The value of advice

“We don’t have to wait for Dilnot before we start advising people better about how to use their resources effectively,” said minister of state for care and support Norman Lamb. Speaking at the Society of Later Life Advisers’ (SOLLA) inaugural conference in January, ahead of the £75,000 cap announcement, the Lib Dem MP urged early action in the change process and focused on the adviser’s contribution.

“It seems to me we should be having much, much earlier conversations as soon as the care needs start to develop,” he said. “And your role in the new landscape that we’re seeking to design is going to be completely critical – you become centre stage because we know people aren’t using resources rationally.”

Reviewing the “dysfunctional” current care system that was regarded by most as “wholly unfair”, Lamb said it was shocking that the government has allowed fragmentation to drag on and get worse. “We’ve managed to design a system in health and social care where things are institutionally separated. How crazy is that?” he asked.

“There’s so much we can change now to make sure people get the support that they need,” he continued. “I don’t believe people are even thinking about the need for financial advice and yet it’s so crucial to protecting their interests in the widest possible sense. We’ve got to look at how we raise awareness so people can plan ahead, and we need the capped costs scheme in place to provide space for the financial services industry to start providing products that can help people in those difficult times.”

Lamb made a notable point about preventing the deterioration of health, and raised concerns about the tendency to preserve and protect resources in case people need money in later life. He referred to economist Andrew Dilnot’s strong belief that implementing the capped scheme could drive behavioural change, which could keep costs down, and reiterated plans for product development in the financial services market.

Supplementing Dilnot

However, it wasn’t all about the Dilnot recommendations. Lamb discussed how the reforms fits alongside a number of others that are crucial elements for protecting people from catastrophic costs. “I think the combination of the cap together with the very significant increase in the threshold for means-tested support is potentially very powerful,” he said.

The draft care and support bill, which is going through pre-legislative scrutiny, was another key item on the agenda. Lamb said he was looking to strengthen it further to really build the concept of ‘prevention before cure’. He said the bill has to implement the capped model. And he spoke about the dangers of formal assessment. “If you fail, what happens next? You still have care needs.”

Lamb admitted the Dilnot report and the draft bill had been his focus since being appointed the Department of Health’s care minister in September 2012. So he was interested to hear more issues from the audience.

One delegate asked whether deliberate deprivation of assets had contributed to the care crisis and, in particular, groups of solicitors who “aggressively sell family preservation trusts on the basis that they won’t have to pay for long-term care”. The resounding ‘yes’ in the room suggested this was a common practice that is transferring significant risk to the state.

Transforming services

Shadow minister for care and older people Liz Kendall also voiced her support for the draft care and support bill saying it “could really help transform information and advice services – if we do it in the right way”.

She said: “We are absolutely determined to make the bill work in the best possible way it can. The wording of the bill doesn’t specify financial information... and that’s something we may want to work on in future.”

The Labour MP drew on personal experience when emphatically reviewing the unfair complex and confusing care system. “Many people struggle with the idea of inviting a stranger to help with what’s often very personal and intimate care, so having someone they can trust and talk to about those really difficult issues can be a lifesaver for families. People whose care is funded by the council usually get a bit of information and advice albeit patchy and inconsistent, but if they self-fund, they are left entirely on their own – as if their needs and struggles don’t matter. And I think that’s one of the real unfairnesses of the system.

“The biggest problem people face is what facilities are available in their area. People don’t know what care they’re entitled to, how much they might have to pay; indeed most are really shocked when they discover social care is not free like the NHS. They don’t know where to start looking for care, how to judge the quality of services and who they can trust. And I think that trust in services is a really important issue.”

Kendall picked up on the importance of the trusted expert and asked the audience for their help. “The place we’ve got to start – and your role will be really important here – is asking old and disabled people and their families what information and advice they want and how they want to get it,” she said.

Using her diverse constituency, Leicester West, as an example, she discussed the accessibility of information, such as different languages and formats, the challenge of keeping information up to date and the signposting for expert advice where councils don’t have that knowledge level.

“We’ve got to get the best practice of some places available to all parts of the country,” she said. “I think we need to learn lessons from pioneering councils and crucially from the experience of the voluntary and private sectors. Too often we just look within our own service or public services rather than learning from private providers. It’s not rocket science but it’s often very difficult to get right in practice level.”

Added value

Both MPs directly addressed the room of about 120 advisers for support in tackling the care crisis. One delegate asked Lamb whether the public are shying away from good advice because the state will pay. He acknowledged there was a “massive job” ahead in explaining what the Dilnot reforms mean to avert the risk of people believing it’s a panacea.

“It’s a critical element of a reformed, much more rational system, which devotes a lot of attention to helping people to self-care much more effectively. The [current] system doesn’t incentivise keeping people healthy - it’s crazy,” ?he said.

“I think we have a massive opportunity now to implement a ?much more rational system that ?protects people’s interests, that does ?much more to preventing health deteriorating that helps people maintain their independence. Most people want their independence and critically from the state’s point of view that uses resources more rationally and ensures ?we have a sustainable system.”

The overriding theme of the full-day conference was the value of advice, which SOLLA joint-chair Tish Hanifan underscored in her closing remarks. “What emerges to me over and over again is the power that there is in knowledge, information and advice and how that can make such a huge difference,” she said. “I heard that endorsed by Norman Lamb and Liz Kendall. Advice and information ?are very different things. The difficulty ?is in where the transition between ?those is and where they’re up against ?each other.

“Not everybody at first mention of funding care immediately needs to see an independent financial adviser, but they do need to get on that step and know where and who they can find.

“There are lots of inequalities in ?the world but one of them is the division of those who get good advice and ?those who don’t – and it makes a ?huge difference.”

Private Client Adviser acting editor Jennifer Palmer-Violet reporting