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exceed the actual cost to the authority of providing the service and that the charge
should be reasonable having regard to the means of the persons concerned.
Section 6 of the Mental Health Act, 1959 permits local health authorities to
provide, inter alia, residential accommodation for persons suffering from a mental
disorder and, with respect to charges, applies section 28 of the National Health
Service Act, 1946.
When the principal Act came into force in July 1948, the former London
County Council fixed charges for services and scales of assessment for abating the
charge where the person responsible for payment was unable to meet it in full.
These charges and scales followed closely the national recommendations of the
County Councils' Association and associated bodies. The scales have been reviewed
from time to time to conform with changes in National Assistance scales of grants
and amendments have also been made when experience has shown them to be
appropriate, e.g. having regard to increased costs of the services and in incomes.
Voluntary organisations providing similar services for which they are grantaided
are required, as one of the conditions of assistance, to act similarly.
The London Borough of Southwark adopted the assessment procedure of the
former London County Council, subject only to a few minor points on administrative
matters, pending full consideration of assessment and collection procedure by
the London Boroughs Committee.
Charges are made in accordance with five assessment scales:
Scale A—for services which are small in cost or needed at irregular
intervals.
Scale B — which is applied for services of a more continuous nature.
Scale C—for ascertaining charges payable in respect of residential care
provided for the mentally disordered (other than short-term
care for the mentally subnormal).
Day nursery service — special scale.
Home help service — special scale.
Expenditure
There are no figures available for the actual expenditure for the financial
year 1964/65 owing to the formation of the area of the new London Borough of
Southwark as previously explained.
The approximate maintenance expenditure for 1965/66 Was £1,218,880: the
amount recovered in contributions, including reimbursement of the cost of the
school health service (£100,000) and half the cost of Port Health Administration
(£14,720), was approximately £207,860.
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