Many sector stakeholders engaged through this programme expressed a concern about the impact of ordinary residence, whereby demand originates from parts of a county which may not be where the supply of support is most readily available. Even when a care recipient’s ordinary residence is unaffected by boundary changes, their unpaid or family carer may now be resident in another council area. This may affect the support that the carer themselves receives, but will also have implications for the person they care for, in particular if their care plan is interdependent with the carer’s plan. In understanding the mapping of responsibility and funding, the Care Act establishes that it is the duty for a local authority to meet the eligible care and support needs of adults ‘ordinarily resident’ in its area. For those living in residential care, their current ordinary residence may relate to the location of the commissioned provision, not their previous home address. It should be noted that this will not always be easy to determine, and legal arguments may be made in either direction (for example relating to the length of time spent in the placement, whether it is considered temporary or permanent, the reason for the placement etc.). There is a significant potential legal workload for local authorities in determining this, case by case. At present, supply of care services tends to be most developed in places where there is the largest workforce, space is more readily available, property is most affordable, and where providers are based.
Workforce supply often tends to be based nearer urban areas and towns, who then cover a larger geography in delivery of care. It is not the case that demand distribution will follow the same pattern, and the variation in levels of demand originating in different districts has been demonstrated in Section 4. This leads to a care supply and demand imbalance at a local level.
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