Category Archives: Carers

100% personal budgets target scrapped

Care minister says councils must have 70% of service users on personal budgets by April 2013, ditching 100% ambition.

Pic Credit: Rex Features

Pic Credit: Rex Features

Friday 26 October 2012 11:22

The government has scrapped its target for councils to move all service users in the community on to personal budgets by April 2013, care minister Norman Lamb announced today.

Lamb said he had agreed a new target of having 70% of users on personal budgets by the same date, following talks with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.

Lamb said personal budgets were not suitable for everyone, but stressed that the 70% target was a staging post and should not be seen as a ceiling.

His announcement, at the National Children and Adult Services Conference, was strongly welcomed by Adass president Sarah Pickup.

She said that it would mean councils could stop “chasing a number” and focus on outcomes.

Lamb also issued a strong personal commitment to implementing the Dilnot commission’s proposals of a cap on the care costs faced by individuals.

Autism support for adults

Guest Blog by Jason Tucker

We regularly discuss autism in young children and how it’s important to diagnose the disorder as early on as possible. There are a lot of support services out there for the parents of children with autism, but what about those young carers who are concerned that their parents may have autism? How do they cope and how can they get support?

Winterbourne View: Care workers jailed for abuse

Six out of 11 care workers who admitted a total of 38 charges of neglect or abuse of patients at a private hospital have been jailed.

Five other workers from Winterbourne View near Bristol were given suspended sentences after the acts of abuse were uncovered by BBC Panorama.

Ringleader Wayne Rogers, 32, who admitted nine counts of ill-treating patients, was jailed for two years.

Judge Neil Ford QC said there was a “culture of cruelty” at the care home.

‘Vile and inexcusable’