Food Allocationand Activity/Outing Procedure
Document Type / Food Allocation ProcedureAuthor / Director of Operations
Owner (Dept) / Operations
Date of Review / November 2016
List ofContentsPage No
1.Introduction
2.Housing Support
2.1Staff Meals
2.2Outings
2.3Activity Costs
3Residential Care (Respite and Care Homes)
3.1Staff Meals
3.2Outings
3.3Activity cost (Respite)
3.4Activity cost (Care Home)
4Community Support Services
4.1Staff Meals
4.2Activity costs
5Basic Provisions (Office Base)
6Basic Provisions (Sleepover – all applicable projects/locations)
7Managers’ (Responsibility)
8Takeaways
9Staff Training
1.Introduction
The Mungo Foundation is committed to providing high quality services which meet individual requirements for individuals we support, which are regularly monitored and reviewed by various bodies. The Mungo Foundation must comply with any given budgetary and contractual management requirements.
The purpose of this document is to ensure The Mungo Foundation complies with Local Authority requirements for the use of public funds and to ensure our organisational values are not compromised – that is ensuring the use of funds are managed in a way that is transparent, honest and with integrity.
All staff are expected to adhere to these procedures, and should not deviate from these unless there are local project specific arrangements in place in recognition of an agreement between The Mungo Foundation and purchasers/commissioners of a service.. Any deviation from the policy must be authorised by the Project Manager in writing.
2.Housing Support
2.1Staff Meals
Staff will be required to provide their own meals and snacks whilst supporting people in their own homes other than where a locally agreed procedure is in place between The Mungo Foundation and a contracting authority or individual. The Mungo Foundation will provide basic breakfast provisions for staff participating in sleepovers. Other than this staff are required to bring any meals, snacks or drinks they will require during their working day. Meals can be prepared and taken at the same time as the people/person being supported or at a different time subject to the support needs of the people/person being supported. Where the support needs and support plans of the person/people being supported allows an unpaid break may be incorporated into work schedules but this will be managed on an individual by individual basis.
People we support are responsible for paying for their own costs for meals and drinks when out unless there is a locally agreed procedure greed with the purchaser/commissioner of the service.
2.2Outings
Where staff are supporting an individual on a social outing during which a meal or refreshment will be taken then staff costs should be paid from the person’s Individual Budget if in place or by the person being supported. This should be agreed with the person being supported and/or a representative such as a care manager, guardian or closely involved family member. The following limits will apply –
* Drinks only - £1.90
* Lunch including drink - £4.00
* Evening meal including drink - £8.00
Where an individual chooses to go to a location where drinks and food can not be purchased within the above limits they will be required to pay the full cost of the member of staff’s meal/drink. Where the member of staff chooses to have an item outwith the above limits they must pay the difference themself.
A receipt must be obtained for all purchases and expenditure recorded following the Service User’s Finance Policy. The Petty Cash Voucher should state whether the staff member has contributed to the cost and how much this was. Details of the items the service user purchased should also be marked on the receipt. This will make auditing by managers or finance personnel easier.
People we support are responsible for paying for their own costs for meals and drinks when out unless there is a locally agreed procedure agreed with the purchaser/commissioner of the service.
2.3Activity Costs
If an activity costs require to be paid, for example entry to an attraction, cinema, gym entry, the person being supported will be responsible for paying their own and the staff member’s cost.
3Residential Care (Respite and Care Homes)
3.1Staff Meals
Any staff required to be present with individuals during meal times (lunch ordinner), as a result of the person/people requiring support to eat will be provided with a meal. The reason for this and the support required should be recorded in the individual’s Support Plan. This means staff will eat what has been prepared on the menu that day. If staff choose not to eat what has been prepared, they will be required to provide their own food to eat at the same time as the person/people they are supporting.
Where no support is required for service users to eat their meals staff should provide their own food. As staff working in Residential Care Services do not have paid breaks they should have this along side service users or in another area within the service and must always be available to meet the needs of service users if required. Managers should ensure that arrangements for staff having meals are arranged in such a way that the needs of service users can be met at all times.
Where it is a requirement of support that staff provide positive role modelling for people they are supporting during meal times, but do not require physical support or supervision during meal times, staff are able to prepare their own food alongside that of the person/people they are supporting, and eat with them. Again, the reason for this as well as the support required should be clearly documented in the individual’s support plan.
NB – At no time should staff who are supernumerary or who are employed in an ancillary role (e.g. domestic, administrator, driver) be provided with meals supplied by The Mungo Foundation.
3.2Outings
Where staff are supporting an individual on a social outing during which a meal or refreshment will be taken then staff costs should be paid from Project’s budget. The following limits will apply –
* Drinks only - £1.90
* Lunch including drink - £4.00
* Evening meal including drink - £8.00
Where an individual chooses to go to a location where drinks and food can not be purchased within the above limits they will be required to pay the difference towards the costs of the member of staff’s meal/drink. The decision making process must be recorded in the daily notes as evidence that this was the individual’s choice/preference. Where the member of staff chooses to have an item outwith the above limits they must pay the difference themself.
