Transfer of Corporate Appointeeship from a National Care Provider

Case Study

The Problem

The Money Carer Foundation (MCF) was approached by the Group Finance Director of a large care provider charity who had concerns about them continuing to act as the corporate appointee for their clients with learning disabilities.

The main concerns revolved around the costs and complexities of the organisation continuing as the appointee, the lack of understanding from staff in the field regarding financial decision making and the significant conflicts of interest risks to the business that the role had. This last point had been picked up on by the organisation’s regulator at a recent inspection.

The Solution

The Money Carer Foundation met with the care providers executive management team and presented a proposal for MCF to work with the care provider to fully project manage the transfer of the appointeeships. The process involved providing the care organisation with a structured project plan including letter templates and communication timelines with clients, family members and social workers (if involved)

Implementation

The project involved the direct transfer of circa 250 appointeeships to MCF and approximately 30 transfers to family members who were willing to take on the complexities of the role.

New bank accounts were opened in each client’s name and the DWP was contacted by MCF and the care provider jointly to manage the smooth transfer of incoming payments. MCF also assisted with decision-specific capacity assessments via their network of independent social workers as part of the consultation process.

The care provider has now realised a significant cost saving, reduced risk and removed conflict of interest criticism and support workers’ time is focused on delivering core care needs without this being diluted due to being side-tracked with money management matters.