Concerns raised on future of adult social care services

The government has been urged to review the impact of spending cuts on the provision of adult social care services, during a Westminster Hall debate on 17 May 2011.

Opening the debate, the Labour MP for Stockton North Alex Cunningham said the sector was "the most hardest hit" of all social services.

He pointed to a BBC survey that has recently highlighted that adult social care spending will fall by an estimated 4.7% to £3.4bn in the North in 2011/12 and rise by 2.7% to £3.33bn in the South.

Shadow health minister Emily Thornberry criticised the Coalition for not ringfencing money allocated for social care and accused the government of "simply not knowing what is going on".

However, Health Minister Paul Burstow said that the government had recently allocated an extra £2bn a year by 2014-15 for social care services.

The government has set up an independent commission on social care, which is due to report in July, and will put forward plans in a White Paper by the end of the year.

Mr Burstow said the commission could lead to a "real partnership between the state and the citizen" about paying for social care.