Law Commission proposes streamlining adult social care laws

Radical streamlining of a "hodgepodge" of almost 40 laws governing the care and support of older and disabled people is proposed today by the Law Commission, the government's advisory body on legislative reform. Statutes dating back up to 60 years would be condensed into a single act for adult social care in England and Wales, equivalent to the Children Act. The proposals, which will be open for consultation until the end of June, would form flagship cross-party legislation in the next parliament. Welfare groups welcomed the broad thrust of the proposals as long-overdue simplification, but warned that the commission would need to consider how to make a single act compatible with the accelerating drive for personalisation of services. Social care law is still based on the 1948 National Assistance Act, the only statute remaining in force from the Beveridge blueprint for the welfare state. The act is outdated both in its language and overall approach, having been drawn up in an era of institutional care. A further 37 statutes covering aspects of social care have since been enacted, creating what Sir James Munby, the commission's chairman, described as a hodgepodge of often overlapping law. The proposed single act would affect almost 1.8 million people receiving social care from their local councils, together with more than 6 million informal carers, and the commission stresses that it intends to protect existing services. Frances Patterson QC, the law commissioner leading on the project, said: "We are seeking to bring clarity to the system of social care. We are not seeking to change existing entitlements. A clear, modern statute will save time and money wasted on operating the current time-expired system." The commission estimates that its proposals would realise savings of £10m-£15m a year in social workers' time and complaints about the system. Under the new act, there would be a set of core principles to guide decision-making on social care and councils would have explicit duties to assess individuals' needs and provide services to those eligible. There would also be a duty to assess the needs of all carers, irrespective of the amount of care they provided. It is believed that ministers rejected earlier ideas by the commission – which have not survived into the consultation report – for a national community care tribunal and for local adult safeguarding boards to have strengthened powers of intervention as well as a duty to investigate – which is proposed – in cases of suspected abuse. Patterson said a bill would be tabled probably in summer 2011 and the work ought not to be derailed by the current debate on funding of long-term care. "The fundamental thing is that the legal framework will actually be able to capture whatever the policy is whichever government it is at that time." Michelle Mitchell, charity director of Age Concern and Help the Aged, said the proposals would be welcome provided they did not dilute people's existing rights. "Introducing a clear set of overarching principles is an important step forward," she said. "The law needs to be accessible to the layperson, so that people can understand what they are entitled to and have recourse to the legislation if the system fails them." David Walden, director of adult services at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, also welcomed the commission's plans, but added that it would be "important to ensure that any new legislation is compatible with a world of more personalised care and support, with services purchased through personal budgets and direct payments". Echoing this, Jane Ashman, for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: "We will want to ensure that future statute supports the further development of personalisation and transformation of social care." Patterson said that choice and control, independent living and person-centred planning were all among the core principles for consultation. She acknowledged that it might be necessary to make separate provisions within the act for Wales, which is not at present following England on introducing personal budgets. • lawcom.gov.uk