§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of North Yorkshire social services department's projected budgetary reduction on its ability to meet its statutory duties to disabled people; what monitoring he will be conducting in this respect; and if he will make a statement. [14076]
§ Mr. BurnsThe total resources provided for social services in North Yorkshire will increase by a further 6 per cent. next year to £73 million, 48 per cent. more in real terms than in 1990–91. It is for local authorities to manage and to decide on the allocation of these substantial resources in accordance with local circumstances and their own priorities.
§ Mr. MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local social services authorities are planning to withdraw services from disabled people in160W consequence of reductions in their budgets for 1997–98; what monitoring he is conducting of the effect of budgetary cuts on the ability of authorities to meet their statutory duties to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [14079]
§ Mr. BurnsThe total resources provided for social services in England will increase by a further 4 per cent. next year to £7.7 billion—73 per cent. more in real terms than in 1990–91. It is for local authorities to manage and to decide on the allocation of these substantial resources in accordance with local circumstances and their own priorities.
The Department receives budget figures for individual local authorities by broad client category, and these are published in "Key Indicators of Local Authority Social Services", copies of which are available in the Library. The Department does not, however, obtain comparable statistics on planned activity levels, so is not in a position to analyse prospectively whether it is proposed to reduce services.
§ Mr. MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to meet the Association of Directors of Social Services to discuss the effects of planned budgetary reductions on the ability of local social services authorities to meet their statutory duties to disabled people. [14080]
§ Mr. BurnsWe have no immediate plans to meet the Association of Directors of Social Services, though we do meet regularly to discuss a range of issues. We last met it informally, on 4 February.
§ Mr. MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of Kent social services department's projected budgetary reduction on its ability to meet its statutory duties to disabled people; what monitoring he will be conducting in this respect; and if he will make a statement. [14081]
§ Mr. BurnsThe total resources provided for social services in Kent will increase by a further 5 per cent. next year to £218 million—84 per cent. more in real terms than in 1990–91. It is for local authorities to manage and to decide on the allocation of these substantial resources in accordance with local circumstances and their own priorities.