Improvement and support offer 2026/27 - prospectus

The Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services are PCH working with well-respected organisations.

PCH helps councils to improve the way they deliver adult social care and public health services and helps Government understand the challenges faced by the sector. 

The programme is a trusted network for developing and sharing best practice, developing tools and techniques, providing support and building connections. It is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and offered to councils without charge.

• The organisations and people who contribute to this support
• An overview of the programme structure and modes of delivery
• How to access targeted support and the communication channels for the offer
• The support offer in detail, setting out the range of universal and targeted support available in 2026/27 across three themes.

We will deliver the Continuous Improvement in Adult Social Care grant, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, over a three‑year period from 2026 to 2029, working in partnership with ADASS regions and subcontractor SCIE.

The programme offers a comprehensive range of support that enables councils, care providers and the social care workforce to deliver high‑quality services that promote choice, control and independence for the people they support.

Delivery will be underpinned by the partnership’s combined strengths, including shared research expertise, extensive national and regional networks, and deep subject‑matter knowledge. Together, these capabilities will support councils to build capability, strengthen practice and drive continuous improvement across adult social care. 

PCH draws on data, evidence and a national membership and networks with the knowledge, skills and relationships to support councils.

• Regional Care and Health Improvement Advisers: connect councils to the right support and enabling targeted interventions at local or regional level​.
• Regional networks and leads: provide contextual leadership, local networks and peer delivery, link national policy with local intelligence and context; broker improvement support, data analysis and peer challenge; provide early-warning insight aligned with CQC findings; co-design solutions with national and regional partners.
• National subject matter and practice experts: designated professional leads who deliver support, tools, best-practice guidance and research for a sector-wide audience​.
• Research and evaluation and programme management expertise: provide evaluation and insights to the sector.

We recognise that​:

• councils are responsible for their own performance​
• support we provide will 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. 

Each of the nine ADASS regions brings together all Directors of Adult Social Services (DASSs) across their councils. Regions coordinate thematic networks and communities of practice, including commissioning, workforce, quality, carers, digital and co-production and connecting hundreds of practitioners and system partners.

Regional SLI Leads act as connectors, linking councils, peer networks and national partners. They facilitate peer learning, collaboration and partnerships, ensuring that improvement remains grounded in local context.

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

Every region has a Care and Heath Improvement Advisor (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 an ADASS regional programme lead, who can also ensure that councils are aware of and contribute to support.

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

The 2026/27 programme was developed through a structured, collaborative process that brought together partners including LGA, ADASS, DHSC and SCIE, alongside sector-wide engagement and analysis.

The development was strongly informed by a range of evidence and intelligence sources, including regional engagement with councils in autumn 2025 to understand sector support needs, national and regional risk profiling, insights from ADASS policy networks and emerging CQC rating characteristics.

The resulting programme reflects a balance of these inputs alongside key external influences and constraints. It has been shaped by DHSC policy priorities, particularly improving quality of care, enhancing choice and control, and delivering more joined-up neighbourhood services, as well as by sector-identified priorities such as financial resilience, delivery of statutory duties and managing high-priority or mandated change.

Financial constraints and requirements around how funding is allocated, have also driven a need to prioritise support carefully. Throughout, the programme design has considered the importance of targeting areas of greatest risk and impact; while ensuring it remains responsive to feedback from the sector and grounded in a clear understanding of local need and system pressures.

Governance has also been strengthened, with the all-DASS SLI group now providing strategic oversight of the programme, complementing existing PCH management arrangements.

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

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.

• We will work with DASSs, Senior Leadership Teams and ADASS Regional Leads to understand context/areas of 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]. 
• In some cases, we will have to prioritise support to councils who face the most immediate and substantial challenges.
• Once support is confirmed, the shared objectives and scope of work will be agreed and signed off.
• Following completion of the support, outcomes will be reviewed and the support evaluated, with feedback sought 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.

