§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the continuing care of the mentally ill in the community after the three years' allocation of the specific grant for the mentally ill has elapsed.
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§ Mr. DorrellConsideration will be given to whether the specific grant needs to continue beyond 1993–94 in future public expenditure rounds; in the light of judgments about the adequacy of community care provision for people with a mental illness.
§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to monitor the use local authorities make of funds allocated for community care to ensure that the money is not used to fund other local authority functions.
§ Mr. DorrellWhere resources are specifically allocated to support aspects of community care, the Audit Commission ensures through its audit of local authority accounts that those resources have been used for the purposes for which they were allocated. Additionally, the Department generally calls for reports from authorities on the use that has been made of such resources. For the most part, however, Government support for community care is distributed through the revenue support grant, leaving local authorities free to determine their own expenditure priorities, though the Department receives information from authorities which enables it to monitor expenditure on community care.
§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to assist local authorities unable to fund the 30 per cent. necessary to claim their entitlement to the specific grant for the mentally ill.
§ Mr. DorrellLocal authorities' need to make a 30 per cent. contribution has already been taken into account in their standard spending assessment figure for the personal social services.