HC Deb 16 November 1992 vol 214 cc101-2W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on future payment of development moneys for drug and alcohol clinics.

Mr. Yeo

An announcement regarding the specific grants to be made available for 1993–94 for the personal social services will be made shortly.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements she proposes to ensure that local authorities give proper weight to the needs of alcohol and drug misusers under community care; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Yeo

The special circumstances of alcohol and drug misusers have implications for both local authorities and service providers in funding for community care.

We propose to address these by issuing special guidance to encourage local authorities to pay special attention to meeting the needs of alcohol and drug misusers within community care and encouraging local authorities and alcohol and drug services providers to work together to establish "fast track" assessment procedures to ensure that decisions about service provision for these clients can be made quickly and establish good practice in identifying responsible authorities for out-of-area referrals.

We will also establish special monitoring arrangements for alcohol and drug misuse services in the first three months after the third stage of our community care reforms come into operation in April 1993.

We have already taken steps to ensure that the £539 million special transitional grant (STG), which will fund the additional community care responsibilities being assumed by local authorities from April next year, is spent on services which reflect client's wishes and causes minimal turbulence. These are:

  1. (i) the pre-condition of the STG that health authorities and local authorities should have signed agreements on where their responsibilities lie;
  2. (ii) that 85 per cent. of the transfer element of the STG be spent in the independent sector;
  3. (iii) the direction on choice which will ensure that the views of alcohol and drugs misusers—like other community care clients—are taken into account when deciding the most appropriate package of care.

Mr. Austin-Walker

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the difficulties projects such as Phoenix House will face following the introduction of community care in April 1993 in negotiating contracts with many local authorities;

(2) what action she proposes to take to ensure the future funding arrangements of Phoenix House and other short-stay residential projects for drug misusers;

(3) if she will make it her policy to ring-fence funds to protect residential drug services within the funds earmarked for community care.

Mr. Yeo

A special transitional grant for community care of £539 million will be made available to local authorities in 1993–94. This money will be ring-fenced for use by local authorities for the whole range of community care, including services for drug and alcohol misusers. We have, however, recognised the special circumstances in relation to services for drug and alcohol misusers and I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin) today.