Improvement and support offer 2025/26 - prospectus

We continue our partnership with Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) to deliver a programme of sector led improvement support for adult social care and public health services in councils.

Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, the programme will continue to provide relevant, effective and innovative support that empowers councils, providers and staff to deliver high quality care that enables choice, control and independence for everyone.

Councils will benefit from the joint research, unique and extensive connections with partners at national and regional levels, and intensive subject matter expertise, knowledge and skills that our partnership will bring.

This prospectus sets out:

• the organisations and people who contribute to this support
• a regional view and potential content of the support offer at regional level
• a national level view, the modes of delivery and the information and communication channels available
• the support offer in detail.

A unique partnership

Through our partnership with SCIE, we draw on data, evidence and a national membership and networks with the knowledge, skills and relationships to support councils:

• Regional care and health improvement advisers: connecting councils to the right support and enabling targeted interventions at local or regional level.
• Regional networks and leads: robust regional networks that identify and respond to the needs of councils, driving improvement across a region and supporting national learning.
• National care and health improvement advisers: designated professional leads in the areas of safeguarding, finance, commissioning (Care at Home) and digital.
• Subject matter and practice experts: delivering research, tools, best-practice guidance and support for a sector-wide audience.
• Research and evaluation and programme management expertise: providing leading evaluation and research to the sector.

Core principles

We recognise that:

• councils are responsible for their own performance
• our support provided should be relevant to council needs, and have clear objectives, sharing learning and effective innovation
• we must be accountable to our funders for outcomes and impact.

The nine ADASS regions are where adult social care accesses peer support and challenge, organise collaborative action, give a collective voice about council views and needs, share information and learning, and provide a basis for wider national uptake where relevant.

This improvement programme will work with and through regions, recognising the important role they play.

Every region has a care and health improvement adviser (CHIA), who can work with each council to understand its needs, provide advice, and help draw down relevant support. Every region has an ADASS branch supported by a regional programme lead, who can also ensure that councils are aware of and contribute to support.

Regions organise and support networks of people undertaking key functions such as social work or commissioning. The programme as a whole works with these networks.

CHIAs and regional leads work with the wider LGA regional team, and with other regional partners such as NHSE, Better Care Managers, Skills for Care, and provider organisations.

The support is aligned to council needs and delivered across four themes:

• A. Prevention and opportunity: to support councils to commission and support activity that ensures people are able to live independently in their own communities.
• B. Working with people: to support councils to ensure that people can access adult social care fairly and in a personalised, safe and timely manner.
• C. Providing support: to support councils in ensuring personalised care is provided to meet the needs of those people who draw on care and support in a place they call home.
• D. Strategic leadership: to support councils to ensure care and support provided optimises the use of resources available and meets the requirements of the Care Act.

Modes of delivery

Our work is responsive to the needs of the sector and to individual and/or groups of councils and the partners they work with. The programme provides three distinct categories of support.

• Universal support: providing universal guidance, events and tools and resources to support councils in their own improvements and managing the three strategic shifts and identify where necessary where targeted support required.
• Targeted support: providing targeted support to those councils identified as in need of assistance to meet the challenges of service delivery, resources and managing the three strategic shifts.
• Intensive support: providing intensive support, through tailored and agreed improvement support to those councils identified as ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ as a result of CQC Assessment.

Information and intelligence for councils

Information and intelligence underpin and inform the wider reach of support provided through our programme. Available at a universal level, we provide toolkits, data tools and information to support local improvement and better health, wellbeing and social care outcomes.

• Using LG Inform we have developed a range of data and intelligence products that complement the support offer across a range of adult social care and population health and wellbeing topics.
• Through the Strategic Data and Intelligence Network for Adult Social Care we will facilitate engagement with the sector to help shape effective data policy and requirements.
• We support benchmarking including by region and/or by theme.
• We develop support for councils in evidencing and informing their self-assessments and improvement planning.
• We support senior leaders’ access to and interpretation of data into intelligence to inform strategic decision making – using experts to shape tools and resources, building on the Use of Resources approach.

Communication channels

The programme has dedicated communication channels as part of its wider support offers to councils. Through these channels and the channels of our partners, councils can access universal support tools and resources and explore targeted support offers:

• PCH website
• PCH e-bulletin
• PCH X
• PCH LinkedIn
• ADASS website
• ADASS bulletin: available weekly for all ADASS members
• SCIE website
• SCIELine bulletin registration

How to access targeted support

• Requests should be made in the first instance through the regional CHIA and regional team. If you are unsure who to contact, please email [email protected].
• We will work with council’s director of adult social services and senior leadership team to understand the context and areas of support.
• In some cases, we will have to prioritise support to councils who face immediate and substantial challenges.
• Once support is confirmed, the shared objectives and scope of work will be agreed and signed off.
• On completion of the support, the outcomes will be reviewed and a continual improvement plan developed and embedded. We will evaluate the support and seek feedback from councils.
• The programme has a fixed budget. It cannot be guaranteed that all targeted support offers listed in this prospectus will be available to every council. Targeted support may have to be prioritised based on need.

Other PCH support programmes

The Better Care Fund Support Programme 2025-26 provides a range of support approaches to improve how local health and social care systems commission and deliver health and care services which is integrated, effective and sustainable.

The programme sets out a comprehensive, impactful and sustainable programme of support for councils.

All support offers are informed by regional priorities and regional improvement programmes.

Our targeted and universal support offers against the four themes are listed below.

Prevention and opportunity

• Unpaid carers: targeted support to a small number of councils to improve unpaid carer data sharing, carer identification, and reducing inequalities in carer access to support, with a national learning event to share learning and outputs from the targeted support.
• Information and advice maturity assessment (IAMA): self-directed and facilitated support for councils to improve their online and offline front doors and information and advice offers, in line with identified IAMA priority areas.
• Strengths-based approaches: development of support to councils to assess where they are on their strengths-based journey and to develop their approaches going forward. This may include developing strengths-based approaches to social work practice, and strategies for the development of community assets.
• Proactive Prevention: This is the next phase of a community of practice for proactive (targeted) prevention for older people. Participating councils will apply a methodology to take forward targeted prevention at a local level.

Working with people

• Moving on from children’s services (transitions): this project will extend the 24/25 initiative to reduce reliance on high-cost placements for young people by providing choice, promoting independence and through improved partnership arrangements.
• New models of support at home for working age adults: this project will support up to four councils to review how they enable support at home provision for working age adults, including but not limited to, the local supported living arrangements, and help them to design new approaches to how, when and where support is provided. It will also identify opportunities to secure efficiencies from current arrangements.
• Understanding and managing waits for assessment and support – defining and measuring timescales: building on initial 24/25 work to develop a common currency and a set of recommended standardised measures for managing waiting times, including DOLs, test and develop these measures with councils, CQC and DHSC.
• Understanding and managing waits for assessment and support - targeted support: support for 3 - 5 sites (councils or regions) to improve their waiting times management, exploring their data, reviewing equity of access (with reference to protected characteristics) and reviewing their operational processes - identifying ‘bottlenecks and exploring how to overcome them. Where relevant the streamlining assessments operating model toolkit will be available to support this work.
• Social care equity evidence hub (led by SCIE): the Evidence Hub is a centralised, accessible resource on social care equity. It provides curated evidence, commentary, and analysis to support better decisions in policy and practice. Initial content for the Evidence Hub presents care equity evidence about access to social care. Phase 2 will expand and deepen the evidence base and migrate the live hub to the SCIE website.
• Mental health What Good Looks Like: development of practical s117 guidance to support this priority area for improvement in assessment, care planning and review for people entitled to mental health after-care.
• Approved Mental Health Practitioner (AMPH) National Standards implementation continuing support.
• Mental Health Act implementation support: SCIE will produce briefings and learning materials for councils, people experiencing mental health issues and families to support the implementation of duties and responsibilities effectively.
• Safeguarding CQC assurance support (pre): to provide expert evaluation and advice on safeguarding adults work, in preparation for the forthcoming CQC inspection. This offer is aimed at Directors of Adult Social Services (DASS) or to ADASS regions who are facing particularly complex challenges, the review will focus on an aspect of safeguarding activity (for example: quality of safeguarding work, safeguarding structure or Safeguarding Adult Board (SAB) effectiveness, etc.)
• Safeguarding CQC assurance support (post): this offer is aimed at Directors of Adult Social Services (DASS) who are facing particularly complex challenges where external support is most helpful. The improvement work will focus on any area of safeguarding activity which responds to the local CQC findings.
• Strategic challenges in safeguarding adults: continuing to support Expert Reference Groups and Community of Practice Groups – providing a responsive connection with the sector and partners. Running online events and creating resources as identified by the sector.
• Improving the use safeguarding adult’s data: development of a pathway to creating a local narrative and sense making of council data. This report will initially be piloted with pre- and post- CQC councils and then it will become a universal offer after the report has been developed.

• Supporting consistency of safeguarding (led by SCIE):

  Get me to hospital: events and an easy read version of recently published guidance that support both the individual when they are at the centre of decisions relating to conveyance to hospital, and the practitioner responsible for arranging, or undertaking, conveyance of the individual.

  Legal literacy: development of learning materials on legal gaps identified by practitioners and a roundtable event and briefing on managing organisational abuse.

  SARS reviewers: a second cohort of SAR reviewers will be supported in establishing themselves as SAR reviewers.

