No council would be able to afford to have an assessor in a person’s home for 3 weeks, but councils often expect to ask to use technology – and it’s not unreasonable of them, since they are spending public money and do have to be satisfied as to needs. Obviously they can’t expect to put CCTV in your loo! They might on the other hand ask an interim care provider (or a reablement agency) to give a view as to the person’s level and range of inability to achieve across the range of eligibility domains, or a view about the detail of a care plan, and a care plan is needed before a budget can be set, which can even be turned into a direct payment. It’s common for a council to do this when needs fluctuate a lot or there is a disagreement as to what sort of extent of informal care the person is benefiting from at home.
