Free personal care costs to be published
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
The Scottish Government is preparing to publish new figures on the cost of free personal care.
The new statistics will face close scrutiny from politicians south of the border amid a row over the introduction of the policy in England.
The publication of personal care for 2008 coincide with criticism of the Westminster Government by Lord Sutherland, the architect of Scotland's system of free personal care for elderly people.
Plans to introduce similar provision in England were set out in the Queen's Speech last week and hailed as a 'major breakthrough' by Gordon Brown.
However, the proposal immediately came under fire, with Labour peer Lord Lipsey calling it 'a demolition job on the national budget'.
The Prime Minister pledged at the Labour conference in September to create a new national care service, helping people remain in their homes rather than going into residential care.
However, the man credited with creating Scotland's system acknowledged there was opposition to the idea in England.
Lord Sutherland told a political magazine: 'What I am surprised and disappointed about is that in the fat years, when the Government seemed to have plenty of money to spend, they criticised Scotland for spending in sensible ways, which include this - not only this, but including this.
He added: 'If they had moved more swiftly down here in London, they would have embedded a lot of this, they would have learned how to deal with it and then they would have known how to, if necessary, make cuts.'
There have also been concerns that the Westminster Government's funding proposals for the scheme could result in pensioners in Scotland losing out.
The UK Government is considering scrapping the Attendance Allowance for elderly disabled people to pay for the introduction of free personal care.
However, the SNP has hit out, saying disabled pensioners in Scotland can claim that £70 a week benefit while still receiving care services.