Archived decisions

Appendix 7

The impact of funding on performance?

PAF targets to achieve 'blob' ratings are set as national targets - irrespective of the level of funding received by a council.

e.g. say there are 3 councils

· one funded at 75% of the average PSS SSA per capita as it is relatively affluent

· one funded at the average level

· one funded at 125% of the average PSS SSA as it has high deprivation factors built into the SSA formula

all 3 councils would need to attain 100-140 elderly people per thousand helped to live at home to obtain the 5 'blob' rating from the government against PAF C32, despite the varying needs established in the SSA formula.

Many authorities feel that this is unfair, especially as PAF performance is increasingly linked to increased funding through special grants and Public Service Agreements. Money will also be linked to a Social Service Departments annual star rating, through the Performance Fund for 2002/3 onwards. More details on this rating are given in Appendix 6.

Using the example above for C32, 120 people per thousand is probably the 'average' level expected with a margin of 20 on either side. If a council is funded at the 75% level, a fair target would probably be 75-105. Similarly a council funded at 125% should expect a target in the region of 125-155.

This argument is particularly apt for Hampshire. The attached graphs, from the Department of Health KIGS database, show how low the funding for Hampshire is in comparison to other authorities. The line on the graph shows the average for Shire Counties, and we are noticeably below this too.

A comparison of the Older Person's SSA against measures of Older Person's PAF performance shows:

From the table above it can be seen that, for the authorities chosen, the SSA appears to impact on service provision. Authorities with a lower Older Person's SSA tend to support fewer people in residential or nursing care; whilst at the same time provide less help to support those remaining in their own homes.