Agenda item

Report of the Director of Adults and Housing

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Adults and Housing which indicated that, Coventry City Council, together with its main commissioning partner, NHS Coventry, and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (CWICB), is striving to develop a diverse vibrant and high-quality health and social care market to meet the needs and aspirations of the people of Coventry who require support now or who may do so in the future.

Communicating effectively with the market is a key part of market development and sustainability so that providers are aware of both the challenges facing Adult Social Care and some of the principal areas where needs and demand analyses indicate the requirement for services to be developed. Market Position Statements (MPS) are a tool for providing this communication and the production of a Market Position Statement for Adult Social Care fulfils  requirements of the Care Act (2014) in relation to market shaping duties.

The MPS focuses on both current activity and future opportunities across the whole Adult Social Care market and seeks to provide a balance between description and analysis. The document aims to give clarity about the difference the Council are looking to make in people’s lives. The Council’s role is to support individuals to live as independently as possible, using strengths-based practice, and to ensure that anyone with care and support needs has access to good quality, tailored and reliable support. The Council is proud of the impact we have made in partnership with the care market to improve our overall adult social care offer, available provision, and ways of working.

Since publication of our previous MPS key achievements include:

    Development of an increased supported living offer for adults with     learning disabilities and/or autism or those with significant needs     associated with their mental ill health which facilitates more       independent living.

    Establishment of the Improving Lives programme, a multi-agency     initiative that aims to fundamentally improve the way the health   and care system respond to emergency needs.

    Increasing visibility of Adult Social Care including through Open   Days   held in various parts of the city.

    A successful bid for Accelerating Reform Grant monies which will  be used to fund several projects centred on delivering   alternative methods of support with a particular emphasis on     supporting informal carers.

    Award of funding to identify and scope the number of   international recruits employed in Coventry and Warwickshire,   assess the risk to both individual recruits and the wider care   market should sponsorship become unstable, and identify     a cohort of ethical employers who are willing to train, mentor or   reemploy displaced International Recruits, migrants and/or   refugees.

The MPS document has been informed by provider engagement and will be used to underpin ongoing dialogue with providers through a number of activities including the well-established provider forums. It was noted that generally, a strengthened care market with increased choice, diversity and equality of access will actively improve the quality of life experienced by individuals.

A Briefing Note appended to the report outlined consideration of the report by the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) at their meeting on 17 July, 2024. The Cabinet Member noted that the Scrutiny Board had recommended that the MPS be approved and that consideration be made for encouraging local and not-for profit suppliers where appropriate.  

RESOLVED  that the Cabinet Member:-

1)  Notes and accepts the recommendations from the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) as outlined above.

2)  Approves the refreshed Market Position Statement for use with the Adult Social Care Market.