Information and intelligence underpin the breadth of support we deliver. We provide high‑quality data tools, insight and expertise to support local improvement journeys. In 2026/27, we will:

• Maintain and develop metrics on LG Inform, ensuring a quality‑assured and up‑to‑date adult social care data resource, including a new Client Level Data waiting times reports
• Facilitate the National Strategic Data and Intelligence Network, supporting the effective use of data and intelligence
• Support ADASS Regional Performance Networks, with technical expertise, training and insight
• Provide benchmarking, regional scorecards and bespoke tools
• Support the ADASS National Team to deliver and analyse the Spring and Autumn Surveys
• Work with the DHSC to maximise the potential benefits from the CLD collection
• Represent the sector on national ASC data related initiatives.
   

The programme has dedicated communication channels as part of its wider support offers to councils. Through these channels, we can provide councils with extensive resources and support tools to help drive sector-led improvement across the social care services.

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

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

We also provide, through the Better Care Fund Support Programme, 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.
 

CQC assurance

Post baselining and new regulatory approach support:

• maintain a strong relationship with the CQC to ensure the latest information is shared with councils, facilitate sector feedback, share insights and support co-production. 
• publish a revised self-assessment toolkit to support councils engage with the new annual assessment, new thematic element and the ongoing comprehensive assessments.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Building adult social care readiness for local government reorganisation:

• publish an online briefing pack for elected members, either newly elected or from district council, providing introduction to adult social care and their responsibilities
• publish a further iteration of the online briefing of Lessons Learnt from previous and current LGR
• update the LGR risk log from an adult social perspective based on outcomes of LGR proposals
• set up four regionally based Communities of Practice for ASC senior management & CEXs undergoing LGR
• develop an ASC-focused roadmap of key actions and decisions for councils during LGR journey, building on LGA LGR toolkit
• offer ongoing advice, guidance and liaison with DHSC on ASC risks and impacts of LGR proposals and decisions.

Finance and resources

Approach to CHC / S117 Funding and partner working:

• Support for health and social care systems to strengthen partnership‑focused approaches to CHC and Section 117 funding. This will focus on improving joint governance and accountability, supporting more consistent and timely decision-making, and redesigning key elements of the CHC pathway. Combining practical, in-year support to strengthen workforce capability and day-to-day joint practice, alongside the use of data and shared learning to improve transparency, reduce disputes, and support better system performance and outcomes for people

Use of Resources Benchmarking:

• Annual benchmarking reports for all local authorities, using national data to compare adult social care finance, activity and outcomes with similar councils.
  Tailored regional briefings of benchmarking analysis to ADASS DASS networks.
  Tailored Use of Resources reports for individual councils, comparing ASC spending, activity and performance with similar authorities to identify value‑for‑money opportunities.

Best practice guidance and online adult social care finance self-assessment tool:

• Update universal advice and guidance on best practice in financial management for ASC. 
• Develop and publish online an ASC finance self-assessment tool suitable for all upper tier councils to use as a first step in the ladder of support and improvement.
• Identify risk factors for issues specific to ASC and ASC finance to be considered by councils who are reorganising via Local Government Reorganisation.

Targeted financial review:

• Deliver targeted financial reviews for councils with significant challenges in ASC finance, using contracted finance reviewers.
• Revise criteria for proceeding with a detailed review of ASC finances in a council to reflect current and emerging risk factors.
• Introduce structured process of follow-up with councils who have received targeted review of ASC finance- six months after completion of review to assess progress on delivering recommendations made.

Advice and support to councils and region:

• Engage with regional finance networks, including briefings at network meetings and quarterly meetings of the regional chairs group. 
• Develop practical guidance and primers on adult social care and local government finance to support officers and members, alongside best practice guidance and self assessment tools. 
• Share learning and best practice through an online library of case studies highlighting innovation and improved value and sustainability. 
• Support councils and regions with financial modelling and structured advice, including budget setting, savings and transformation programmes, and provider fee negotiations. 
• Develop targeted advice on priority pressure areas, including joint funded placements, hospital discharge, neighbourhood health, workforce and fair pay, preparation for adulthood, and cost of care. 
• Increase understanding of adult social care finance through engagement with elected members, regional groups and partner networks.

