Government plans for free personal care come under fire

Government plans to give free personal care to those in the greatest need have been widely welcomed, but there is scepticism among local authorities about whether the financial framework underpinning the proposal stacks up.

Local authority leaders have expressed deep concern over how the government intends to finance its plans for wider provision of care.

The proposals, contained in the Personal Care at Home Bill unveiled in the Queen’s Speech, are described as the first step towards setting up a new National Care Service.

The Bill would guarantee free care at home for up to 280,000 people with complex medical conditions, regardless of their means. A further 130,000 people will get the right to aid that will enable them to live in their homes for longer.

The Department of Health will provide £420m towards the cost of the scheme, but £250m a year will come from local government. Although local authority and community groups support the Bill in principle, there is widespread concern over the funding rationale behind the legislative framework.

Jenny Owen, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: “We shall be working closely with the Department of Health in trying to frame the working guidance over the coming months. But local authorities have already wrung substantial efficiency savings from their adult care and other budgets, and it isn’t clear that there is a further £250m left to wring.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) agreed. It warned that if the government cannot lift existing burdens, it is difficult to see how local government could meet the cost of “another new burden”. “There needs to be absolute clarity as to what is included in personal care and in what form it will be provided,” it argued.