Grant conditions and reporting requirements
Infection Control Fund 2
ICF2 is an extension of the Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund which was first introduced in May 2020. It is intended to support adult social care providers to reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission.
Conditions and passporting rules
Please note funding conditions have been revised since ICF1.
Of total funds allocated, 80% is to be passed directly to care homes within a LA’s geographic area on a ‘per bed’ basis and CQC-regulated providers on a ‘per user’ basis. This includes providers with whom the LA does not have a contract. The further 20% can be allocated at the LA’s discretion to support providers to tackle the risk of COVID-19 infections.
Funding can be used to pay staff who are self-isolating with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, rather than only after a positive test, but individuals must be seeking to confirm whether they do have COVID through a test. The funding cannot be used to pay staff who are off sick with conditions other than COVID-19, to top up the pay of staff who are furloughed, or to pay staff who are shielding.
Reporting requirements
LA’s must submit monthly returns specifying how the grant has been spent. LA’s must seek assurance that all funding passed to providers is spent on infection prevention and control measures.
The remaining reporting points are as follows:
Reporting point 4
26 February (spending up to end of January and planned spending for the entirety of the fund).
Reporting point 5
31 March (spending up to end of February and planned spending for the entirety of the fund).
Reporting point 6
30 April (spending up to the end of March and end of the fund).
End of funding period
Funding must be fully spent by 31 March.
More information / resources
A list of appropriate infection prevention and control measures which can be covered by the ICF2 grant and suggested uses for the 20% of the funding to be allocated at LA discretion is covered in the Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund round 2 guidance.
The LA reporting template will be made available before the reporting point in Annexe E of the guidance.
Workforce Capacity Fund
The fund is intended to enable LA’s to support all providers of adult social care in managing workforce pressures by extending the capacity of the existing workforce (e.g. by paying staff overtime or enabling staff to work more flexibly) or by growing and developing the workforce (e.g. through recruitment and training for new staff).
Conditions and passporting rules
LA’s can use the funding to support any provider, inc. those with whom they do not have contracts and non-CQC registered providers. However, LA’s may passport funding directly to CQC registered providers only.
Providers may use the funding to support new expenditure or expand existing activity not already funded by other grants (e.g. cannot be used to pay self-isolating staff as covered by ICF2).
Reporting requirements
The second return is due on 5 March. LA’s should use this to confirm that they have been able to take forward planned activities, and report on outputs delivered so far.
The third return is due 15 May. LA’s must demonstrate how the fund has been used to support workforce capacity. DHSC will provide LA’s with a template for this return.
End of funding period
Funding must be fully spent by 31 March and all activities must have taken place by this date (e.g. training cannot be purchased before 31 March to be used after the end of the fund).
More information / resources
An FAQ by the LGA answers some common questions about acceptable use of the funding.
A full breakdown of the data requested for reporting points 2 and 3 is contained in Annexe C of the DHSC guidance.
The reporting point 2 template is Annexe F of the guidance.
Adult Social Care Rapid Testing Fund
This funding is to support additional lateral flow device (LFD) testing in care homes, for staff, visiting professionals and to enable indoor, close contact visiting where possible. It can be used for staff training, carrying out LFD testing, recruitment costs to facilitate increased testing, costs associated with the creation of a separate testing area for staff.
Conditions and passporting rules
Of the total allocated funding, 80% should be passed on to care homes within the LA’s geographical area on a ‘per bed’ basis. This includes residential drug and alcohol services and includes providers with whom the LA does not have a contract. The remaining 20% can be allocated at the LA’s discretion to implement increased LFD testing.
Reporting requirements
Monthly returns are to be submitted as part of the ICF 2 returns at the following points.
Reporting point 4
26 February (spending December-January).
Reporting point 5
31 March (spending December-February).
Reporting point 6
30 April (spending December-March).
End of funding period
This fund supports expenditure from 2 December 2020 up to and including 31 March 2021.
More information / resources
A list of measures that the funding can be used for and detailed lists of requirements for LA’s and providers are available in the Adult Social Care Rapid Testing Fund guidance.
The LA reporting template is contained in Annexe E of the ICF2 guidance.
Reimbursement of NEWs2 equipment
Advice from the British Geriatrics Society recommends care home staff monitor the heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation levels of their residents to calculate the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2), part of the RESTORE2 tool.
Many of you will already have the equipment to do this but for those that don’t, or those that need additional supplies to manage COVID-19 infections, the Clinical Commissioning Group will reimburse the reasonable cost of this equipment that is used to treat residents.
This is a full equipment list and details of how to reclaim the cost of the equipment.