Digital

Digital switchover:

• Facilitate a national Community of Practice for council digital switchover leads, providing updates from key stakeholders and enabling councils to share learning and good practice.
• Deliver an insight survey with direct engagement with all councils with responsibility for adult social care and district councils with responsibility for telecare provision to determine digital switchover progress to date. 
• Develop a RAG-rated system national view of council progress across England. We  will contact councils identified as RED to provide targeted advisory support where required and welcome. 
• Represent local government in switchover forums occurring at the national, regional and individual stakeholder level include Telecare Advisory Board, Openreach PSTN Forum, London PSTN Network, Communication provider engagement: BT and VMO2 and Combined authorities.
• Produce practical guidance notes for the digital switchover as challenges emerge. In the first instance, this will include a guidance note on the emerging data sharing gap as well as the platforming of the Scottish Digital Office's housing publication. 

DHSC fully digitised ambition:

• Work in partnership with DHSC to support councils in delivering the Fully Digitised vision for adult social care.
• Engage councils through regional events, workshops and structured feedback mechanisms to inform implementation of this ambition.
• Work with the nine ADASS Regional Digital Network Leads to support them to support their councils to complete/recomplete What Good Looks Like in Adult Social Care for Digital and provide the analysis of results.
• Contribute to the refresh of the What Good Looks Like Digital Social Care Framework (for local authorities), including updates to the self-assessment tool, guidance (offline and online versions) and reporting functionality. 

Digital knowledge and skills assessment:

• Maintain and enhance the Adult Social Care Assessments Improvement Toolkit (ASCAIT), ensuring councils have accurate, up‑to‑date guidance on safe and effective digital tools. This includes reviewing and improving tool cards, usability and increasing awareness across the sector.
• Deliver a refreshed national Community of Practice series offering practical, peer led sessions on real world AI challenges such as transcription accuracy, oversight, drift, inclusion and data standards. Includes short thematic summaries and light touch reporting. 
• Monitor emerging uses, risks and trends in AI and digital tools, drawing on insight from councils, suppliers and sector networks. Targeted insight notes and updates to guidance will identify and escalate issues to DHSC, including risks such as bias, shadow AI, overuse and safeguarding concerns
• Map and analyse digital and AI Communities of Practice across councils and sector partners to understand purpose, maturity, gaps and effectiveness and opportunities. 

Elected member support

• Deliver virtual induction sessions for newly appointed adult social care lead members
• Run a dedicated CQC assurance webinar series tailored for elected members
• Host regional face-to-face political leadership events focused on adult social care priorities and challenges
• Strengthen links with regional lead member networks to support peer learning and collaboration
• Revise and update adult social care CQC “Must Knows” materials for elected members
• Signpost elected members clearly to all available LGA and ADASS regional and national support and resources.
   

Working age adults

Moving on from Children's Services:

• A review of local approaches to supporting disabled and vulnerable young people as they transition into adulthood. The review will explore social work and clinical practice, commissioned services, spend and activity data and partnership working, to identify quality and financial risks for adult social care. This insight will be used to develop a local plan to mitigate those risks.

Securing value for money on spend on long term support for adults under 65:

• A diagnostic analysis of local spend and activity, drawing on national and local data sets, alongside insights gathered from practitioners, providers, partners, and people who draw on support. An initial improvement plan will also be developed, informed by best practice, published evidence, and existing guidance.

