§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department has made any estimate of the possible cash savings arising as a result of the assessment and case management procedure contained in the Government's community care proposals.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWe expect local authorities to make more cost effective use of resources as they develop their ability to offer a more individual response to clients' needs through improved procedures for assessment and case management. The extent to which this will be achieved will depend on the decisions of individual authorities.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what external evaluation of his Department's draft guidance on the implementation of the Government's proposals on community care took place between the deliberations of the guidance working parties and their despatch to interested organisations.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyRepresentatives from external organisations contributed to the community care development project groups whose reports helped to inform the draft guidance. The Department has recently sent this draft guidance for formal consultation to a wide range of external bodies involved in community care services. These include the local authority associations, the Association of Directors of Social Services, national health service regional general managers, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, representative organisations of the medical and nursing professions and other representative organisations.