Minutes of March 2010

CLOUGH HALL RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION

WWW.CLOUGHHALL.CO.UK

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 23rd MARCH 2010 AT HOLLINWOOD SHELTERED HOUSING at 7.30pm

PRESENT :-

COMMITTEE: - G Sutton, J Gallacher, C Brough, T Dale, C Gallacher, C Brammer, B Collis,

M Moore, D Martin, M Martin.

GUEST SPEAKERS: - Lindsey Howland, Rachel Watkinson, Adam Williams, Yvonne Allen, Dave Beardmore (Knights Solicitors).

COUNCILLORS- Cllr S Burgess, Cllr G Locke, Cllr J Evans.

GUESTS - Anthea Bourne 50+, Margaret Coley 50+, Mr Rex Burns.

RESIDENTS: - 28

TOTAL ATTENDANCE: - 49

APOLOGIES: - Paul & Sue Fisher, Sylvia Clough, Tina Evans.

The Chairman opened the meeting, welcoming everyone present including the guests from the 50+ Forum and the local councillors. He also thanked the speakers and the rest of the team from Knights Solicitors for attending in their own time. He then gave the agenda for the evening, and invited residents to take copies of previous minutes and other handouts available at the back of the room.

The Chairman then spoke on the following:

Park Avenue shed break-ins - residents were advised to ensure that sheds were properly secured.

No Cold Calling Zones - this has been held in abeyance for the time being; Rex Burns and Peter Shone were thanked for expressing their views at a recent meeting at Clough Hall School. A further meeting will be held on May 10^that Kidsgrove Police Station. The signs will cost approx £500, and it is important that this money is spent wisely.

Safer Routes to School - Chris Brough and Carol Brammer were thanked for their help with a letter which has been sent to Staffs Highways, in response to their statement that no complaints had been received from residents or local ward councillors regarding the traffic calming measures in First Avenue and Cedar Avenue. Any residents who have complaints were asked to notify the Chairman who will then follow them up. Monitoring following the introduction of these measures has indicated that speed has been reduced and that the increase in traffic in Clough Hall has been negligible; however there has been a 25% increase in traffic in Beech Drive, 15% in Mitchell Ave, and Park Avenue is also extremely busy at certain times of day. No reply has yet been received to the letter.

Clough Hall School - a meeting is to be arranged with Phil Lovatt with a view to setting up another computer course this year; the European Driving Standard in Computing may be a possibility. The film show scheduled for March 24^th has been delayed until March 31^st; leaflets detailing the next 4 film shows are available for residents.

The Chairman then introduced the speakers for the evening, Rachel Watkinson (solicitor) and Lindsey Howland (partner), and asked residents to save any questions until the end of the presentation.

Rachel spoke first, and began her presentation by focussing on Powers of Attorney. Making a Power of Attorney in case you become incapable of dealing with your own finances is a personal choice, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for third parties to assist with finances, and although initially this is quite expensive it is much quicker and cheaper than applying to the Court of Protection. Enduring Powers of Attorney have been abolished under the Mental Capacity Act, but EPAs made before November 1^st 2007 are still valid; these can be used without first being registered but 3 relatives must be notified in strict bloodline order, and there is a fee of £120.

EPAs have been replaced by Lasting Powers of Attorney, of which there are 2 types - Property and Affairs, and Welfare. A certificate provider is needed, and the LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian to be effective. The fee is £120 and the current application time is approximately 2 months. Unlike the EPA, the person taking out a LPA can choose who will be notified should it need to come into effect.

The Court of Protection, which Rachel described as the evil alternative, will give no choice as to whom to notify and only one deputy will be authorised to look after your finances. Legal fees are £1,500 - £2,000 for application plus ongoing fees, and there is a time frame of 6 - 12 months.

Rachel then spoke about the cost of care.

Basic average residential care home costs are £25,000 per annum - more than 3 times the average mortgage cost - and nursing care is even more expensive, with the average placement costing £35,000 per annum. In Staffordshire average residential care placement is £446 per week, and nursing care is £633 per week.

There is an important distinction between residential and nursing care, and the type of care will determine the assessment procedure and ultimately who will pay for the care package agreed.

For residential care a community care assessment is done to determine a person's needs, and to identify appropriate services to meet those needs. Included in this is a capital assessment - the means test, which changes in April each year. Currently the upper limit is £23,000 - assets above this amount will be used for care funding; the lower limit is £14,000 - assets below this amount will not be considered and the care will be funded completely by the local authority. For assets between these two limits £1 per week must be contributed for every £250 above the £14,000 threshold.

