In June 2008 the government announced a funding commitment over two years of £150m for PCTs to provide breaks for carers. Although the first year's money was allocated to every PCT in 2009, amounting to £50m, individual PCTs weren't told how much of this that they had each received. Understandably, this has lead to confusion.

Recent research by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care shows that the majority of the PCTs who responded to a Freedom of Information request on the subject are failing to prioritise carers' needs and that funds are being spent elsewhere. The report calls on the Government to intervene so that:

• the amount that each PCT receives of next year’s £100m is made publicly available
• PCTs plan their spending with carers, carers’ organizations and the local authority
• each PCT publicly reports on their use of the money.

An allocation breakdown for the fourteen SW PCTs (including Torbay Care Trust) is provided below. Allocations have been calculated by the report's authors on the basis that the money received by each PCT is most likely to be proportionate to the size of its total base budget.

PCT	09/10 allocation £	10/11 allocation £	Questionnaire	09/10 spent on breaks £	09/10 spent on all carers' services £	08/09 - 09/10 Increase in spending on carers £	Increase in spending as % of new allocation
Bath and North East Somerset	159,554	318,024		Could not answer	250,000	22,000	13.79%
Bournemouth & Poole Teaching	318,242	634,323		0	106,780	68,722	21.61%
Bristol	412,532	823,686	Not surveyed
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly	505,037	1,014,082		1,516,000	1,516,000	214,000	42.37%
Devon	679,752	1,364,910		0	215,000	0	0%
Dorset	362,963	726,333	No response
Gloucestershire	515,994	1,028,622		150,000	847,000	33,000	6.4%
North Somerset	179,904	362,734		284,826	300,000	60,458	33.61%
Plymouth	245,720	493,272	No response
Somerset	469,518	943,364		555,000	730,000	12,834	2.73%
South Gloucestershire	201,865	402,359		0	0	Unknown	Unknown
Swindon	173,385	348,852		30,000	Unknown	30,000	17.3%
Torbay Care Trust	147,448	295,413	No response
Wiltshire	381,392	760,995	No response