Agenda item

Assurance of LA delivery of duties (defined by Part 1 of Care Act (2014) by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)

Report of the Director of Integrated Adult Social Care (IASC/24/08), on the assurance of local authority delivery of its duties as defined by part one of the Care Act (2014) by the Care Quality Commission and its contribution to improving services and outcomes for people in receipt of adult social care including through self-assessment, attached.

Decision:

RESOLVED

(a) that the requirements placed on Integrated Adult Social Care (ASC) through the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assurance framework be recognised and support the service in its preparedness for the assurance reform.

(b) that Members of the Cabinet are supported in their roles regarding assurance of local authority delivery of its duties as defined by part one of the Care Act (2014) by:

i. being offered further Masterclasses on this and related topics;

ii. being briefed on key developments via the newsletter of the Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult Social Care and Health;

iii. having access to a website containing materials relevant to CQC assurance, a guide to adult social care in Devon, and our self-assessment; and

iv. being offered group or individual briefing sessions ahead of any inspection visit by the CQC such as those facilitated by the Local Government Association (LGA) in January 2024.

Minutes:

(Councillors Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Integrated Adult Social Care (IASC/24/08), on the assurance of local authority delivery of its duties as defined by part one of the Care Act (2014) by the Care Quality Commission and its contribution to improving services and outcomes for people in receipt of adult social care including through self-assessment. The Report had been circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Report outlined the background to CQC assurance, including the Government White Paper ‘People at the Heart of Care’, which was its 10-year vision for Adult Social Care. This included formal assessment of local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties by the CQC. The Report highlighted the duties of local authorities under the Care Act (2014), but whilst some duties were delivered by partners (Devon Carers, Devon Partnership Trust), the Council remained accountable.

The CQC was implementing a new Single Assessment Framework across all of its regulation activity, adapted to the assessment of local authorities and comprised four domains with nine quality statements.

Following royal assent of the Health and Care Act (2022), primary legislation directed the CQC to assure the local authority delivery of its statutory adult social care duties and to assess the effectiveness and impact of Integrated Care Systems from April 2023.

The Council had been preparing for assurance reform since legislation had been published in Spring 2022 and had arrangements in place to respond to a notification at any time including, submitting a Self-Assessment, completing the information return, undertaking case tracking work, facilitating the onsite inspection and responding to the outcome.

The role of Members of the Council in CQC assurance was critical and the table at section 3.9 outlined the role of Members in CQC assurance.

The Council had also commissioned a peer review of adult social care facilitated by the LGA, establishing a website to contain all key materials relevant to the process. This has received positive comments from the Peer Team so in preparing for CQC assurance, the Council had elected to take a similar approach to ensure transparency and visibility.

The Report detailed the Council’s current version of the ‘Guide to Adult Social Care in Devon’ and section 3.17 onwards of the Report focussed on the ‘Self-Assessment of Adult Social Care in Devon’. In the summary, there were six issues highlighted that the Council should be proud of and then seven areas of concern, one of which was financial sustainability. Finally, there were six challenges highlighted that would need to be addressed moving forward.

The matter having been debated and other relevant factors as set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor McInnes, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and