Dartington Trustee tasked with shaping the future of adult care funding

Dartington Trustee Dame Jo Williams has been named as one of two social services leaders tasked with shaping the future of adult care funding in England and Wales.

The Department of Health this week announced the establishment of a Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, which will report on how best to reform the care funding system.

The three-person Commission consists of Jo Williams, acting Chair of the Care Quality Commission; Lord Norman Warner, former Labour health minister; and economist Andrew Dilnot (chair).

Social care website CommunityCare.co.uk reported that Jo Williams’ appointment “puts the social care sector at the heart of the commission” and ensures the panel will consider young adults as well as older care users.

> For more details on the Commission panel members visit the Community Care website.

The Commission will explore a range of ideas and provide recommendations on:

• The best way to meet care and support costs as a partnership between individuals and the state

• How an individual’s assets are protected against the cost of care

• How public funding for the care and support system can be best used to meet needs

• How to deliver the preferred option including implementation timescales and impact on local government

Autumn White Paper

The government said it intends to publish a White Paper next October, bringing together the conclusions of the commission and those of the Law Commission on the reforming the law on adult social care. This will be followed by legislation in the 2011-12 parliamentary session.

Commenting on Jo Williams’ recent appointment as a Dartington Hall Trustee in April 2010, Sir David Green, Chairman of Dartington’s Board of Trustees, said: “Social justice is one of the Trust’s main programme areas. Through our activities Research in Practice, the Centre for Excellence in Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services, and Research in Practice for Adults, we are already working with many local authorities in England and Wales and their social workers, who work with vulnerable families, adults, young people and children. I am delighted to be able to announce Dame Jo Williams’ appointment as a Trustee, whose lifelong commitment to the disadvantaged and those at risk in our society is remarkable.”

> Full details on the new commission can be found on the Commission’s web pages.