Home Care Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the comments of the Care Services Minister of 28 March 2010 in The Times newspaper, what representations he received from care charities in support of the Personal Care at Home Bill. (323834)

I was referring, in my comments of 18 March 2010, to an open letter in support of the Personal Care at Home Bill, sent on 16 March to the media and to hon. Members and noble Lords and signed by the heads of seven charities. These included Carers UK, Counsel and Care, Help the Aged/Age Concern, RADAR, the WRVS, Contact a Family and Grandparents Plus.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2010, Official Report, column 773W, on home care services: finances, how many people in England receive (a) free and (b) partially funded home care; and how much was spent on providing that care in the latest period for which figures are available. (323835)

The NHS Information Centre for health and social care collects information from councils with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs) on numbers receiving and expenditure on social care services via the Referrals, Assessments and Packages of Care (RAP) and the Personal Social Services Expenditure (PSS Ex1) returns.

However, RAP and PSS Ex1 data do not differentiate between service users whose care is fully funded by CASSRs and those whose care is partially funded.

During the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008—the latest available data—577,000 adults aged 18 and over in England received home care, funded either partly or wholly by their CASSR, following a community care assessment. £2.7 billion was spent by CASSRs in 2007-08 on providing home care.