The government have made a new law called the Coronavirus Law.

It has changed some things to help the country and services cope whilst Coronavirus is widespread

One of the things it changes is how Councils use parts of the Care Act.

This is the law that says how Councils make decisions on what support disabled or older people get. There is an Easy Read version of the Care the government made here

The Care Act is still the law and all the law should be followed until a Council says it needs to change because of Coronavirus. Until your Council explains why it is changing it should be still following the all of Care Act. 

The changes under the Coronavirus law will mean that Councils can stop following some of the rules in the Care Act in the next 2 years.  This will happen when the Director of Social Services and the Principal Social Worker do some things to say they need to change the rules whilst Coronavirus is here.

When the Council makes the change they must tell all the people getting support and support providers in their area. This need to be accessible information.

Even when these changes are made there are still a lot of rules and laws Councils must follow. These include following everyone’s Human Rights

Dorset Advocacy Advocacy have made an Easy Read Booklet on these changes.

The full guidance on these rules is on the government website here

Shared Lives Plus has done a guide on what the changes mean that is for Shared Lives Carers but has useful information for other people on the Act too. The guide is on their website here

Carers UK have done a guide on what the changes means for carers and local carers organisations. You can see the guide on their website