Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 40-42)

17 SEPTEMBER 2003

JOHN ARCHER, CHRIS APPLEBY AND GAIL RICHARDS

  Q40  Dr Pugh: But that is not a project, is it? That is an ongoing commitment.

  Mr Appleby: No, but it is why I would in principle support Gail's proposal.

  Q41  Dr Pugh: You seem quite relaxed about the additionality that some of these projects are supposed to offer and mainstream funding and the merging of the two. Is that a fair reading of how you feel about things? You are not too bothered if projects merge with mainstream funding and vice versa?

  Mr Appleby: No. I think it is important. I think that is how they get integrated. Keeping things as projects for too long means that they never get integrated into your mainstream business. It seems to me that the purpose of all of this is to alter the way in which we provide or deliver mainstream business and the purpose of these projects is to affect that, and therefore if there is a merger then I think that is got to be the right way. We are looking for permanent sustainable change in my view.

  Mr Archer: I would like to see a continued growth in what we have done around something called tier two. Tier two schemes were, very crudely, just to shift services out from the hospital into the community and make them much more accessible. Our tier two scheme on mental health in Oldham is about giving a single point of access. We can promote that, we can advertise that, we can give information about that, we can provide good quality assessment to all areas with increased investment on that side.

  Q42  Chairman: And you are evaluating that so that you can see that it is working?

  Mr Appleby: Very much so, yes.

  Chairman: On that note can I thank you very much for your evidence.





 
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