Adult social care grants safe from axe, Burstow confirms

No Department of Health grants for adult social care are going to be cut this year, care services minister Paul Burstow has revealed.

In a written answer yesterday, Burstow said: “The department will fund over £1.4 billion of grants to local government for adult social care, as planned.”

This includes the Aids support grant, the learning disability campus closure programme, the stroke strategy and the carers grant.

In reply to a written question from former work and pensions secretary David Blunkett, Burstow added that the Department for Communities and Local Government would shortly be announcing the government’s detailed proposals for local authorities.

The carers support grant is worth £256m for 2010-11 and allows councils to set up systems to ensure carers can have immediate access to alternative support in an emergency or crisis situation.

Emily Holzhausen, director of policy and public affairs at Carers UK, said: “That’s a very welcome statement because it’s really important we’ve got the carers grant funding to local authorities but what’s important is what happens beyond 2011 now and that’s a matter of significant concern and is something we will be looking at very closely.”

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