Councils making good progress on personalisation, LGA finds

Councils are making good overall progress in personalising adult social care services but workforce development is lagging behind, according to a survey published today.

Almost 93,000 people were recieving personal budgets on 31 March, and this is expected to rise to more than 200,000 by the same time next year.

The joint survey by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Social Services found that more than three-quarters of councils believed the development of preventive services had significantly improved outcomes.

Workforce concerns

But the survey also showed that while nine out of 10 councils had established teams to address the changes required, the development of local area workforce strategies was “so far very limited.”

This was despite 141 councils considering “significant changes” to assessment and care management arrangements, affecting most of care management staff.

Private sector

The survey also found that councils perceived committment to the Putting People First programme to be “much weaker” in the private sector, compared with voluntary and third sector organisations and the NHS.

Future challenges

Councils listed a number of challenges to taking Putting People First forward including managing resources in the current economic climate, achieving cultural change among staff, workforce planning and developing personal assistant roles.

Response

Jeff Jerome (right), the national director for social care transformation, said the findings showed a “positive message”.

“The survey indicates very strong progress indeed among a significant number of councils and we are confident this will become much more widespread over the coming year. We will be working both regionally and nationally to ensure this,” he added.

Jenny Owen, president of Adass, said she was “delighted” that more people were getting control of the resources of care and support they needed.

148 out of 150 English councils responded to the survey to measure progress in the first year of implementing Putting People First.

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