Judge rules Redcar and Cleveland fees do not reflect care costs

A High Court judge has ruled Redcar and Cleveland council did not have due regard to the actual cost of care when setting fees for 2012/13. The court ordered the council last month to make a new decision to fix fees for the 2012/13 period by 31 May 2013. The council had already decided not to implement the proposed deduction of £14 per resident per week and a spokesman told CCMn that the council would not be appealing the decision. Redcar and Cleveland Independent Providers Association, which accounts for more than 80% of operators in the area, successfully argued that the process for setting the fees was unlawful. The local authority had been using a Fair Cost of Care model commissioned from PwC since 2007, but it only had a maximum shelf life of five years. His Honour Judge Gosnell rejected argument that the council used historic data produced by this model as well as comparing fees charged by neighbouring local authorities to set a benchmark. Instead, he ruled: It is clear from all the documents that I have reviewed that the defendant proceeded from the starting point that it was paying up to £40 per week more than most of their neighbours and they could think of no reason why they should do so. Its view was that the methodology in the PwC report was at best outdated and at worst flawed. So while I accept evidence that the defendant had regard to both the 2011/12 fee rates and the benchmarked figures, it did so not with a view to ascertaining and having due regard to the actual costs of care but more with a view to calculating what reduction might be possible to negotiate from or impose upon providers without the risk of expensive litigation.