Legislation to provide a £670 million a year plan for free social care is to be published today. The government claims that the Personal Care at Home Bill would guarantee around 280,000 elderly and disabled people with free care, meaning an increase in the need for social care jobs.  

The biggest row going on at present however, is the issue of how these new measures will be funded. The Department of Health have pledged to find £420 million out of the annual cost of £670 million and health secretary Andy Burnham said this means making cuts to research and development, as well as public health promotion budgets, and cuts on NHS spending on management consultants. This has created concerns for those in dementia research as this is one sector which is expected to see losses due to the new plan. Although the government have pledged to prioritise this area and concerns that dementia is underfunded.

But a Department of Health spokesman gave a reassuring statement: "We can categorically state that cancer and dementia funding will not be affected. We are now providing more funding than ever for health research. This £1 billion budget is ring-fenced for research."

Mr Burnham said he would do anything to obtain funding, saying he would be 'ruthless' in finding funding for the home care plan. He said: "It's always a question of priorities. I'm not cutting into vital projects. I'm moving stuff out of lower priority, backroom spend towards direct public benefit."

By cutting spending on management consultants, £60 million could be raised, while other funds would come from a productivity drive intended to gain £20 billion in efficiency savings across the NHS over the next four years.