Chancellor announces social care reforms

In his Pre Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review yesterday, the Chancellor Alistair Darling announced a major reform of social care, which will include an increase in social care funding to 1.4 billion by 2010.

In making the announcement, the Chancellor said the funding "will help provide new homes for older people and help people with disabilities live independently in the community, as well as offering more services for carers."

The government will also look at reforming the provision of social care for adults and older people.

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers welcomes the increase in funding and its potential to benefit carers, although no specific commitment was made in the report as to whether the Carers Grant would continue as a distinct funding stream. The government’s position on this is crucial, as without the Carers Grant funding for carers would rely on the individual commitments of local authorities and PCTs, which are by no means guaranteed.

In response to these concerns, David Behan, Director General for Social Care at the Department of Health, today provided assurances that the Carers Grant will be identified as a distinct funding stream within local authorities’ social care settlements for another financial year, with a review following the Carers Strategy.

In describing the new social care settlement, David Behan said:

"This delivers an additional £2.6 billion by 2010-11 to Local Authorities that provide social care, with an additional £190 million by 2010-11 for social care through the Department of Health. The settlement also significantly reduces specific and ring-fenced grants by mainstreaming funding into general, un-ring fenced grants (Revenue Support Grant and the new Area Based Grant).

Funding is being made available that, together with value for money reforms, will enable social services to build on progress already made in developing personalised services that give people who use services and their carers greater choice and control over the way in which their needs are met – delivering the vision set out in Our health, our care, our say.

This settlement, together with value for money reforms, provides adequate funding for local government to meet the demographic and inflationary pressures in the social care sector. Local Government allocations and grants will be provisionally announced later this year."

Read the Pre Budget Report and Chancellor’s statement in full.