Coronavirus Act puts in place measures that replace local authority Care Act duties to assess care and support needs, with a power to meet those needs

In addition, the Act allows local authorities that have not charged for care provision during the COVID-19 pandemic to charge retrospectively

The Coronavirus Act 2020 has introduced measures that replace local authority Care Act duties to assess and meet care and support needs with a power to meet those needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measures set out in the emergency legislation, that received Royal Assent yesterday, are described in explanatory notes accompanying the Coronavirus Bill prior to its enactment as -

‘... temporary measures designed to either amend existing legislative provisions or introduce new statutory powers which are designed to mitigate these impacts.’

In relation to social care, the Act includes provisions, in sections 15 to 17 and schedule 12, that replace the duties on local authorities - in Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 in England and corresponding legislation in Wales and Scotland - to assess and meet needs for care and support, with a power to meet those needs in all cases except where not to do so would be a breach of an individual’s human rights.

In addition, other measures relating to social care in the Act include -

• removing duties on local authorities in relation to the assessment of charges, preparing care and support plans, arranging continuity of care when someone moves, and transitioning for children to adult care and support (schedule 12);
• providing that local authorities that have not charged an individual for their care during the COVID-19 pandemic can do so retrospectively after the conclusion of the period of care, subject to financial assessment (schedule 12);
• giving the Secretary of State, Welsh and Scottish Ministers discretion to issue guidance to local authorities on how they are to exercise functions under specified care enactments that they must have regard to and comply with (section 17 and schedule 12); and
• simplifying the procedure for assessing NHS Continuing Healthcare for patients discharged from an acute hospital setting with a social care need (section 14 and schedule 12).

The Coronavirus Act 2020 is available from legislation.gov.uk