The House of Lords’ voted to delay the introduction of free personal care at home until April 2011 after warning the funding arrangements needed to be clarified. The defeat resulted from an amendment tabled by Local Government Association president, Lord Best, with cross-party backing by Lord Warner, Earl Howe and Baroness Barker. Peers wanted to give councils sufficient time to plan and budget properly for the new service. But in effect it halts the initiative until after the general election on the basis that a new Government of whichever party will rethink the plans. Councils had argued they were being dumped with an uncosted proposal that would put pressure on already stretched budgets. They rejected claims by the Government that costs could be found through efficiency savings. Cllr David Rogers, chair of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, said: ‘Understandably, there will be many families with concerns regarding this delay. Councils are committed to providing the best possible level of care for all their residents. ‘Councils believe that the proposed October start date is unrealistic and puts them in two very difficult situations. ‘Firstly, local authority budgets for the next financial year have already been set and given that this Bill is still proceeding through Parliament, many will not have budgeted for it - already, some councils are warning that they anticipate the cost to triple the government’s estimate. ‘Secondly, councils have very little time to fully prepare for implementation. The government’s national assessment tool is not going to be ready until early summer, leaving councils with little time to fully test the system and make the necessary administration changes.’ To view the story at it's source go to: http://bit.ly/bTyNiF