Brighton & Hove takes care funding battle to Whitehall

Brighton & Hove stands to lose up to £1.7 million under the government’s new care plan for older people, Brighton & Hove City Council Councillor Ken Norman has warned Health Secretary Andy Burnham in a letter expressing his concern.

The letter comes as the Government’s Personal Care at Home Bill, which will roll-out a new funding regime for care services from 1 October, is at Committee Stage in the House of Lords.

Cllr Norman, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Health, has expressed his concern about the Bill’s provisions; particularly around funding and implementation, which it is estimated will cost the council an extra £1.3million - £1.7million per annum.

He wrote: “Meeting that funding gap would require an increase in council tax or cuts to vital services. These options are unacceptable as they could threaten our ability to provide the necessary services to those in need.”

The government should ‘think again’ about the serious implications of its proposed financial contribution, he wrote.

A second area of concern highlighted by Cllr Norman is that the national assessment tools and guidance will not be available until the summer ‘which gives our social care staff very little time to familiarise themselves with the new procedures’. In the letter he urged ministers to delay implementation to 1 April 2011.

He wrote: “I wish to make it absolutely clear that I fully support the principle of helping more people with care needs to stay in their own homes. However, current government proposals are ill-thought out.

“In their current guise with a funding shortfall they threaten to destabilise us financially, put undue and unfair strain on our staff and risk councils’ ability to properly care for those that most need it.”