§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will increase resources to local social service departments to meet the cost of providing care for those elderly persons who can no longer benefit from medical care but who require constant attention either in nursing homes or in the community itself; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonThe level of expenditure on social services is for each local authority to decide in the light of its assessment of local needs, its other responsibilities and the overall level of resources available. Local authorities have no power to provide nursing home care. The provision made by the Government for expenditure on personal social services in 1987–88 includes, in addition to allowances for inflation and demography, an extra 1 per cent. (worth £27 million) to boost developments in community care. Sir Roy Griffiths has been asked to review the way in which public funds are used to support community care policy.