Consultation on the temporary protection for property and pets

Overview

Consultation about the way that Nottinghamshire County Council provides ‘temporary protection’ for property including pets of persons admitted to hospital or care where no other suitable arrangements are being made

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Normally when you go into hospital or residential care this has been planned for. You may have made arrangements with relatives or friends to take care of your property and pets until you come home or until other arrangements are made.  In certain circumstances, if you have to go into hospital or into care unexpectedly and there is no one else to make arrangements for looking after your property or pets, Nottinghamshire County Council will do this for you until other arrangements can be made.

What does Nottinghamshire County Council have to do by law? Under Section 47 of the Care Act 2014, the Council has a duty to arrange for the protection of property for an adult being cared for away from home. This means that Nottinghamshire County Council has a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent or mitigate the loss or damage to a person’s property if they are taken into hospital or residential care and it appears to the Council that there is a danger of loss of, or damage to, any movable property because they are unable to protect or deal with the property themselves and no other suitable arrangements are being made.

This is what we currently do

In the circumstances described above, when we know a person’s property needs looking after, Nottinghamshire County Council will arrange for their home to be secured and any pets to be looked after.  

The Council will allow the person up to 28 days to make arrangements for the protection of property, including any pets. If the person is too ill to make arrangements within this time, a further 28 days is allowed for arrangements to be made. During this time the Council pays for any storage costs or the cost of boarding a pet. If the person remains in hospital or in a care home beyond 56 days, and no alternative arrangements have been made, they will be asked to pay the storage or boarding company for the continued storage or pet boarding.

Why your views matter

In order to identify ways to provide services more efficiently and manage the Council’s budget pressures, we are reviewing all our services and policies.

This survey will take about 5 minutes to complete. 

Thank you for completing it and we look forward to hearing your views.