Agenda item

The Strategic Director for Social Care & Education submits a report to present the outcome of the Care Quality Commission assessment of Adult Social Care and the action plan developed as a result.  

The Strategic Director for Social Care & Education submitted a report and gave a presentation to the Commission on the outcome of the Care Quality Commission assessment of Adult Social Care, and the action plan developed as a result.  

The Assistant City Mayor for Adult Social Care Dawood introduced the report noting the following:

• The Local Authority rating had been ‘Requires improvement’.
• The report did not set out any recommendations. Since the inspection, substantial progress had been made, and an action plan had been implemented.
• Leicester’s scoring was only marginally below the threshold for a rating of ‘Good’.
• Scrutiny input played a vital role. Recommendations and engagement with the Commission were welcomed. 

The Strategic Director for Social Care & Education presented the slides, key points to note were as follows:

• The inspection commenced over a year ago, with offsite work followed by the onsite inspection. Results had been published in July 2025.
• This had marked the first round of CQC assessments with the next expected to take place in 3 years’ time.
• The inspection had taken individual comments into account.
• Ratings were scored in terms of percentages.
• Leicester had scored 56% which was higher than some neighbouring Local Authorities. Derbyshire County Council scored 67% and their strengths might be a source of learning.
• Other Council services were inspected separately, including the Integrated Crisis Response, Shared Lives and the Reablement Provider Services. All were rated Good.
• Some assessment criteria in the CQC Assessment had been rated ‘Good’ including Partnerships and Communities.
• Priority areas included improving carer experiences, accessible guidance and support, waiting times, governance and safeguarding processes, care market and quality. Targets had been created, risks and opportunities were identified in the action plan.

In response to member questions and comments, the following was noted:

• A blended approach to improvement was considered essential, combining the findings of the report with existing data and intelligence.
• Annual conversations via the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the peer reviews would continue to shape intelligence.
• There was a high level of confidence in delivering improvements and in setting future targets.
• Regular updates would be brought back to scrutiny.
• The Council’s own self-assessment had already highlighted issues with waiting times.
• System related issues had contributed to some data inaccuracies.
• Significant work was going into improving performance reporting.
• The Council had raised some concerns regarding report accuracy, and this had been further raised (by the Regional Care and Health Improvement Advisor) with central government, but the focus was now on moving forward.
• The long-term strategy remained rooted in grassroots engagement, the report did not identify the groups that contributed feedback, which made following up specific comments more challenging.
• The Leading Better Lives Programme had been referenced in the report for good practice, this was fully co-produced.
• Multi-agency safeguarding procedures had been recognised but more detailed team-level guidance had been suggested as a gap; work was ongoing in this area and a new post of Safeguarding Adult Practice lead was being recruited to.
• It was noted that the majority of people preferred to contact the service via telephone, and other avenues were being explored to ensure accessibility. The Commission welcomed further work surrounding digital exclusion.
• Further Scrutiny work had been scheduled.
• The Commission recommended reviewing previous forecasts and outcomes when the next budget item came to the Scrutiny meeting.
• Staffing issues were acknowledged, work on career progression was ongoing and staff morale remained high. Members raised some concerns regarding staff morale and were asked to provide more information to Directors so this could be looked in to and addressed.
• The Commission suggested an overall approach of examining at a granular level on a theme-by-theme basis.
• The Commission recognised success in reducing waiting times, but noted ongoing inequalities linked to generational factors and language barriers. Work with partners across Care and Health aimed to target these issues through improved data.
• Further work was requested by the Commission to understand the gap in support for working age carers and the isolation experienced by those caring. An examination of respite provision for young carers was requested. 
• Transition work preparing young people into adulthood could be explored within the SEN Inspection and scrutinised through the CYPE Scrutiny Commission.
• The Commission welcomed work with Partners in Care and Health to improve on Scrutiny. 
• A lack of staff awareness of available services was noted. While a range of resources existed, additional training requirements were acknowledged.

• RECOMMENDATIONS:

• For further scrutiny of carers’ experience and with additional measurements in relation to working age carers, respite for young carers and experiences of isolation.
• For cross departmental work with Public Health on digital exclusion.
• For further consideration of Deprivation Of Liberty Safeguards. 
• For more work on developing the service for those with learning disabilities.
• For budgetary reporting to Scrutiny to include previous forecasting and outturn information. 
• To extend Scrutiny work with Partners in Care and Health.
• For an additional metric to be added under governance. 
• For Scrutiny to be conducted at a granular level, looking at each theme individually.
• When each theme is brought back to scrutiny, for greater granularity over the measures being considered prior to November 2026.

AGREED:

1.     The contents of the report were noted.

Councillor Kitterick left during the consideration of this item.