Fairer eligibility call from Dixon

Progress towards fairer eligibility for social care is a key goal for the next year, according to the new president of the Association of Directors of Adult Services (ADASS).

John Dixon, also executive director for adults and children at West Sussex CC, called on councils to offer better advice to those deprived of free care as he took over at the helm of the ADASS from Anne Williams, his counterpart at Salford City Council.

In an LGC interview, he urged the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to be radical in its inquiry into the effects of tighter eligibility for care.

"Eligibility needs to be completely different. It needs to start off from the principle of every-body being entitled to some level of support, even if it's only advice brokerage and help to make their decisions," he said.

"Sometimes self-funders are making bad decisions because they are not getting advice."

The CSCI review is expected to report back to the Department of Health in September, in time to feed into the government's expected green paper on funding adult social care.

Mr Dixon said that further work on that green paper, developing agreements towards the personalisation of care, and helping to build a better framework for safeguarding vulnerable adults would also be among his priorities.

He expressed confidence his presidency could benefit West Sussex residents, despite it coinciding with the expansion of his county council role to include children's services.