ASSOCIATION OF DIRECTORS OF ADULT SOCIAL SERVICES

DATE: MAY 9, 2008

EMBARGO: 10.15 A.M. MONDAY MAY 12, 2008

Green Paper must be `radical and courageous’ in its approach and conclusions - ADASS

ADASS PRESIDENT JOHN Dixon greeted today’s launch of a widespread consultation prior to the Government’s preparation of its Green Paper on financing adult social care, as `the end of the beginning’ of a long campaign designed to put the issue on a more equitable and sustainable basis.

“ADASS and others have long called for the debate to be opened up in this way - especially since the failure of the Sutherland Commission to provide an acceptable solution when it reported back in 1999. It is a measure of the rising importance of adult social care in England that the Government is committing so much time and energy to this Green paper,” he said.

And he paid particular tribute to the foresight of former ADSS Older People’s co-chairs Glenys Jones and Chris Paley for their important contribution to helping shift political and professional opinion towards looking at the needs of the adult population as a whole*.

“As we move towards a more holistic approach to the needs of all adults within our communities new and challenging questions are bound to arise in the way we finance and manage new services. Equally, we shall need to consider the amount that individuals should be expected to pay; the amount of help they should be entitled to from others via State spending, and the amount that perhaps their families might be expected to pay.

“Neither should the contribution of informal and hitherto unwaged carers be forgotten, and how much they might expect to be paid. We expect further announcements on this issue from the Prime Minister later on this month.

“All these issues deserve to be given a thorough airing during the coming months, with all their implications being seriously thought. I know that the Government, by the activities it is launching today, is doing its utmost to help facilitate these debates.

“We look forward to a document emerging from the consultations which will be as radical as the challenges require, and as courageous as the circumstances demand,” he said.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

John Dixon, ADASS President, 01243 7776600

Jenny Owen, ADASS Vice-President, 01245 434806

ADASS Business Unit, 020 7072 7431

* See, for example, their contribution to All Our Tomorrows: Inverting the Triangle of Care, ADSS/LGA, 2003

Royal Commission on Long-Term Care. With Respect to Old Age: Long Term care - Rights and Responsibilities. HMSO 1999

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The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) represents directors of adult social services in local authorities in England and Northern Ireland. As well as having statutory responsibilities for the social care of older people and adults with disabilities, ADASS members might also share a number of responsibilities for the provision and/or commissioning of leisure, library, housing, sports, culture and arts services within their councils. ADASS grew out of the Association of Directors of Social services (ADSS) following the division of local authority services for adults and children.