Councils no longer required to give all social services users a personal budget

Government drops target after critics say users such as frail older people may not be able to manage budget

The government has dropped the target that required councils in England to give all users of social services a personal budget to buy their own care and support.

Councils had been expected to issue the budgets to 1.4 million people by next April. But critics of the target said it was unrealistic to think that all users of services, especially frail older people, could understand and manage a budget.

The latest figures show that 43% of eligible people have a budget, although only a minority of them take the allocation in the form of a direct payment of cash. For most, the council manages the money on their behalf.

Norman Lamb, the care services minister, announced on Friday that he had agreed with council social services directors to drop the April target to a “realistic” 70%.

“I want to be clear that 70% must be seen as a foundation, not a ceiling,” said Lamb, who insisted that the government remained committed to personalisation of services in not just social care but also health.

Evaluation results are due next month on trials of personal budgets with NHS money for people who have long-term conditions. The minister said it “looked like it may well be” a positive verdict.

“If it is, the next step will be to introduce personal health budgets more formally,” Lamb told the National Children and Adult Services conference in Eastbourne.

Under the personal budget system, people are allocated a sum of money to help meet their assessed needs and then encouraged to think of ways of using it to suit them best. As well as buying conventional care services, users have joined gyms, bought bicycles and taken respite breaks in hotels rather than care homes.

The system can be cheaper than traditional services, arranged by councils, and some people do not spend their full budget allocation.

Critics have argued that the 100% target – set by the coalition government in 2010 – was too ambitious and was discrediting the approach as councils raced to meet the deadline without giving budget-holders the right advice and help.

Sarah Pickup, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, welcomed the dropping of the target. She said it had been pressuring councils to allocate budgets sometimes against the individual’s best interests.

“Certainly this will allow us to do the right thing and focus not just on chasing a number, but getting the best outcomes from these personal budgets,” Pickup said.

Lamb told the conference that the government remained committed to appointing a chief social worker to help give the profession greater status in the wake of damaging scandals including “Baby P”, Peter Connelly, who died of abuse injuries in 2007 in Haringey, north London, despite having been on the council’s at-risk register.

The chief social worker job was advertised, but no appointment was made. The minister said it would be advertised again shortly.

Lamb said he wanted to see also the appointment of principal social workers for adult social services in each council. Their role would be “like ward matrons” in hospitals, he suggested.