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Nottinghamshire tackles major Adult Social Care reforms

Adult Social Care services in Nottinghamshire are working at pace to tackle a major set of government reforms, including implementation of the cap on care costs.

Like all other local authorities with responsibility for social care, Nottinghamshire County Council must implement eight changes to the way it provides Adult Social Care over the next couple of years. A paper detailing these reforms, and the anticipated impact on budgets and staff resource, will be presented at the County Council’s Cabinet next week (14 July).

The government reforms include:

• Charging: introduction of a cap on care costs. From October 2023, the government will introduce a £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England will spend on their personal care over their lifetime.
• Fair price for care: changes to the rates the County Council pays registered providers, such as care homes and home care organisations.
• People at the Heart of Care: adult social care will be subject to the Care Quality Commission’s inspection regime.
• Build Back Better: the development of innovative models of care across health and social care, housing investment and the workforce action required to implement reform e.g. improvements to digital systems and workforce support.

Analysis* has been carried out to plan for the financial impact of these reforms on local authorities. It is estimated that the potential costs for the East Midlands between 2022 – 2032 will be:

• Fair price for care: £802m
• Over 65s means test and cap: £614 – 743m
• Operational spend: £100m.

It is also anticipated that a further 221 social care workers and 45 financial assessors will be needed across the East Midlands area.

Councillor Matt Barney, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: “These reforms present a significant challenge to local authorities across the country. We have a difficult road ahead, not just financially, but also because we need to recruit more adult social care staff at a time of national shortages.

“We want to continue to support people to live independent and healthy lives in Nottinghamshire. So we are prioritising Adult Social Care reform and working with other local authorities to reduce duplication and costs. We have also expressed our concerns to the government and will continue to lobby ministers for funding and support to deliver these reforms.”

The Cabinet paper sets out how the County Council is approaching the reforms both regionally and nationally, including:

• setting out concerns to the Department of Health and Social Care
• working nationally on behalf of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) on implementation options
• collaborating regionally with ADASS to work to reduce duplication and support economies of scale.
• prioritising work to focus on social care reform.

For more details, read the full Cabinet report.