Section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006, provides the legal framework to enable health and social services to integrate health related functions through a number of partnership arrangements. These include the establishment of pooled budgets for specific client groups and partners to a pooled budget are required to agree how costs are apportioned within the partnership, as well as the level of contribution each partner will make.
Information on the health and social care costs for those who assist people with chronic health conditions is not available centrally. The National Carers' Strategy identified the funding that was available within primary care trust (PCT) baselines to improve support for carers. This includes an additional £150 million that would be given to PCTs to provide carer breaks over 2009-10 (£50 million) and 2010-11 (£100 million).