However, the value of a property will be disregarded if a spouse or relative over 60, or a disabled person under 65 who is a dependant, lives there. The value of residential property is automatically excluded for the first 12 weeks, and a personal allowance of £21.90 per week is usually disregarded; a spouse can also keep 50% of a private pension.

Rachel then explained the possible care planning options:

Transferring property into someone else's name - this would usually be to children but is very risky because of the possibility of divorce (when the property would be included as an asset), bankruptcy and family fall outs.
Placing property in trust during your lifetime - this is less risky than above, but expensive to set up and administer and not guaranteed to be successful.
Using trusts in your will - this would include severance of joint tenancy (which would be replaced by tenancy in common) and a life interest trust. It is easier to argue that this is not deliberate deprivation, but done to secure assets for children in the event of a second marriage of the surviving spouse. There are no time limits on this, no 7 year rule. Social Services are more likely to accept a 50% disregard of property and this is the best care planning option - it needs to be done as soon as possible.

However there are downfalls of potential planning mechanisms:

there are no guaranteed time limits after which transfer is disregarded
the local authority will scrutinise the reason for the gift
transfer can no longer be regarded as tax planning due to the transferable nil rate band
some authorities use the Insolvency Act
if planning was undertaken when care was arguably being contemplated, then Social Services will argue that this is deliberate deprivation of assets.

She then discussed nursing care, the assessment for which is entirely different to the residential system. This is not means tested; there is a primary health need and care is not merely residential, making it the responsibility of the NHS - but there are extremely limited circumstances in which NHS funding will be granted. A Social Worker or family may prompt the assessment; this is done by a registered nurse who will have to consider whether the person has registered nursing needs at a level where s/he requires a care home that provides nursing care, and whether s/he needs to be in a residential setting or another more appropriate placement.

Following this initial screening process the Continuing Care Support Tool is used to provide further assessment in 12 care domains - behaviour, cognition, communication, psychological/emotional needs, mobility, nutrition, continence, skin, breathing, drug therapies and medication, altered states of consciousness, and other significant needs.

The level of need determined can be - no needs, low needs, moderate, high, severe, or priority needs.

There are no set rules as to which of these domains will result in funding, and success is very rare - the majority of applications fail. Nevertheless this is worth pursuing, even retrospectively when the patient has died.

Lindsey then took over and spoke first about wills and the reasons for making a will which are as follows:

Personal choice - being able to choose your own beneficiaries.

Intestacy - in this case a spouse or civil partner does not inherit everything (£250,000 plus personal possessions if there are children, £450,000 plus personal possessions if not). If there are children, ½ of the estate will be shared equally between them (on trust until they attain 18 or earlier marriage), and the spouse/civil partner will receive income/interest on the other half for life; thereafter the capital will be shared equally between the children.

If there are no children, ½ of the estate will go to the spouse/civil partner, and ½ to other relatives (to parents, and if not to brothers and sisters or their children). There may be other connotations involving wider relatives and ultimately the Crown.

Intestacy is not the ideal situation.

To give a choice of executors, and guardians for children below 18 years of age.
To save Inheritance Tax.
To save expense - it is usually more expensive to administer an estate where there is no will.

She added that making a will is straightforward and that it gives protection, especially where relationships are complicated; that a will has benefits in the case of remarriage, care fees, bankruptcy, divorce of children, and in some circumstances Inheritance Tax.

Lindsey then went on to speak about Inheritance Tax. She explained that transfers between husband and wife are exempt, and the current individual allowance on death against IHT is £325,000 for the 09/10 tax year. Above this amount IHT is charged at 40%, but any unused allowance by the first spouse to die is usable by the surviving spouse (one person can only ever have a maximum of two allowances).

Absolute gifts in life are treated as being in your estate for 7 years for IHT purposes. You may give away as much as you wish with the first £3,000 each year being exempt, as are small gifts of £250.Gifts to a registered UK Charity are also exempt from IHT.

With careful planning IHT can be mitigated or eliminated.

The number of disputes involving wills and trusts has increased due to the property boom (more significant estates have resulted in more challenges to wills), complicated family arrangements, greater awareness of rights, and the ageing population (with claims relating to mental capacity issues). The types of claims which can result in a will being set aside include claims regarding formal validity and lack of due execution; capacity - the person making the will must be of sound mind; undue influence - suggestible elderly people may be influenced, by carers for example; fraud and forgery; lack of provision under the Inheritance Act 1975; and the formation and administration of trusts.

