How should Shared Lives carers be paid? Fee structures in Shared Lives

Shared Lives carers are self-employed and receive a fee for their work. This “care and support fee” should be paid by the Shared Lives scheme and is drawn from the body which commissions the care. This is usually a local authority social care budget but can be from a healthcare pot (such as through continuing healthcare – CHC) or, in a small number of cases, from the supported person’s money if they are a self-funder.

Shared Lives carers who support a person living with them also receive rent and a food and utilities contribution from that person, who usually draws the money from their welfare benefits. In some cases, the supported person pays this money to the Shared Lives scheme first, and the scheme then pays it on to the Shared Lives carer, along with the care and support fee.

It is vital that Shared Lives schemes clearly separate the three fee elements – care and support fee, rent, and food and utilities contributions – on any remittance notices and all other official literature about fees.

Transparency about the levels of the three different elements is crucial. Shared Lives carers should be clear on what they are being paid for the work they do, and what they receive as the supported person’s live-in landlord.

The fee elements are for different purposes and come from different sources:

• The care and support fee is for work the Shared Lives carer has done, and is paid to them as part of the statutory obligation of the local authority to provide social care to people with assessed needs. This fee level should be detailed in the Shared Lives carer agreement.
• The rent, food, and utilities contribution are for the cost of the room the person rents and the food and energy that the Shared Lives carer must pay for as a result of having the supported person in their home. These sums are for the supported person and Shared Lives carer to agree on at the start of the arrangement, and are set down in the license agreement. For more information see here and here.

Transparency, fairness and clear communication about remuneration are important in any work relationship and are critical to attracting and retaining Shared Lives carers. It is not for a Shared Lives scheme to use rent and food and utility payments – the supported person’s money – to subsidise a low care and support fee.