review

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ozzy3396
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:05 pm

review

Post by ozzy3396 » Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:16 pm

Just a quick question or two.

We had a phone call from the County Council finance dept today. It was about the SGO allowance. In our order it states review after 2 years. Well the two years are over and the lady who i spoke to is visiting next week. I just wondered if this visit is just somebody going through the motions ? and as i suspect the allowance will stop and when we get notification it is ending will we get any notice before it stops ? Cheers any replies would be helpful.

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David Roth
Posts: 2021
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:14 am

Re: review

Post by David Roth » Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:45 pm

Hi ozzy3396

I'm sorry if this advice is coming too late for the local authority visit this week, but hopefully it can still be helpful.

The fact thelocal authority are reviewing the SGO allowance does not automatically mean they will be taking the allowance away. It could mean they are just coming to check whether your circumstances have changed at all since they did the last financial assessment. If you still get the same level of income that you were getting two years ago, then the allowance may just continue as it is.

However, there is a possibility of it being reduced. If the children were previously being fostered, local authorities can pay a larger amount at the start of the SGO, for up to three years, which can include enhancements or additional allowances that carers who were previously fostering the child were receiving. If you were receiving this sort of additional allowance as part of your SGO allowance, then it might cease within three years.

It is also true that local authorities are having to managed on reduced budgets due to financial austerity, and some, in looking at how they can achieve this, have targeted SGO allowances. If the local authority has changed the way it calculates its SGO allowances so that they reduce or take away the allowance, you may want to consider making a formal complaint. The Local Government Ombudsman has recently issued a report highlighting unfair treatment of family and friends carers by local authorities, and it would be worth referring to this report in any complaint: http://www.lgo.org.uk/news/2013/nov/fam ... ombudsman/
David Roth
FRG Policy Adviser

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