Written question asked by Andrew George (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 29 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 April 2010. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Social Services: Finance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are used to (a) apportion the costs of providing care to people with chronic medical conditions causing disability between the NHS and social services and (b) estimate expenditure on such costs in respect of those who assist such people with (i) mobility, (ii) attendance and (iii) other care.

Answer: 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).

Secondary information