§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what representations she received in response to her circular LASSL(94)3; and if she will summarise its contents;
(2) in how many cases she has exercised her discretion on the repayment of special transitional grant in respect of meeting the independent sector condition; and if she will name the authorities concerned.
§ Mr. BowisFinal audit returns for 1993–94 are not required until 31 December 1994. In considering any action to be taken as a result of those returns we will take into account representations made by local authorities, including any made by those authorities listed in LASSL(94)3, copies of which are available in the Library.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the implications for statutory services of local authorities using their base-line budgets to meet their new community care duties under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 because they have already spent their special transitional grant allocation;
(2) what representations she has received from those local authorities which have already spent their 1994–95 special transitional grant;
(3) what steps she has taken to monitor the commitment effect of expenditure incurred during the 1993–94 financial year in terms of the adequacy of the special transitional grant in individual local authorities for the current financial year;
(4) what steps she has taken to establish how many local authorities have already spent their special 29W transitional grant allocation for 1994–95; and if she will make a statement;
(5) what representations she has received regarding the implications of charging for services arising as a result of the special transitional grant being exhausted in a number of local authorities;
(6) what advice she has given to those authorities that have already spent their 1994–95 special transitional grant allocation with regard to (a) meeting community care needs using other resources and (b) prioritising their responses to community care referrals.
§ Mr. BowisIn addition to resources available to them through the personal social services standard spending assessment, local authorities have been given £1.27 billion to meet their additional responsibilities under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 in 1994–95, including a special transitional grant of some £736 million. We are aware of a few authorities which have expressed concern about the level of their resources for community care. It is for them to decide, from their total available resources, including special transitional grant, what proportion they wish to devote to community care taking account of local circumstances and priorities. It is also for them to manage those resources effectively throughout the year.