In order to prevent such claims it is important to make a will and review an existing will; get a good solicitor to prepare the will; make a letter of wishes and statement of intention; ask a medical practitioner to witness the will; choose executors and trustees carefully. It is also important to avoid making substantial gifts while ignoring the needs of any dependants.

Lindsey concluded by recommending Knights website (http://www.knightsllp.co.uk/) which provides further details.

In response to questions from the audience, Rachel and Lindsey explained that

Tenancy in common is best split between 2 partners but can be split 4 ways; the split could be in different percentages (eg 30/30/20/20) and this would cost approx £100 plus registration fees.
If a trust is set up a house cannot be sold without the children's permission; any building extension would also need their permission.
Brothers and/or sisters living together can become tenants in common, and it would be best to do this.
The percentage of the population who will need care is 90% of women and 70% of men - this information was supplied by a resident.
Gifts to registered UK charities are exempt from IHT.
Setting up a trust can be argued as deliberate deprivation.
Independent Financial Advisers have packages which can assist with the cost of care.

The Chairman thanked Rachel and Lindsey for a most interesting and enlightening presentation, and announced that they and the rest of Knights team would be available to answer individual queries during the break for refreshments which followed.

Following the break, Tony Mottram spoke about the CHRA website ... WWW.CLOUGHHALL.CO.UK

He explained that the website is for the benefit of all residents and councillors (including Borough councillors and those belonging to Staffs County Council), and also grants organisations. The website has been recently updated and now includes -

news and reports from Kidsgrove News and also photos
a photo of the month - residents were asked to contribute photos taken within a 5 mile radius of Kidsgrove
scam alerts for the Kidsgrove area; these are sent by Trading Standards and include a phishing archive
a link to Neighbourhood Watch - every alert noted by the OWL alert system now appears on the website
a photo gallery.

(Cllr Burgess added that Kidsgrove Town Council has its own website which has a link to the CHRA website.)

When the website was first introduced in 2008 there were 10 visits per day on average; since 2008 4,000 people in total have visited the website representing 42 countries, which include Turkey, Spain and the USA.

Tony asked residents to contact him if they had any relevant information or ideas relating to the website, and to email him with any questions (using the contact box on the website). He added that from tomorrow there will also be a link to Knights Solicitors. Finally he asked residents to tell their relatives, friends and neighbours about the website.

The Chairman thanked Tony for all the work he has put into the website, and added that it is highly regarded by both the Borough and the County Council, and that there is also a link to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Chairman then spoke about the following:

Quiz Night held on March 17^th at Kidsgrove Cricket Club - a most enjoyable evening; 48 members attended and £38 was raised for CHRA funds; Correna Gallacher and Mavis Collis were thanked for the excellent buffet they provided.

Litter pick - Vice Chair Chris Brough and PCSO Colin Stepney recently joined the Chairman on a walk around the estate; several areas need attention, and PCSO Stepney is pursuing the use of Community Pay Back offenders in cleaning up these areas, which include the brook running through the wooded area and the park. PCSO Stepney was thanked for his help on this.

Planning for Real - PFR is doing a good job - the next stage is to create a Community Forum which will cover Talke, Butt Lane and Clough Hall. The first meeting will take place at the new Talke Library at Springhead School on Wednesday April 28^th at 7pm. Updates will be given on the successes of Parrots Drumble and the application to the Government-funded Play Builders Scheme for improvements to the Talke Chester Road Park. An answer should be received on this in the next ten days.

Once PFR has approved charity status, which it should receive in the next two months, our Chairman will push the Steering Group to include the Clough Hall Lake project in its plans.

31A Westmorland - the Unit is boarded up and no firm interest has been expressed in it; a rumour that a builder in interested in the Unit has not been substantiated. Lead flashing was recently stolen from the building.

Grit bins - Chris Brough and the Chairman will be walking around the area shortly to assess where grit bins could be placed; this information will be given to Cllr Mary Maxfield.

(Cllr Geoff Locke explained that the County Council were constrained by the national sharing arrangement for grit, and that there had been a problem with people appropriating grit; grit bins had also been stolen and were now to be chained down.)

Next meeting to be held on Tuesday May 4^th - this will be a joint forum with the Newcastle 50+ Forum, and the subject will be the Cost of Care. The speaker will be Susan Fisher, Staffs County Council Quality and Performance Manager, whom the Chairman recommended as an excellent speaker.

Following the raffle, the meeting was then closed.

Signed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G Sutton, Chairman