Personalisation grant stays ring-fenced but cuts fear remains

Local authority funding to support the personalisation agenda will remain ring-fenced this year but doubts remain over whether the £237m grant will be cut.

The Department of Health confirmed today that the social care reform grant – worth £520m from 2008-11 – would still have to be spent exclusively on measures to implement personalisation by English councils this year.

But a spokesperson could not confirm whether its funding would be cut, as part of government moves announced yesterday to claw back £1.165bn from specific local authority grants in 2010-11.

The think-tank the New Local Government Network warned yesterday that cuts could be made to the personalisation grant to achieve the savings targeted by government.

The Department of Communities and Local Government is due to hold talks with Local Government Association over where the axe should fall over the coming days.

The coalition government also announced that £1.7bn in local authority grants would no longer be ring-fenced – giving councils more control over where to make cuts, but potentially diverting funding from key services and initiatives.

However, the DH confirmed this would not apply to the social care reform grant. The DH has also said that the NHS Stressline, set up by the previous government to help people dealing with financial problems or job insecurity, would not be among the 200 DH phone lines earmarked for closure because of underuse.

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