ELDERLY and disabled people in the North-East are to be among the first in the country to receive more personalised social care.
Gateshead Council is one of 13 local authorities chosen by the Government to test individual social care budgets.
As part of the scheme, elderly and disabled people will be given what officials have described as a "virtual money box" to pay for the social care services that suit them best.
The idea is to demonstrate whether there are advantages in allowing individuals to take control of their own social care budgets.
If the Department of Health is proved right, the reforms should allow people to put together care arrangements which will help people to stay in their own homes rather than have to move into residential homes.
This should include home adaptations to make life easier and better access to home help provided by councils.
The scheme combines funding from the Department of Health, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
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