Cared for, Safeguarded and Healthy-Responding to rising complex needs Budget Proposal

Responding to rising complex needs
Whilst there will be a continued clear focus on preventing health and social needs from occurring and escalating, the need for formal care and support will continue. We know that complexity of need is increasing and the cost of providing services is rising exponentially. From a public health perspective, we will continue to focus on the principal preventable causes of ill health – tobacco, obesity, alcohol misuse and poor mental health (including social isolation). We will seek to reduce costs by ensuring that the authority secures the appropriate contributions from our partners in accordance with the legislative framework. We need to mitigate against the rising costs of care whilst still ensuring that people are „cared for and safeguarded. We will carry out a review of all current funding to voluntary organisations not currently on a commissioned framework. This will provide an opportunity to review the total spend holistically and ensure any work complements and is not duplicated by the work to create new community hubs. Over the past five years the number of people supported in extra care and independent supported living schemes has continued to rise in the Borough and we know that using this approach can delay and prevent the use of more costly residential care and that our residents prefer to be supported in their own homes. This journey will continue with increased provision of specialist housing in the Borough, which is affordable now and in the longer term.

Sustaining a safe and quality care market; developments in lifestyle technologies and fundamental changes in the market, including the National Living Wage, have altered the conditions around local authority delivered social care. This proposal aims to develop our team and skill set to exploit new technologies and new market dynamics to create a set of trusted products and services. The results will support both care at home and help us to support people with complex disabilities. There is a clear link to the Care Act and our duty to manage the market, as well as the need to handle market failure and the impact of the National Living Wage. The work to support this proposal will raise income and avoid cost.