Care Act 2014

The Care Act 2014 is the foundation of adult social care law in England. Section 1 imposes the 'wellbeing principle' on all council functions. Section 9 requires a needs assessment for anyone who appears to have eligible needs. Section 18 obliges the council to meet eligible needs. Section 34 enables deferred payment agreements. Section 42 imposes the Adult Safeguarding duty when abuse is suspected. Section 48 is the 'business failure' duty when a care provider becomes insolvent. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance (CSSG) provides detailed interpretation.

In practice, the Act gives you a sequence of rights that must happen in order, and councils get into difficulty when they skip a step. First an assessment of needs, which is owed to anyone who appears to have any level of need — there is no threshold to cross before you are entitled to be assessed, and no requirement to be a homeowner, a benefit claimant, or anything else. Then a decision on which needs are eligible against the national eligibility criteria. Then a personal budget. Then a care and support plan. Charging comes last, after a separate financial assessment, and never before eligibility has been decided.

Worked example: Ken, 79, is discharged from hospital after a fall and struggles to wash, dress and prepare meals. His daughter requests an assessment. The council must carry it out even though Ken has savings above the upper capital limit and will pay for his own care, because a self-funder is still entitled to an assessment and to have their needs met if they ask the council to arrange the care. The assessment must involve Ken, consider his wellbeing in the round, and look at whether his daughter needs a carer's assessment of her own, which is a free-standing right and not dependent on Ken qualifying for anything.

The misconceptions cost families dearly. Having money does not remove your right to an assessment, and it does not remove the council's duty to meet eligible needs if you ask it to arrange care. Needs cannot be capped by budget: the council may consider cost when choosing between options that both meet the need, but it cannot decide the need is unmet because it is expensive. A council also cannot refuse to assess because a family member is already providing care — the assessment must consider what would happen if that carer stopped. And a top-up fee must be genuinely voluntary and cannot be charged simply because the council's rate is below the local market.

The Care Act underpins the care needs assessment, the financial assessment, the personal budget, the deferred payment agreement, and adult safeguarding. Read our guides to your Care Act rights and care needs assessments, and complain to the council first, then the ombudsman, if a step is missed.