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Budget 2021: adult social care sector “left in the cold”

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

The Government has failed to address the adult social care crisis in this year’s fiscal Budget, campaigners have warned.

The report, published by Care England and the Independent Care Group, comes as the Chancellor pledged to increase funding by almost £5 billion over the next three years.

If you missed the key headlines, here’s what you need to know

How will Budget 2021 impact adult social care?

According to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, councils in England will receive £4.8 billion in new grant funding over the next three years to pay for adult social care services. The Government said the move represents the “largest annual increase” in local government funding in more than a decade.

The new Health and Social Care Levy, meanwhile, is expected to raise around £13 billion per year for spending on adult social care. The cash will be used to end “unpredictable costs” for people in care by introducing a cap of £86,000 for personal care costs and expanding the means-tested support to people with less than £100,000 in relevant assets.

Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Social Care also announced £162.5 million of new funding to help recruit and retain “tens of thousands of additional carers”. Local authorities will be able to access the fund – available until the end of March 2022 – to pay for overtime and training.

Adult social care sector “left in the cold”

Despite the measures, Care England, the largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, said the sector has been “left in the cold”.

“Unfortunately, there will be serious and far reaching consequences,” said Chief Executive Professor Martin Green, reacting to the Budget announcement.

“Care England has offered a plethora of constructive solutions as to how the Government could alleviate this crisis situation, but we have been left out in the cold; winter is going to be very, very tough without a robust social care sector to support the NHS”.

The Independent Care Group, meanwhile, warned that an “opportunity has been missed” to fix adult social care.

Chairman Mike Padgham said: “There are good things in the Budget – the minimum wage, help for the low paid and incentives to industry – but nothing for care. What money has been announced for social care today and in recent weeks simply won’t get the sector back on an even keel.”

Gavin Terry, head of policy at the Alzheimer’s Society, added that the funding represents a real-terms spending cut to adult social care.

“While some additional local funding has been announced, it’s nowhere near enough to prop up social care until 2023. This will only lead to the increased rationing of care, which is already spread dangerously thin,” he said.

Previous estimates suggest that it will cost upwards of £14.4 billion to meet future demand and improve access to adult social care.

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For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our later life planning team today.

Recovery Loan Scheme: what is it and how can it support my firm’s recovery?

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

Businesses have been reminded to take advantage of the Recovery Loan Scheme to support their recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes after the Covid-19 finance scheme passed the £1 billion milestone this month.

Replacing the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS) in April this year, the Recovery Loan Scheme provides an array of affordable finance options.

For those unfamiliar with the initiative, here’s how it works:

  • The Recovery Loan Scheme is open to businesses of all sizes, providing they have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and are trading in the UK
  • Up to £10 million is available per business. This includes term loans or overdrafts of between £25,001 and £10 million and invoice or asset finance of between £1,000 and £10 million
  • The maximum length of the facility is up to three years for overdraft and invoice finance facilities or up to six years for loans and asset finance facilities
  • 76 lenders are currently accredited to offer finance through the scheme
  • To incentivise lending, the Government will guarantee 80 per cent of the finance to the lender
  • No personal guarantees will be taken on facilities up to £250,000 and a borrower’s primary private residence cannot be taken as security
  • From 01 January 2022, the scheme will only be open to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while the maximum amount of finance will be limited to £2 million per business. The Government guarantee will also be reduced to 70 per cent
  • The Recovery Loan Scheme will close on 30 June 2022.

The latest statistics suggest that the scheme has now supported more than 6,200 firms with over £1 billion of finance.

Commenting on the figures, Catherine Lewis La Torre, CEO, British Business Bank, said: “Businesses up and down the country are beginning to look beyond the pandemic towards the opportunities available to them in the recovery.

“The British Business Bank is committed to supporting smaller businesses in accessing the finance they need to grow sustainably in the future. In meeting the £1 billion milestone, the Recovery Loan Scheme is demonstrating its impact by helping thousands of companies to fund their further development.”

Click here to learn more about the Recovery Loan Scheme.

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our team today.

Important rules to follow when making staff redundant

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

It’s around a month since the end of the furlough scheme and many firms will still be weighing up their staffing requirements. They may be considering letting staff go if the business has been adversely affected and shows little sign of picking up.

Employers must carefully follow Government guidelines as to how to process this or else find themselves in trouble, possibly at an employment tribunal facing an unfair dismissal case.

If in doubt consult your legal employment adviser.

Here are some guidelines about the process, set out by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).

In the first instance you could:

  • Offer voluntary redundancy
  • Change working hours
  • Move employees into other roles
  • Let go of temporary or contract workers
  • Limit or stop overtime

Inform employees

As soon as possible you should hold a meeting with all employees affected, not just those at risk of redundancy, where you explain:

  • The risk of redundancy and the reason why it may be necessary
  • How many redundancies you’re considering

Hold redundancy consultations

If you do not hold genuine and meaningful consultation before making redundancies, employees could claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.

Select employees for redundancy

If you’re making a whole team or specific group of staff redundant, you’ll have already identified clear criteria and list of roles you need to make redundant.

But if you need to reduce the number of employees in the organisation or team, you’ll need to set up selection criteria and make a list of roles to be considered for redundancy (a ‘selection pool’).

