Massive variations in personal budget take-up persist between councils and regions, the latest official figures show.
While 29.2% of adult care users or carers receiving community services had a personal budget in 2010-11, up from 13% in 2009-10, rates ranged from 4% in Somerset to 71% in Manchester, according to statistics published by the NHS Information Centre
However, despite the figures, ADASS vice-president Sarah Pickup said that “there is no reason to assume that we cannot meet the target of 100% by 2013 in most places”.
Community Care

Currently over 160,000 people across England employ their own Personal Assistant to meet their care and support needs. Many people are, however, put off by the responsibilities of being an employer. But there is plenty of help and support available from, or example, Skills for Care www.skillsforcare.org.uk/individualemployers. Their toolkit will be showcased at our “employing a PA” event on Tuesday 15th of May (see previous news item for details)