Politics, Locality and Resources: negotiating a community care scheme

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the establishment of a pilot community care scheme in York, the Scarcroft Project. Based largely on the principles outlined in the Griffiths Report, the project was established by North Yorkshire Social Services Department to develop and coordinate services for elderly people in an area of York. The initiative is multi-disciplinary in its approach and also involves York Health Authority, York City Council and Age Concern, York. Drawing on recent sociological analyses concerned with conceptualising localities this paper will show that the decision to close an elderly persons’ home and reinvest the revenue in community care was the result of a process of compromise and negotiation between service providers and politicians concerned with the allocation of resources at local level. This in turn is discussed in terms of the implications for consumer involvement in community care.