Social Services: Costs
Health

Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of social care provision.

Paul Burstow (Minister of State (Care Services), Health; Sutton and Cheam, Liberal Democrat)

Local authorities are accountable for delivering efficiency savings in adult social care, but the Department has worked with the sector to consider the opportunities to reduce costs. To this end, the Department has part-funded a programme of Adult Social Care Efficiency launched by the Local Government Association in November 2011.

Furthermore, in November 2010 the Department published “A Vision for Adult Social Care” outlining a number of suggestions for areas where local authorities could make efficiency savings. Among others, these included:

maximising the potential of reablement services;

developing an integrated crisis or rapid response services;

rolling out telecare support; and

minimising back office administration.

As a result of wishing to keep local authorities free of additional burdens, the Department does not collect its own data on efficiency savings. However, other sources including the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services budget survey suggest that efficiencies are being delivered successfully, without unduly affecting frontline services.