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Radical changes to Adult Services

Date: Monday 02/11/09

The transformative response to the ageing population

Nowhere in local government are financial pressures being felt more keenly that in adult services. Spend on adult care by local authorities as a proportion of budget has continued to increase in recent years, driven largely by the impact of an ageing population. Since this increase is driven by demographic factors, this trend will continue unless there is radical change to the service delivery model. With only marginal increases in grant funding to council expected in the next few years, such a continued increase on spend on adult services is economically unsustainable. Government has begun a public debate on the future funding of adult care via theGreen Paper launched in July this year but any change as a result of this will come too late to plug the hole in local government budgets.

Fortunately, radical change is not only in the pipeline, but it’s being delivered by authorities across the country.  The policy of Putting People First is being implemented as part of the Transforming Social Care initiative. Putting People First is not only about delivering services more efficiently through early intervention but also about enabling service users to have choice and control over the type of support they receive, who provides it and how and when it  is provided. Successful implementation of this vision depends on building and developing the capacity of communities (known as social capital) to support their own citizens through families, carers, voluntary organisations and local private enterprises.

All councils in England are receiving a transformation grant from the Department of Health (DH) in three annual instalments. For south east authorities this grant funding is worth between £300,000 and £4.5m depending on their size. Eighteen months in and progress on adult care transformation is mixed across the region with good progress and examples of change in some areas balanced against significant challenges yet to be overcome in other areas.

Improvement and Efficiency South East (IESE) is at the heart of sector-led support for councils on adult care transformation. Working with other stakeholders including Department of Health South East as part of the regional Joint Improvement Partnership, IESE has helped design a programme of support for authorities across the region, based on needs and priorities defined by those leading the change programmes.

 For 2009/10, IESE has committed up to £600,000 to deliver elements of the support programme that align to IESE’s core objectives of ensuring improved performance through intelligence sharing  and delivering efficiency savings through innovation in cost-effective service delivery. IESE’s vision for its support programme aims to enable authorities to accelerate their transformation programmes, measure tangible successes including reduced costs and share best practice and experience across the region.

The programme consists of facilitation, research and guidance and a nukber of innovation pilots including: