§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the benefits of joint health and social care(a) planning and (b) provision in rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [127301]
§ Mr. DenhamWe are persuaded of the benefits of joint health and social care planning and, where appropriate, provision. We have taken a number of significant steps to promote joint working.
Joint planning is especially important in rural areas where services are more dispersed and some people face problems of access. The provision of joint services across the spectrum of health and social care has been encouraged through use of the Partnership Grant, and by the flexibilities provided for in the Health Act 1999, and increasingly means that rural areas can be better served.
The partnership arrangements in the Health Act 1999 came into force in April 2000. The new flexibilities include pooling of funds, delegation of functions and money transfers. To date there have been 22 notifications of partnership arrangements, amounting to over £200 million of resources, of which nine are from local authority areas which would be described as largely rural. These include Devon, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Cumbria and North Yorkshire.