A receipt must be obtained for all purchases and expenditure recorded following the Financial Standing Instructions for Petty Cash. The Petty Cash Voucher should state whether the staff member has contributed to the cost and how much this was. Where a service user has made a contribution towards either their or the staff member’s meal the Service User’s Finance Policy must be adhered to. Details of the items the service user purchased should also be marked on the receipt. This will make auditing by managers or finance personnel easier.
3.3Activity cost (Respite)
If an activity cost requires to be paid, for example entry to an attraction, cinema, gym entry, the person being supported will be responsible for paying their own cost. The project will pay the cost of the member of staff. If however, the cost of the activity would be outwith the usual scope of the project’s budget, the Project Manager should agree with the person receiving support, or a representative (family member/carer for example) an appropriate contribution from the individual.
3.4Activity cost (Care Home)
If an activity cost requires to be paid, for example entry to an attraction, cinema, gym entry, the project will pay the cost for the person receiving support and the member of staff. If however, the cost of the activity would be outwith the usual scope of the project’s budget, the Project Manager should agree with the person receiving support, or a representative (family member/carer for example) an appropriate contribution from the individual.
4Community Support Services
4.1Staff Meals
Any staff member supporting someone on an outing during which a drink or a meal (lunch or dinner) is planned or taken will be entitled to claim the following:
* Drinks only - £1.90
* Lunch including drink - £4.00
* Evening meal including drink - £8.00
Where an individual chooses to go to a location where drinks and food can not be purchased within the above limits they will be required to pay the difference towards the costs of the member of staff’s meal/drink. Where the member of staff chooses to have an item outwith the above limits they must pay the difference themself.
A receipt must be obtained for all purchases and expenditure recorded following the Financial Standing Instructions for Petty Cash. The Petty Cash Voucher should state whether the staff member has contributed to the cost and how much this was. Where a service user has made a contribution towards either their or the staff member’s meal the Service User’s Finance Policy must be adhered to. Details of the items the service user purchased should also be marked on the receipt. This will make auditing by managers or finance personnel easier.
Where people accessing Community Support Services have planned to bring their own packed lunch with them then staff should also bring their own food with them to eat whilst at work.
4.2Activity costs
If an activity cost requires to be paid, for example entry to an attraction, cinema, gym entry, the person being supported will be responsible for paying their own cost. The project will pay the cost of the member of staff. If however, the cost of the activity would be outwith the usual scope of the project’s budget, the Project Manager should agree with the person receiving support, or a representative (family member/carer for example) an appropriate contribution from the individual.
It is the Project Manager’s responsibility to ensure the Project Budget is managed appropriately in terms of Food allocation and activity costs.
5Basic Provisions (Office Base)
The Mungo Foundation will provide all staff within our services a budget for basic provisions this includes tea, coffee, sugar, milk and diluting juice.
6Basic Provisions (Sleepover – all applicable projects/locations)
In addition to the above where a member of staff is on sleepover, regardless of the type of project, The Mungo Foundation will either provide funding for basic breakfast provisions from the Project Budget (Residential projects) or in housing support projects provide money on a monthly basis to cover the cost of these provisions. This money must be kept separate from all other monies and all transactions recorded and receipts attained.
Basic provisions will include cereal, milk, tea, coffee and diluting juice only.
7Managers’ (Responsibility)
Managers are required to ensure all procedures are communicated to the staff team. (Staff are to sign they agree and understand).
Managers must ensure that all food purchased is of reasonable cost and quality and that all purchases should be evidenced within the menu the individuals’ care plan (e.g. special dietary requirements).
For health and wellbeing, freshly prepared meals are preferred to readymade meals, as per Social Care & Social Work Improvement Scotland’s Standards.
All food purchased should be for individuals’ meal plans only and purchases should reflect this.
When supporting individuals to choose and purchase food or drinks their individual preferences, choices and dietary requirements should be taken into consideration. Advice around healthy eating and balanced choices etc. should be given where appropriate. Support Plans around dietary needs, eating and drinking, modified diets etc. should be followed at all times.
8Takeaways
It is reasonable to assume that people we support choose or want to have a takeaway from time to time or indeed as part of their weekly routine. The Mungo Foundation or individuals being supported will not purchase take away meals for consumption by staff. Should service users be having a take away within a care home or respite service staff can purchase a takeaway to have alongside the person they are supporting or, if it is recorded in the individuals support plan that they require support to eat and/or that a member of staff should share a mealtime with them, staff can prepare a meal from food already purchased from the project’s food budget if working in a residential project (Respite and Care Homes).
If staff purchase a takeaway from their own money and this is recorded on the same receipt as that of the service user’s staff should detail on the receipt how much both staff and service user’s costs were.
Project Managers in residential projects should adhere to their service specification and consider their project’s budget in determining whether the project pays for takeaways for service users. At all times service users being supported to live in their own home or in a Community Support Service are responsible for payment of their own takeaways.
9Staff Training
If staff, are training in-house or externally they must provide their own food unless the training course provides this as part of the cost of the training.
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