Co-production and care equity (to be confirmed)

Getting it right: making co-production and care equity work for people:

• Support to review and strengthen the quality of a council’s co‑production across three core areas: strategic planning, assessment of local provision, and professional practice. This will draw on expertise from social work practitioners, commissioners and people with lived experience, to develop a clear, practical improvement plan to embed effective local approaches to co‑production. 
• Hold three learning events to share best practice and explore how co‑production principles can be applied consistently, while recognising local resource and capacity pressures.

Mental health (to be confirmed)

Mental Health Act implementation:

• Work with council representatives to provide advice and guidance to DHSC on the MHA 2026 Code of practice. 
• Deliver learning events to share experience, skills and knowledge in supporting people during an inpatient stay and when they return to their local community, including facilitating necessary clinical and therapeutic support from NHS partners. 
• Produce five publications describing the implementations of the Act for commissioners, social work and AMHP practitioners, workforce leads, principal social workers and council policy leads.

AMPH dataset:

• Provide ongoing support for the development of the national AMHP dataset aimed at reduction in national data gaps, strengthened statutory oversight of AMHP activity, enabling better planning and sustainability of the workforce, and demand planning by improving the quality, consistency and use of AMHP activity data.

Professional practice

Strengths-based approaches:

Targeted support for councils who wish to develop their strengths-based practice. Work will focus on assessing current practice using our newly developed High Impact Change Model. A report will be provided to the council identifying the best areas for potential development and suggested actions. 

Waiting times: assessment and care planning:

• An offer to councils to identify where bottlenecks and delays arise in their assessment and care planning procedures. Each council will receive an analysis of their current situation and client level data. 

Waiting time: DoLS:

• Support councils/regions to review their Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards process, data and workforce capacity. Use of diagnostic workshops for councils/regions with action planning to support improvement. 
  Develop universal resources to support improved insight and understanding of data and shared learning. 

Professional practice - back to basics:

• Develop Communities of Practice and an expert reference group for professionals and others involved in adult social care information and advice, Principal Occupational Therapists and Principal Social Workers. 

AI in practice:

• Support for council front line adult social care practitioners to understand how to use AI in practice in their operational roles, particularly with reference to the MCA/DoLS context.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding adults bespoke support:

• Tailored improvement support for councils who received ratings of ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ on their CQC assurance for the quality statements relating to safeguarding adults. The offer can include diagnostic reviews; more detailed reviews of practice; embedding sustainable change; strengthen practice and/or evidence improvement with confidence. We work with leaders to co-design support plans that are flexible, practical, impact-driven and shaped around each council’s context and improvement journey. The programme supports councils to build robust evidence of progress, ensuring readiness to demonstrate improvement to DHSC and CQC, including exit from enhanced oversight (for example, Section 50) where applicable

Safeguarding adults - knowledge exchange and collaboration

• Facilitated communities of practice and expert reference groups with specific focuses on discriminatory abuse, homelessness, substance misuse, sexual exploitation, Transitional Safeguarding and organisational abuse which inform and drive the work programme. We will also hold webinars/roundtables and events.

Safeguarding adults data and insight support

• Provide councils with bespoke data commentary which is based on the LG Inform report and distils the key messages for senior leaders including trends, successes and areas for improvement specific to their area. It also identifies areas where a deeper dive may clarify any points raised. Data is sourced from Safeguarding Adults Collection and published data.

Unpaid carers

• Support to councils to improve their identification of unpaid carers, to enable timely carer assessments and person-centred support. Work with council staff and local unpaid carers to identify barriers to carer self-identification 
  Support to councils to review their model for delivering carer assessments and carer support (including direct payments options). Development of recommendations for improvement. 
• Continuation of our 25/26 offer to support councils and their partners to review their approach to sharing unpaid carer data, building on a shared understanding of the data held by partners. Develop recommendations for action, including a consideration of developing a data sharing agreement that includes unpaid carer data. 
• Develop guidance to support councils with obtaining, recording and submitting mandatory client level data (CLD) data in relation to unpaid carers. This will include, where necessary, the importance of building requirements into commissioning and contracting approaches with carers organisations.

