AS PREDICTED, after its plans to privatise the state pension and help people to buy insurance for care in their old age, the government today came out with pre-election Big Idea No.3 - the biggest shake-up of Britain's social services for 25 years.

And a major plank in the White Paper proposals unveiled by Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell is forcing councils to sell off their old people's homes and letting the private sector take over the running of residential care.

The intention, is to cut the country's welfare bill. Old folks' homes in the private sector are cheaper to run than the local authority ones, says Mr Dorrell.

So the plan is for social services departments to become purchasers of residential care from the private sector, in the same way that health authorities now buy hospital care for patients from the NHS trusts.

But while no-one argues against driving down the welfare bill - as long as the quality of care does not suffer - do they have to go the whole hog with the dogma?

After all, there are many well-run, popular local authority old people's homes. Why must they be sold off rather than be allowed to compete with the private sector for the purchasers' contracts?

Would that not be more fair and just as cost-efficient?

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