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Two free social care
webinars in August
August brings
not one but two free webinars for those working in or with an
interest in social care.
The first
webinar on 14 August, ‘The
Future of Adult Social Care’ will discuss the past and present of adult social
care, and what reforms must take place in a world that has been
significantly changed as a result of the pandemic. Speakers for
this event include CIPFA’s Health and Social Care Policy Manager Dr
Eleanor Roy, Deputy Chief Executive at the Social Care Institute
for Excellence (SCIE) Ewan King and Aileen Murphie from the
National Audit Office. They will consider lessons learnt from the
pandemic, how these should inform adult social care reform and what
the future system may look like. Dr Eleanor Roy will discuss what
is required in terms of funding reform and CIPFA’s five-point plan
for the development of a sustainable system.
The second
webinar, on 27 August, ‘Building Back from Covid: Re-setting your
Social Care Transformation Plans’ will be available for booking
shortly.
£62 million additional
funding for councils to help discharge people with learning
disabilities or autism into the community
Central
government published further
details this month on the
£62 million previously announced in the March Budget. The total
funding consists of £74 million with local authorities in England
receiving £62 million of this, with the remaining £12 million being
distributed to devolved nations under the Barnett Formula.
The money will
be paid out over 3 years with £20 million paid in 2020/21, £21
million in 2021/22 and the remaining £21 million in 2022/23.
Funding will be allocated to nominated local authorities in each
Transforming Care Partnership based on forecast need and can be
spent on costs associated with discharge, including establishing
community teams, funding accommodation and staff training. Areas
with the highest number of autistic people or those with learning
disabilities currently in inpatient settings will receive the most
funding. However, all local areas will receive a share of the
funding.
The funding is
to be distributed to local government through payment of grants
under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003.
DfE consultation: Changes
to the adoption and children regulations: coronavirus (COVID-19) – Closing
date 5 August 2020
The DfE is seeking
views on proposed changes
to the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations
2020. The amendments are temporary and due to expire on 25
September 2020. The proposed changes look to extend a small number
of the changes to manage future challenges.
Parliamentary report:
Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak
The Public
Accounts Committee has today (29th July) published a scathing
report on the governments approach to social care during the
Covid-19 pandemic and contrasts the priority given to the NHS with
the social care sector.
The report
claims that the Governments “slow, inconsistent, and at times
negligent approach” to social care in the Covid-19 pandemic has
exposed the “tragic impact” of “years of inattention, funding
cuts and delayed reforms”, leaving the sector as a “poor relation”
that has suffered badly in the pandemic.
Meg Hillier
MP, Chair of the Committee said; “The failure to provide adequate
PPE or testing to the millions of staff and volunteers who risked
their lives to help us through the first peak of the crisis is a
sad, low moment in our national response. Our care homes were
effectively thrown to the wolves, and the virus has ravaged some of
them.”
Within its
recommendations, the report calls for the DHSC to name the
equivalent to the chief executive of NHS England for adult social
care, as well as named national leads for PPE provision and supply,
and testing. It says these leads should “work with all relevant
local and national bodies and have both the authority and data they
need to do their jobs”.
The full
report can be found here.
The impact of Covid-19 on
young people with SEND
Robert Halfon,
Chair of the Education Committee, has written to Vicky Ford,
Parliamentary Under-secretary of State for Children & Families,
regarding the impact of COVID-19 on young people with special
education needs and disabilities.
In the letter
dated 15 July, Robert Halfon notes that the Government does not
believe it will be necessary to renew the temporary easements that
relate to EHC assessments and plans, should things remain the same.
Read the full
letter here.
How better data could
improve outcomes for children and young people
A report
written by the Institute for Government, in partnership with Nesta,
explores what data is available on children’s centres and youth
services, and how government might overcome the barriers they face
improving this data.
Investment in
preventive ‘upstream’ services, such as children’s centres and
youth services, can improve outcomes for children and young people
while also reducing demand for more expensive ‘downstream’
services, such as children’s social care.
But the report
finds that the lack of consistently good-quality data restricts the
ability of frontline staff, local authorities and central
government to understand what works and therefore to intervene in
an evidence-based way.
Read the full
report here.
CIPFA and NHS Providers
call for joined up policy making across health and care
CIPFA
President Professor Andrew Hardy and NHS Providers CEO Chris Hopson
said:
"While
it’s been clear to those working across the public sector for many
years that integrated systems and a place-based approach are key to
delivering best value for communities, COVID-19 has brought the
benefits of collaborative working, and the financial challenges
facing both the NHS and social care sectors, into sharp relief.
CIPFA and NHS
Providers are today coming together to call on government to see
health and social care as wholly interdependent services supporting
people from cradle to grave. National policy decisions impacting
the resilience of one service have implications for the other.
The
government’s commitment to ensuring the NHS has the funds it needs
to combat the pandemic is very welcome and local government has
similarly benefitted from some additional funding. However, this
has been insufficient to meet additional costs and cover lost
income, so many councils are struggling to balance their books. The
need to address historical under funding in social care and place
the health and care system on a sustainable footing has never been
more pressing.
Policy
decisions about NHS funding must take into account the impact on
social care, and vice versa. If local authorities do not receive
adequate funding from government to balance their books, they may
be forced to retender critical community and public health services
at a time when frontline staff should not face uncertainty, and
when those very services are critical for the population and a
robust health and care response in the pandemic.
Off the back
of this crisis, government can no longer turn a blind eye to the
realities on the ground. It’s time to deliver best value and
improve outcomes for the populations we serve. That will mean
joining up policy more effectively at the top."
COVID-19 advice and
support for local authorities
CIPFA has
set-up an online
hub for COVID resources.
Additionally, the SCAN network page contains links to COVID
guidance and information specifically for adult
social care, children’s
services and education.
Essential
guidance for local authorities on all aspects of the coronavirus
support can be found on the GOV.UK
website.
Government Releases
Adult
personal social services: revenue funding 2020 to 2021
The local authority
social services letter (LASSL) confirms specific revenue funding
and grant allocations for adult social care services
27.07.2020
National
funding formula tables for schools and high needs: 2021 to 2022
Tables showing
provisional allocations for the schools, high needs and central
school services blocks from 2021 to 2022
20.07.2020
Every
pupil in England to see another rise in funding in 2021
The increase comes in the
second year of a three-year £14.4bn funding settlement for schools
20.07.2020
Coronavirus
(COVID-19) catch-up premium
Information for schools
on the universal catch-up premium for 2020 to 2021 and the National
Tutoring Programme. It includes how much funding schools will get
and how it should be spent
20.07.2020
Universal
infant free school meals (UIFSM): 2020 to 2021
Published allocations and
conditions of grant for the 2020 to 2021 academic year
14.07.2020
Regular
retesting rolled out for care home staff and resident
Staff and residents in
care homes for over 65s and those with dementia will receive
regular coronavirus tests from next week as part of a new social
care testing strategy
03.07.2020
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