Spending Review 2010
The coalition government has now announced the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Rethink hosted a live online discussion during the announcement at RethinkTalk.org. Jane Harris of Rethink has also written a blog about the announcements:
Read on for a digest of the key decisions -Spending Review announcements
- Health
First, the good news! The government has committed to expanding access to psychological therapies to young people, old people and people with severe mental illness. We don't know yet how much money will be allocated to this, but it is a great step forward. This is all due to Rethink staff and supporters getting behind the Fair Treatment Now campaign. Well done everyone! The next step is to make sure the Government follow through on this promise. - Social care
£2 billion was announced for social care, which is how many of Rethink's services are funded. This sounds like good news, but in practice it could be used by local Government for other services because it is not ringfenced, and local Government budgets for other services are being cut by 27%. Rethink is part of the Care and Support Alliance—through this we will try to monitor who is and who isn't spending this money on social care. - Criminal justice
The government says it will intervene earlier to get treatment to offenders with mental illness and invest in mental health liaison services at police stations and courts. It does say that the business case still needs to be made - we will keep working with our partners to do this and to demand greater use of community sentences with treatment requirements. Rethink will continue to campaign to ensure that people with mental illness who get caught up in the criminal justice system are given the right treatment and are diverted away from prison into proper healthcare settings. - Welfare
This is the most worrying news. The government will limit contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to one year for claimants in the Work Related Activity Group. We do not know how many people with severe mental illness claim this benefit - it may be that most people are on income-based Employment and Support Allowance as many people have never worked and therefore never paid contributions. We need to make sure that the test for ESA is fair to people with mental illness so that people who really can't work get put in the support group. We are running a workshop at National Members Day on this issue and have given evidence to the independent Government review of the test, which was prompted by a Rethink campaign in 2007.
On housing benefit, single people up to the age of 35 will only be paid enough benefit to rent a room in a shared house. Currently this only happens to people up to the age of 25. Rethink believes that where people need to live alone to stay well and healthy, the state should support people to do so. Rethink will continue its work as a member of the Disability Benefits Consortium to ensure that people with severe and enduring mental health conditions are not left without the basic support they need. - Housing
The existing £6bn commitment to Supporting People will be honoured. Again, this sounds like good news as this is how many Rethink housing services are funded. In practice, the money it could be used by local Government for other services because it is not ringfenced, and local Government budgets for other services are being cut by 27%.