Commissioning and market sustainability

Market oversight and intelligence:

• Work with cross‑sector partners to share intelligence and strengthen collective understanding of adult social care market structures, risks and vulnerabilities.
• Support local authorities to improve their insight into key market drivers, pressures and potential impacts.
  Enhance access to intelligence that helps identify, prevent and mitigate market and provider failure.

Commissioning improvement targeted support:

• Support to use the PCH Commissioning Self Evaluation Framework (CSEF), which aims to help LAs and their partners evaluate the effectiveness of their current commissioning approach.
• A Commissioning Function Peer Review to councils undertaken by PCH staff and external experts. This will seek to understand overall effectiveness and identify recommendations, with a strong focus on areas identified through the CSEF process.
• Focused improvement support to enable councils to deliver the improvements identified and planned during the previous two stages.

Commissioning self-evaluation framework:

• PCH has developed an ASC Commissioning Self Evaluation Framework (CSEF) to support commissioners and partners evaluate the effectiveness of their current commissioning approach. The CSEF uses a maturity model against a range of success measures, to support councils build an understanding of their local context, drawing on insight and intelligence to identify where they want to make improvements and what these may look like. 

Quality assurance support:

• Targeted support for councils across a region to get a detailed understanding of how they each undertake quality assurance and how their approach and impact differ. It will examine systems, processes, tools, and intelligence that underpin local oversight of CQC regulated provision and identify opportunities for greater consistency, alignment, and effectiveness. The work will provide the foundation for a regional quality assurance framework and a more coherent approach to monitoring quality and managing risk across the adult social care market.

Housing

Housing related support:

• Work with councils through regular engagement with senior leadership (typically DASS-level) to provide a range of advice and support on the delivery of housing-related priorities and improvement. 
• Undertake a range of support activities (communities of practice, webinars etc) accessible for any council colleague involved in housing. These include development of Extra Care schemes, supported Living schemes and delivery and usage of DFG funding and implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act.  
• Continue regular liaison to inform senior government policy makers on any housing related matters. This includes DHSC, MHCLG and other national stakeholders.

Local Supported Housing Strategy targeted support:

• A targeted offer to support local authorities to plan, develop and publish a Local Supported Housing Strategy in line with the requirements of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act. It supports councils to collaborate with partners to understand the local landscape of supported housing, including supply, unmet need and future demand and to develop a strategy which sets out the direction of travel to meet unmet need. This support offer will assist local authorities to plan and deliver this work and publish their Strategy.

Workforce

Retention of the adult social care workforce:

• Deliver online events to support councils to retain regulated professionals, launch the new PCH resource, What Good Looks Like in Retention, and showcase good practice in the sector
• Develop a web-based self assessment tool to support retention of regulated professionals, aligned to the six retention drivers in the PCH What Good Looks Like in Retention.
• Provide targeted support to help councils develop effective retention strategies for regulated professionals, utilising the PCH self assessment tool that draws on What Good Looks Like for Retention.
• Provide a learning and development offer for council employed middle leaders in adult social care to support them to grow and thrive in their role
• Support International Recruitment Partnerships to address common challenges and share good practice in the retention of overseas recruits in adult social care.

Intensive support is provided to individual councils facing immediate and significant challenge or risk. This may include CQC judgements such as ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ ratings, or acute and serious financial pressures.

Support is co‑ordinated and tailored to local need and may cover, for example (though not exclusively), safeguarding, assessment, commissioning, and workforce. A bespoke package of support will be agreed and put in place, drawing on specialist expertise as required.

Intensive support is usually commissioned through CHIA, working closely with the Director of Adult Social Services and their leadership team to rapidly agree priorities and arrange delivery. Where appropriate, this activity will be undertaken in conjunction with ADASS regional teams, the wider LGA regional team, and other relevant partners.