loan-type DPA if all the qualifying criteria for a DPA are met and a person requests it.
The qualifying criteria for a DPA have not been changed. This includes the requirement that the individual has £23,250 or less in assets other than their main or only home.
The specific circumstances in which LAs can refuse to enter into a DPA, even where a person meets the qualifying criteria, are set out in paragraphs 9.14 – 9.17 of the guidance and are intended to provide LAs with a reasonable safeguard against default or non-repayment of debt.