A report said that almost half of the £5.5 billion increase in health spending in England in 2005-06 went on higher pay for NHS staff.
Source: Public Expenditure on Health and Personal Social Services 2006: Memorandum received from the Department of Health containing replies to a written questionnaire from the Committee, HC 1692, House of Commons Health Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Nov
A paper examined the public expenditure costs and distributional effects of potential reforms to long-term care funding.
Source: Ruth Hancock et al., Winners and Losers: Assessing the distributional effects of long-term care funding regimes, Working Paper 2006-43, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that more than a third of National Health Service trusts in financial deficit had withdrawn funding from services jointly agreed or funded with social care services in England. Two-fifths of social services departments were being forced to deal with increased referrals of cases that appeared to be the responsibility of the NHS.
Source: Social Care Finance Survey June 2006: The impact of NHS trust financial deficits on English local authorities, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
A discussion paper presented projections of demand for long-term care for older people in England to 2041 and associated future expenditure. It said that the proportion of national income required to fund long-term care services would rise significantly under base-case assumptions.
Source: Raphael Wittenberg et al., Future Demand for Long-term care, 2002 to 2041: Projections of demand for older people in England, Discussion Paper 2330, Personal Social Services Research Unit/University of Kent (01227 823963)
Links: Paper
Date: 2006-Mar
A survey found that English councils faced a combined deficit of 1.77 billion in their social care budgets for 2005-06. It blamed the National Health Service financial crisis, under-funding from central government, and an ageing population.
Source: Social Services Finance 2005/06: A survey of local authorities, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000) and Association of Directors of Social Services
Links: Report | LGA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar