§ Baroness Sharp of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the evaluation of the first phase pilots of Care Direct is likely to be published. [HL3678]
§ Lord WarnerThe Personal Social Services Research Unit of the University of Kent (PSSRU) was commissioned to evaluate the Care Direct pilot. Its interim report was completed in the autumn of 2002 and published earlier this year on the Care Direct138WA website (www.caredirect.gov.uk) and the PSSRU's own website (www.kent.ac.uk).
§ Baroness Sharp of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How, given that the evaluation has not yet been published, they propose to take account of the lessons learned from the Care Direct first phase pilots in setting up the new Third Age Service. [HL3679]
§ Lord WarnerThe Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for taking forward the development of a Third Age Service. It is doing so in the light of the interim evaluation report, published earlier this year by the Personal Social Services Research Unit of the University of Kent, and the invaluable experience of live running of Care Direct over 18 months.
§ Baroness Sharp of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much was spent, authority by authority, on preparing second phase pilots for Care Direct, including the cost of staff planning time; and what and how much compensation the local authorities involved have received, or are likely to receive, for costs incurred as a result of abandoning the pilots. [HL3680]
§ Lord WarnerThe set-up grant paid to each of the Care Direct second phase authorities was as follows:
£ Bath & North East Somerset 87,716 Bradford 114,238 Cornwall 133,247 Dorset 126,481 Essex 208.049 North Somerset 93,069 Nottingham 96,591 Nottinghamshire 148,137 Poole 87,619 South Gloucestershire 91.949 Surrey 179,838 Swindon 85,788 Torbay 88,432 Wiltshire 114,428 This grant included the costs of the pilot project managers and their support staff and associated expenses; the costs of any voluntary organisation who provided assistance with the pilot project; and the cost of any purchase of capital equipment that would be used in support of the pilot project. Detailed information about the amount of staff time spent planning and setting up the project is not held. None of the authorities has reported any costs incurred as a result of stopping work on the pilots.