Extending free personal care to under 65s: feasibility study

Section 3 : How The Feasibility Study Was Conducted

The remit of the feasibility study was to provide robust and credible estimates of the cost to extend Free Personal Care to under 65s in Scotland and assess the potential implications of this policy.

This has included consideration of:

• The costs of extending Free Personal Care to under 65s who need it;
• Additional demand for Free Personal Care;
• Interaction with wider policy environment;
• Regulation and financial benefits and constraints;
• Administration costs of charging for social care;
• Charging income data;
• Implications on social care availability, including workforce and eligibility restrictions, if extending Free Personal Care to under 65s.

The feasibility study has drawn on a number of sources.

• A virtual group comprising COSLA, Health and Social Care Partnership Chief Officer and Chief Finance Officer representatives informed the development of a survey of Local Authorities / Health and Social Care Partnerships in July on the likely costs of extension and sought respondents’ views on the risks and opportunities of doing so which was analysed by Scottish Government.

• Meetings with Chief Finance Officers’ and Chief Officers’ networks.

• Meetings with stakeholder groups: Scotland Against the Care Tax, Alzheimer Scotland, Parkinson’s UK, the Older People’s Development Group, Scottish Care and Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland ( CCPS).

• Written submissions from the public and from organisations representing service users and/or providers of social care.

• A round table meeting with Disabled People’s Organisations on 10 ^th August and a meeting with Mrs Amanda Kopel of the “Frank’s Law” campaign on 11 ^th August.