§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cases each responsible local authority would be expected to deal with under the formula for transferring funding for residents of care homes and nursing homes on preserved rights from the Department of Work and Pensions to local authorities; [63157]
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Children looked after in London boroughs, by ethnic origin, as at 31 March 2001 Percentage Ethnic origin London boroughs All children White Mixed origin Black or Black British Other ethnic groups London 100 52 10 25 12 Inner London Camden 100 50 18 25 8 Greenwich 100 66 7 15 12 Hackney 100 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— Hammersmith and Fulham 100 39 4 37 21 Islington 100 39 21 22 18 Kensington and Chelsea 100 31 30 32 7 Lambeth 100 37 10 47 7 Lewisham 100 46 5 35 14 South wark 100 50 13 32 5 (2) what unit of funding was used in arriving at the formula for the transferred responsibility for residents of care homes and nursing homes with preserved rights to local authorities. [63153]
§ Jacqui SmithThe national budget for the preserved rights grant was determined principally on the basis of the expected number in mid 2002–03 of residents formerly entitled to preserved rights. The allocation for individual local authorities was calculated in proportion to the distribution of residents with preserved rights as at December 2000. The caseloads of people under 65 and over 65 were considered separately. The data for December 2000 were provided by the Department for Work and Pensions. These data were adjusted by information provided by councils on the numbers of preserved rights residents supported outside their area. These adjusted data are available on the Department of Health's website at http:/www.doh.gov.uk/scg/incom-sup.htm.
(3) what attempts were made to assess the capacity of the private sector to meet the assessed care needs of individual residents in care homes and nursing homes with reserved rights before arriving at the funding formula for transfer of undertaking to local authorities. [63154]
§ Jacqui SmithUntil March this year, responsibility for the regulation and inspection of independent sector residential care homes and nursing homes lay respectively with local councils and the national health service. Part of this function included checking that homes were able to meet the needs of their residents. On 1 April 2002, this responsibility passed to the National Care Standards Commission, for care homes in England. Until the abolition of preserved rights to higher levels of income support there was no requirement on councils to assess the care needs of residents with preserved rights unless the council was topping up their care home fees.