Work out redundancy pay

You must pay at least the legal minimum (‘statutory’) amount of redundancy pay to your employees who have worked for you for at least 2 full years.

You should check your employment contracts as they might say you need to pay more than the statutory amount.

You can choose to pay higher amounts if you want to encourage voluntary redundancies.

Use the redundancy pay calculator on GOV.UK.

Give redundancy notice

You should meet with each employee who’s been at risk of redundancy and allow them to be accompanied at the meeting. For those selected for redundancy, you should also put the details in writing. This can be by letter or email.

You should include:

  • How they scored in the selection criteria and why they received that score
  • Notice  period and leaving date
  • How much redundancy pay they’ll get and how you calculated it
  • Any other pay due to them
  • When and how you’ll pay them

Offer an appeals process

It’s good practice to offer employees the chance to appeal if they feel they were selected unfairly for redundancy. This should be set out in your redundancy plan.

Offer alternative employment

You must try and move employees selected for redundancy into other jobs within your organisation instead.

You must identify any available jobs in your organisation and talk to the affected employees to see if they agree they’re suitable.

The above are guidelines so for help and advice on employment matters, contact our expert team.

Will ‘hotelification’ make returning to the office more attractive?

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

More people are heeding Government advice to return to the office in England, which is good news for commercial property landlords, but questions remain over the future of full occupancy.

As flexible or hybrid working is adopted by many businesses, recent figures show that around 50 per cent of staff have returned to the office in some form.

A survey in September of more than 1,000 office managers, undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute, shows that a third of businesses have cut space as firms have increasingly adopted the hybrid working models.

This means landlords will have to be creative to fill the empty spaces.

The survey, conducted on behalf of the Financial Times, shows organisations have an average of around 44 per cent of staff in the workplace at least some of the time.

The survey found that managers expect this to increase to just 56 per cent by the end of 2021, suggesting that flexible working practices are unlikely to fully unwind in the short term.

That means a lot of empty space is available in large buildings.

One solution could be what has become known as the ‘hotelification’ of office buildings by turning them into high-end workspaces, with tenants looking for improved, club-like facilities with space for secure bicycle parking, changing facilities and other services.

Earlier this year, Gerald Kaye, chief executive of property developer Helical, which is behind six office schemes in London and another one under way, expects good demand for modern developments.

He pointed to tenants requiring the most efficient and up-to-date air conditioning systems, and greater demand for secure bike parking and high-quality “club style” changing facilities.

Mr Kaye added: “We will see an increasing “hotelification” of office buildings, with five-star management a necessity.”

His view is echoed by Richard Morris, director at the internet and workspace management software firm, technology within, who believes that it is no longer enough to simply provide a workspace, it is also necessary to match the ease of working from home by offering more with an office building.

He quoted a ‘one-stop shop’ solution, which would bring multiple services under one roof for the convenience of staff and could include GP surgeries, hair salons, cafés and bars. That would encourage staff to return to the office and stay there.

He added that while matching home facilities is important, the technological structure must also be key to matching more flexible working trends. This includes robust communications systems.

Services could include ‘self-service’ touchless AI-enabled systems, such as systems that can adjust lighting, heating or air conditioning with voice control, which could help them feel more comfortable and Covid-secure when returning to the office.

For help and advice with commercial property matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.

More than two million retirees risk dying intestate, study reveals

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

More than one in 10 people over the age of 75 have yet to draft a Will, a major study has revealed.

The research, published by financial services provider Just Group, shows that potentially millions of people in England and Wales are at risk of dying intestate.

According to the report, over one in 10 (12 per cent) Brits over the age of 75 – around 695,000 people – do not have a Will in place to state exactly how they want their estate to be distributed when they die.

This increases to two in 10 (22 per cent) among those aged 65 to 74 – around 1.48 million adults.

It means that more than two million pensioners have not written a Will, leaving them dangerously exposed to the laws of intestacy.

Where there is no valid Will, the rules of intestacy state that only the next of kin – such as a spouse, a civil partner, or children – can inherit the deceased person’s estate, meaning a cohabiting partner, a charity, or a life-long friend would not automatically be entitled to anything.

The study also reveals that seven in 10 people over the age of 75 – around four million – have not arranged a Power of Attorney (LPA).

An LPA is a legal document that allows someone – usually a family member or close friend – to make financial and welfare decisions on your behalf if you’re no longer able to do so.

For example, someone diagnosed with dementia can ask their Lasting Power of Attorney to pay their bills for them or decide where they should live and what medical care they will receive.

Commenting on the report, Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said: “These are not easy conversations to have with loved ones, but broaching the subject and putting plans in place can make things clearer and considerably easier to manage at a very stressful and difficult time.

“At its simplest a will ensures that your estate is shared out as you would wish, not according to the rules of intestacy, and there can be financial benefits to planning in advance how and when to pass on inheritances.”

He added: “Powers of Attorney are understandably more difficult for people to consider. None of us likes to think about being so vulnerable and it’s tempting to think ‘it won’t happen to me’ or ‘I’ll deal with it later’. Sadly the data tell a different story: more than seven per cent of people over the age of 65 have dementia and the risk of developing dementia rises to one in six over the age of 80.”

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our later life planning team today.