Getting to Grips with the Money
In April 2006 the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) began a programme of work called Getting to Grips with the Money to help councils contain spending growth on people with learning disabilities, and to shift money towards self-directed support. Martin Cattermole shared his views of the future funding issues with delegates at the ARC conference in November 2007.
Spending Pressures on Learning Disability Services
As part of their programme CSIP has worked with nine London boroughs to implement the national fair pricing tool, with councils and PCTs to identify how NHS money for people with a learning disability is being spent, and produced a modelling tool to help councils look at the impact on their budgets of different commissioning strategies.
By 2007 over 90 of the 150 local authorities with social services responsibilities in England have joined In Control, which allows people to plan and direct their own support using a personal budget. As a result Getting to Grips with the Money will now work with In Control to develop a broader value for money programme to help councils to monitor outcomes and costs as more people take up self-directed support.
Links:
- CSIP's webpage for Getting to Grips with the Money
- ADSS report Spending Pressures on Learning Disability Services (October 2005), available to download from the (now) ADASS publications/guidance notes section of their website
- Contact: Martin Cattermole, at CSIP
- In Control website