Government fails to make pledge on portable care packages

By John Pring

The government has failed to give a firm commitment to enabling disabled people to move more easily between local authorities, despite the efforts of Baroness [Jane] Campbell (pictured) in the House of Lords.

The independent crossbench peer had tabled an amendment to the health and social care bill, which would have eased the process of moving from one part of the country to another.

It would have forced councils to work together to ensure a “seamless transition” to an equivalent level of support when a person who receives a care package or direct payments moves to a new local authority.

She told the Lords this week: “The amendment proposes a practical solution to the intolerable injustice of being, as I am, almost a prisoner of one’s local authority, unable to enjoy the same social and economic mobility and freedom of movement as our non-disabled counterparts.

“Those who do move often face agonising stress, hardship and uncertainty. It can take months and even years for the new local authority to decide what type and level of care package, if any, it will provide. Continuity of care is thrown to the wind.”

She said she and other campaigners had been raising the issue during social care consultations for more than a decade.

Her amendment was backed by the Labour peer Baroness [Rosalie] Wilkins, who said: “We have rightly invested thousands of pounds in schemes to help disabled people out of poverty, off benefit and into employment. Yet what greater disincentive can there be to prevent someone seeking employment which is just over the boundary of their authority than forcing them to take this gamble with their care needs.”

Lord [Jack] Ashley said it was “the most important amendment for disabled people that the government can address”.

Replying for the government, Baroness Thornton said its new social care green paper would include a number of options that address whether care and support should be based on the principle of local flexibility or on national standards, where someone would be entitled to the same support no matter where they live. There will then be a consultation on these options.

But she said the issue had to be dealt with as part of a wider review of care and support services, rather than a simple amendment to the health and social care bill.

She also said that the Law Commission, which is reviewing adult social care law, would examine whether the current legal framework prevents people moving between local authorities.

Following her comments, Baroness Campbell withdrew her amendment, although she told fellow peers it was still difficult to “see light at the end of the tunnel”.