£520m Social Care Reforms Announced

The government has announced an extra £520 million to transform care for elderly people and those with disabilities, with local authorities signing an agreement to promote supported living.

Health secretary Alan Johnson’s Putting People First concordat sets out a three-year strategy for improving care of the elderly and disabled.

Councils will receive the money in the form of Social Care Reform grants, which will be spent on supported living and improving care homes.

Most people who receive funded care will be given their own personal budgets in order for them to choose the support services they want to access.

Other strategies include remedying isolation of the elderly and improving access to advice and advocacy about community services.

Prime minister Gordon Brown said: “Support for individuals and families when they need it is of vital importance to all of us. These proposals for personal budgets will allow all those who would benefit from a personal budget to receive one, putting real control into the hands of those in care and their carers, leading to far more personal and responsive care.”

The health secretary added: “One of my top priorities is to develop a new care system which gives people maximum control over their own support services.

“Everyone, irrespective of their illness or disability has the right to self determinations and maximum control over their own lives.”