Care Act first-phase reforms: report by the Comptroller and Auditor General

This report considers if the Department of Health is carrying out phase 1 of the Care Act in a way that is likely to achieve the government’s objectives and be value for money. It focuses on the new duties to provide assessments and services to carers, and help for self-funders, examining: the policy, financial and demographic contexts within which the changes are being implemented (Part One); the Department’s arrangements to carry out the Care Act, and local authorities preparation for 2015-16 (Part Two); and funding which the Department has provided to introduce the Care Act in 2015-16 (Part Three). The report estimates that phase 1 of the Act will cost £2.5bn to carry out from 2013-14 to 2019-20, more than half of which is for carers’ assessments and services – a new entitlement and the largest single cost. The report acknowledges that the Department consulted carefully on the Act, to understand the main risks and respond to sector concerns, and that there is wide support for the Act.