Downing Street Says » Disabled Care

» Thursday, January 20, 2011

Disabled Care

Asked about the respite care available for a family from South Gloucestershire, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said the Prime Minister planned to write to the family in question and to the local MP, and that he was very concerned about the case.

Asked about funding, he added that levels of respite care were decided on by councils, and that the funding stream which paid for it came from the Department for Education’s Early Intervention Grant (EIG), which the Spending Review settlement had set at 800m over four years, an increase from 2010. The PMS added that the Government believed it was possible for the whole of the public sector to be more efficient, with tighter spending, so that frontline services could be preserved.

Asked about the removing of ring-fending, the PMS said this gave councils the freedom to make funding decisions based on the different issues they faced. He added that councils were best-placed to decide on local spending needs and ending ring-fencing meant they could respond better to their particular needs. The PMS said the Government did not accept the argument that Whitehall knew how best to allocate every bit of money because managing from the centre did not get the right results.

He added that the Prime Minister was keen that local carers were properly supported and that that should be possible on the basis of the funding settlement.

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