Cash finds its way to prevention and reablement

The bulk of £648m transferred from the NHS to local authorities has been spent on services designed to cut hospital admissions.

Speaking at the 2011 National Children and Adult Services Conference, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley told delegates, "there was scepticism the money wouldn’t find its way, but the evidence we’ve got so far shows those fears have not been realised”. £128m has gone into developing early intervention and prevention measures, and £50m on reablement. A further £115m has been allocated to help councils avoid increasing local eligibility criteria used to decide who should receive care services.

The money, announced in last year’s comprehensive spending review, will be moved from the NHS to councils every year until 2014-15. 

Read more