Providing support

• Strategic workforce planning in a neighbourhood or place with a focus on equity of experience and outcomes: targeted support in strategic workforce planning to help councils, as place leaders, to plan for a workforce that meets the needs of local communities both now and in the future.
• Retention of a diverse and inclusive workforce: universal resources and communities of practices to support councils in retaining a skilled, inclusive, and diverse workforce that reflects the local population and ensures equity of access to communities. Targeted support to councils in developing confident and inclusive line managers and strengthening the skills of council middle leaders.
• Strategic commissioning and housing improvement: support to councils, clusters of councils (e.g. all interested in same topic), and regions to make a positive impact in key areas of strategic commissioning and housing plus commissioning targeted support to individual councils.
• Commissioning self-assessment framework: development of self-assessment framework, incorporating national and local data to support to help commissioners develop their skills and knowledge.
• Effective commissioning – Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund: webinars and guidance to support to help councils understand and meet the grant conditions of MSIF in an effective and efficient way.
• Financially effective commissioning: development of resources across a range of themes to support council colleagues increase their knowledge, insight and information to help them commission in a financially effective way.
• Strategic review of South West social care economy: a review of needs, social care market, demand and supply in South West Region.
• Housing Toolkit: SCIE’s support to local areas to use the toolkit for developing place-based strategies for housing for autistic adults and adults with a learning disability to test and improve the approach.

Strategic leadership

• CQC preparation workshops
• Frontline staff workshops: onsite face to face day of workshop sessions for frontline staff for councils who have received CQC notification and takes place before their on-site dates. Written feedback and a separate feedback session is provided to senior management team with action planning.
• Managers session: onsite up to half day session for managers to support them to prepare their staff, co-designed with the council and offered as soon as councils receive their CQC notification.
• CQC support for principal social workers and principal occupational therapists: continuation of the National Community of Practice to support Principal Social Workers (PSWs) with CQC assurance and development of a support offer with the national Principal Occupational Therapists network.
• Value for money from spend on long-term support for working age adults: this project will work with up to four councils to provide bespoke support to identify the local drivers for rapid and sustained increases in net total spend and spend per head on long-term support for working age adults.
• Targeted support to councils facing greatest financial pressure
• Universal support to both regional DASS groups and regional finance groups
• Universal advice using Use of Resources tool including discussions with each ADASS Region
• Scaling innovation: SCIE's innovation collaboratives will capture learning to address the challenges of scaling and sustaining innovation. Providing support to 10-20 projects to implement and maximise the impact
• Support to Adult Social Care (ASC) leadership teams: tailored support for ASC Leadership Teams to support with effective team working, collective leadership of ASC, and actions for improvement. ASC Leadership Reviews to support the Council in reviewing ASC leadership capacity.
• Support to Adult Social Care (ASC) portfolio holders and Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs): Support to leadership of health and care e.g. portfolio holders for adult social care, to strengthen leadership to drive local priorities, develop knowledge, learning, work-based skills, impact and effectiveness. Support to HWBs to fulfil their statutory and strategic leadership partnership roles at place, navigate partnership and governance complexity at system, place and neighbourhood levels for maximum collective impact, and respond to policy direction.
• Leveraging the What Good Looks Like (WGLL) framework for digital social care improvement: targeted support for councils to benchmark digital maturity, develop improvement plans, and embed digital working across adult social care using the WGLL framework.

• Local Government Reorganisation

  Scoping exercise to map organisational risks onto reorganisations options under consideration by area.

  Development of slide deck providing elected members with introduction to Adult Social Care.

  Lessons Learnt from prior council reorganisations universal product with publication and events.

Safe and strategic innovation

• Ethical adoption of novel technologies: support for councils to adopt emerging technologies such as generative and agentic AI responsibly, with a focus on governance, risk, and care technology standards.
• AI practice labs: hands-on targeted support for up to three councils to test AI in real care settings over 3–6 months, leading to a sector-wide real-world AI report with practical insights and best practice.
• Digital communities of practice: a cross-cutting network to share learning, shape sector-wide innovation, and ensure integration across digital themes (and linking with Operating Model Toolkit for Local Authority Assessments support).
• Care technology and the digital switchover: universal support for councils to navigate the analogue to digital switchover as a strategic opportunity to reimagine care technology. Focuses on using the transition to drive more proactive, preventative, and person-centred approaches to technology enabled care (TEC) delivery.

Intensive support

Intensive support is for individual councils who are facing immediate significant challenges and risk, including from CQC judgements or requires Improvement or Inadequate ratings, or from very significant financial challenges.

Co-ordinated and tailored support could be across, for example (but not exclusively), safeguarding, assessment practice, commissioning and workforce. A package of tailored support will be set up and specialist support drawn in.

Intensive support will usually be sourced via the care and health improvement adviser, who will work with the council’s director of adult social services and their team to rapidly agree and arrange the support. Where appropriate, this will be done in conjunction with regions, the wider LGA regional team, as well as other partners where action needs to involve them.