§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his targets are for the assessment and provision of social care; and what measures are in place to ensure that these targets are met. [87775]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Government's priority targets for social services are set out in the Department of Health's planning and priorities framework for 2003 to 2006, "Improvement, Expansion and Reform: the next three years", principally in the sections on life chances for children in care, mental health and older people. The document sets out priority targets for both health and social services. A copy is available in the Library.
The priorities for social services and social services performance in general are assessed by the Social Services Inspectorate, taking into account a broad range of performance evidence from performance indicators, inspections and in-year monitoring. Since May 2002 this assessment of performance has been summarised as the social services performance "star" rating. There are significant freedoms available for the best performing councils, providing an incentive to improve. Where councils show poor performance and we do not believe the council has the capacity to improve, we have provided assistance in the form of performance action teams. In cases of serious failure we will not hesitate to use our formal intervention powers.