The civil partnership between DEL and AME is imminent – whether or not the Invest To Save Pathfinders (ISB) are rolled out in 2011. Providers will get paid using the cash from future benefit savings: i.e The Treasury will refund (or finally cough up!). this partnership demolishes the historical dividing wall between Annually Managed Expenditure and Departmental Expenditure Limits. What does this means in reality? Well, re-read the second sentence……!!
The government is (rightly) committed to the Invest To Save model – ‘a stitch in time [ultimately] saves nine’ – but we should be aware that the idea of increasing spending now in the hope that it will reduce spend later is highly speculative and risky.
One of the big challenges to the ISB pilots is that payments will only come from direct ESA saving, not savings made from Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
Question
Do you think this civil-partnership will work
– no not the Clegg/Cameron partnership silly –
the DEL/AME one?
