For your diary… the main social care events,
policy implementations and plans so far announced for the year.

January

– Smart cards for asylum seekers phased in
from this month.

– Deadline for learning disability
partnerships to submit updated joint investment plans to department
of health.

– Social Care Institute for Excellence
listening exercise begins.

– The General Social Care Council and its
Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts begin the
consultation period on their draft code of conduct for social care
workers and draft code of practice for employers.

– Practice guidance on home care charges due
from doh by end of January.

– Third Quality Protects management action
plan due to be submitted by local authorities to doh.

February

– Phase one of Victoria Climbie inquiry
expected to mid-February

– 13: Deadline for comments on inter-country
adoption guidance published by doh.

March

– By 1 March health authorities and primary
care trusts must agree joint continuing care eligibility criteria
with local authorities.

– Also by 1 March: Local authorities must
develop comprehensive map of local supply of housing-related
support services as part of Supporting People implementation.

– Employment Services’ scheme to help drug
misusers into jobs begins.

– From end of March, councils must submit all
their approved adopters to the new national adoption register.

– From end of March all employers must have:
full and accurate baseline data on violence to social workers, have
identified firm action to remedy significant deficits arising from
this year’s audit on violence.

– 31 March – 7 April: Mental Health Action
Week.

April

– National Care Standards Commission becomes
fully operational and new care standards and regulations come into
force.

– Single assessment process for older people
to be introduced from this month.

– Preserved rights to income support for
people in residential and nursing home care abolished, and funding
responsibility transferred to local authorities.

– Single regeneration budget ceases to exist
and is replaced by single pot, or merged fund, for physical, social
and environmental regeneration, managed by nine regional
development agencies.

– All new staff members working with people
with learning difficulties must be signed up to the learning
difficulty awards framework by this month.

– Introduction of learning disability
development fund, and plans for closing remaining long-stay
hospitals to be agreed.

– Twenty-eight strategic health authorities to
replace existing 95 health authorities.

– The 88 local authorities eligible for the
£900 neighbourhood renewal fund must agree their local
neighbourhood renewal strategy.

May

– 22-23: Community Care Live, Business Design
Centre, Islington, London. Free study days and exhibition.

– New performance rating scheme begins in
which every council will receive an overall “star” performance
rating taking into account Social Services Inspectorate reports,
joint reviews and performance indicator scores.

– This month sees the implementation of the
Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which places on local
authorities specific duties to take a proactive approach to
promoting race equality. Councils must also publish their race
equality schemes.

July

– 1: Local authorities to produce initial
Supporting People strategy based on needs and supply analysis.

– Children’s Society plans to cease all work
in Wales.

– 3-5: Local Government Association annual
conference.

September

– Victoria Climbie inquiry report due to be
published

– Voucher system for asylum seekers to be
phased out by end of the month.

October

– 1: Implementation of phase one of home care
charging policies.

– 16-18: National Social Services Conference,
Cardiff.

– One shop stop for older people Care Direct
(0800 444 000) to be extended across south west England.

– Results of social services performance
assessment framework indicators due to be published.

November

– Central government required to set up a
publication scheme under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
setting out the information it will release to the public.

December

– 1: World Aids Day.