Welfare Reform on the Web (February 2008): Social care - UK

Left on the shelf

H. Mooney

Community Care, Jan. 24th 2008, p. 14-15

There is concern that the House of Commons Health Select Committee has not carried out any investigations into social care issues since 2005.

Making it personal

J. Bartlett, N. Gallagher and C. Leadbeater

Demos, 2008

Research shows that personalised budgets led to average council savings of 10% compared to care packages and achieved greater user satisfaction than traditional services. A survey of nearly 200 users across 17 councils found that more than three quarters of respondents said that their quality of life had improved since starting on self-directed support, while 72% said they had more choice and control over their lives. The report predicts that the role of social workers will change as self-directed support becomes the norm and they act more creatively as advisers and navigators.

When the only way is up

C. Williams

Community Care, Jan. 24th 2008, p. 26-27

Reports on how poorly performing social services departments in Tower Hamlets and Harrow have worked to improve their star ratings. The article also considers the impact of the assessment framework based on the seven outcomes for service users proposed in the White Paper Our health, our care, our say which will replace the star rating system.