This document discusses the statutory duties around advocacy under the Care Act. It outlines that local authorities must ensure information and advice is available to all, and must provide advocacy to specific people in certain circumstances. Statutory independent advocacy must be provided when a person has substantial difficulty being involved in assessments, care/support planning, care reviews, or safeguarding inquiries/reviews, and has no appropriate individual to support them. The duties apply from first contact and in all care settings. The document also shows increasing funding allocation for advocacy and some opportunities and issues in implementing these new advocacy duties.

1. Advocacy under the Care Act
Jonathan Senker

2. Policy intention
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3. The Duties on local authorities
To ensure information and advice is
available to all (s4). For some people
this may include independent advocacy.
To involve the person, carer and others
that the person wants to be involved.
To provide advocacy to specific people in
set circumstances.
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4. New Statutory
Independent Advocacy
Role of
advocate ?
When ?
Who for ?
• To facilitate involvement
• To support and represent
• A person has substantial
difficulty
• No appropriate individual
available to support them
• Adults
• Carers
• Children in transition
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5. The Duties
To provide advocacy to eligible people in:
assessments (s67)
care and/or support planning (s67)
care reviews (s67)
safeguarding enquiries (s68)
safeguarding adult reviews (s68).
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6. When does the duty to involve apply?
From the first point of contact, request or
referral (including self-referral) AND at any
subsequent stage of the process thereafter
An advocate must be considered for a care
review if they were not involved earlier
The duty applies in all settings; the
community, care homes and includes
prisons
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7. Judging ‘substantial difficulty’ in
being involved
If a person has ‘substantial difficulty’ in any one of
the following:
Understanding
relevant
information
Retaining
information
Using or
weighing the
information
Communicating
their views
wishes and
feelings
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8. An ‘appropriate individual' to facilitate
the person’s involvement
Must be able to support the person’s active involvement
Must not be already providing care or treatment
professionally or paid
The person supported:
– has capacity to decide and agrees
– lacks that capacity and the LA agrees
– has a veto regardless of capacity
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9. Independent advocate and an
appropriate individual
 Placement in NHS-funded provision in either a hospital
(over 4 weeks) or care home (8 weeks or more) and
the LA agrees it would be in the persons best interest
 Disagreement between the local authority and the
appropriate person and both think advocacy would be
beneficial
✘ When a deprivation of liberty might result from the
proposed care & support plan. DELETED from final
Regulations.
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10. Resources and need
2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
£30.00
£25.00
£20.00
£15.00
£10.00
£5.00
£0.00
Assessments £5.60 £15.20 £18.70 £25.40
Reviews £2.40 £6.00 £10.40 £14.20
Carers £0.80 £1.50 £2.40 £3.00
Safeguarding £5.80 £11.80 £18.00 £24.50
Axis Title
Funding for advocacy (in millions 15/16 prices)
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12. Issues
Awareness
Understanding – especially ‘substantial difficulty’ and
‘appropriate person’
Readiness – of LAs to identify & refer; advocates to
respond
Encouraging compliance
Resources – provision in Better Care Fund- but will it
come through? Stripping funds from non-statutory
advocacy?
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13. Opportunities for providers to….
Inform people, families & colleagues of the duties
Encourage LA referral (who else is going to?)
Raise questions if people missing out on advocacy
Strengthen relationships with advocacy orgs to
understand how best work together under Care Act
Use the ‘duty to involve’ to ensure people are heard
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14. Resources for implementation
Regulations (http://bit.ly/1nVknNq)
Statutory Guidance sets out statutory guidance on how the Act
will work and the various ‘must dos’ and ‘should dos’ for local
authorities. Available in easy-read too (http://bit.ly/1tNCBng)
Department for Health’s 12 factsheets offering a summary of key
messages around various parts of the Act (http://bit.ly/1qqhH9u)
Skills for Care learning & development materials includes slides &
videos and a section on advocacy within first contact and
identifying needs module (http://bit.ly/1wLDqNY)
SCIE Advocacy Commissioners guide (http://bit.ly/11ln6Gy)

15. And finally
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16. AnyAny Questions?
Contact:
Jonathan.Senker@voiceability.org
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