1948 NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think the best way is to try and get just the Act if possible into the links section cos there is no other place really to make it a sticky.....would that be OK for yoy Angie?

[Angiew]

note to self... not 1984... lol
can we sticky this please?

[JackSpratt]

He was; so hopefully he's covered?

[nicter]

I work in mental health and our patients only get animal boarding fees aid if they have been bought into hospital under a section of the mental health act 

[JackSpratt]

If that's the case, then I sincerely hope the Mental Health worker I spoke to the other day is being honest. He has a friend that at a push will care for the cat in question until his return, but he isn't in very often so didn't think it fair on the cat unless it was absolute necessity.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Thanks Janey; will PM my address. It's for the lad who is in hospital with mental health issues. His cat is still in a cattery (far from ideal) and we need to ensure that noone is going to try and make him or his Mum pay cattery costs as there's no way they could for this amount of time.

Unless I've misread and misunderstood (very possible) sectioin 3 of the quotation above (dabs post) implies they can recover costs from him

3)A council may recover from a person admitted or removed as aforesaid, or from any person who for the purposes of this Act is liable to maintain him, any reasonable expenses incurred by the council in relation to him under the foregoing provisions of this section..

Given that local councils are having to make considerable cuts at the moment, I would imagine most will try to get back whatever they can. 

[Janeyk]

You're welcome    glad it arrived ok   

[JackSpratt]

I did, sorry! And I didn't realise it was 53 pages....I'd never have agreed to you posting it to me if I'd known....   Thank you so much, Janey.

[Janeyk]

Did you receive it JS?

[Janeyk]

No problem 

[JackSpratt]

Thanks Janey; will PM my address. It's for the lad who is in hospital with mental health issues. His cat is still in a cattery (far from ideal) and we need to ensure that noone is going to try and make him or his Mum pay cattery costs as there's no way they could for this amount of time.

[Janeyk]

Jasmine, there's a distinct lack of printer at our house.... Thanks, will try and bother someone in to printing me a copy.

If you like I'll print it off for you and post it to you JS 

[JackSpratt]

Jasmine, there's a distinct lack of printer at our house.... Thanks, will try and bother someone in to printing me a copy.

[madasacatter]

Thanks for posting this.  I think it could do with being a case for the Plain English brigade, not the simplest document to decipher!   

[Jasmine]

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=2201597

[JackSpratt]

Is there anywhere I can obtain a copy of this act?

[dabs]

Yvonne, Section 48 of the act copied below from the original act. Your link os for the old poor act which has been superseded by this one.


Duty of councils to provide temporary protection for property of persons admitted to hospitals etc.(1)Where a person—.
(a)is admitted as a patient to any hospital, or.
(b)is admitted to accommodation provided under Part III of this Act, or.
(c)is removed to any other place under an order made under subsection (3) of the last foregoing section,.
and it appears to the council that there is danger of loss of, or damage to, any movable property of his by reason of his temporary or permanent inability to protect or deal with the property, and that no other suitable arrangements have been or are being made for the purposes of this subsection, it shall be the duty of the council to take reasonable steps to prevent or mitigate the loss or damage.
(2)For the purpose of discharging the said duty, the council shall have power at all reasonable times to enter any premises which immediately before the person was admitted or removed as aforesaid were his place of residence or usual place of residence, and to deal with any movable property of his in any way which is reasonably necessary to prevent or mitigate loss thereof or damage thereto..
(3)A council may recover from a person admitted or removed as aforesaid, or from any person who for the purposes of this Act is liable to maintain him, any reasonable expenses incurred by the council in relation to him under the foregoing provisions of this section..
(4)In this section the expression “council” means in relation to any property the council [F1constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 within whose area] the property is for the time being situated..
Annotations:
Amendments (Textual)
F1Words in s. 48(4) substituted (S.) (1.4.1996) by virtue of 1994 c. 39, s. 180(1), Sch. 13 para. 31(4); S.I. 1996/323, art. 4(1)(b)(c)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 48 modified (S.) by Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1985 (c. 36, SIF 85), ss. 92(2), 128, 129

Extent Information
E1This version of the provision extends to Scotland only; a separate version has been created for England and Wales only

[Yvonne]

Is this it?  because I cannot find any reference to property:

http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/historyf.htm

[Ela]

If you go into hospital you will need someone to look after your pet

.

An easy suggestion to get out of you legal responsibilities, I would say. I suppose as it costs them they hope too many people will not know of the law.

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

Thats is very interesting Ela

I remember a cat who was taken to a vet by a social worker to be PTS because the old man was going into a care home (the old man had been talked into it)
Thank God the vet didnt PTS and got the SW to sign it over

[Angiew]

I've just had a phone call from a neighbour of a chap taken in to hospital. They arre feeding the guys cat - a 17 - 19 year old - and have done so for nearly 2 weeks. Just told her about this and have gone on coventrys website and all they say is

"Pet care
If you go into hospital you will need someone to look after your pet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most common option is to ask a family member, good neighbour or friend to help. If not, for cats and dogs, you may need to contact a local kennel or cattery. You should be able to find details of these in your local telephone directory.
You could ask your local veterinary surgery or the local Dog Warden to suggest some options."

oh well , that my next blog about to be written....

[Ela]

Perhaps you could print out a copy for them.

[caledonia]

Thats interesting. I work for the Local Authority - Housing. I know we provide kennels and boarding for all pets of those made homeless or presenting as homeless until they find permanent accomodation however I cannot say the same for the Social Work department we share an office with!

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Thanks for this, i've passed it onto our volunteer who deals with incoming cats as we sometimes have this request. 

[Ela]

THIS IS JUST A REMINDER TO RESCUES.

From time to time, rescues are asked to assist Local Authority Social Service departments by taking in cats whose owners have temporarily been admitted to hospital or taken into care.
Section 48 of the National Assistance Act 1948 places a duty on the Local Authority to protect the property of individuals taken into hospital/care; this includes making provision for any pets that they may have. The social worker involved in the care of the individual should make the necessary arrangements for any pets to be taken to boarding facilities until such time as the person is able to return home and care for their pets themselves. Or if the cats need to come into care while they are on rescues waiting lists. Sometimes Local Authorities will not always be aware or forget   their obligations and will sometimes approach rescues in the hope that we will provide free boarding facilities.