New national eligibility criteria for social care outlined

The Department of Health has announced new national eligibility criteria, to be introduced in 2015, that will set a minimum threshold to let local authorities keep current levels of access to care and support services.

Designed to set out the individual needs and circumstances in which every council in England must offer care and support for adults, the move will prevent people from losing their support due to local authorities tightening eligibility criteria in response to budget cuts.

It is also hoped that this initiative will help to address variations between local authorities that can lead to inconsistencies, confusion and legal challenges.

Care and support minister Norman Lamb said: "Bringing in these changes will be one of the foundation stones for the most far-reaching reform of social care in over 60 years."

This comes after the government announced in the Spending Review last week that it will be introducing a 3.8 billion pound pooled health and social care budget to improve the seamless integration of care provision.