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Dear colleagues,
The LGA has called on the Prime Minister to deliver the £13 billion pledged to tackle the crisis in adult social care as part of her leadership campaign. We have said that £6 billion of this funding is needed immediately to increase care worker pay, meet demography and inflation pressures and stabilise the provider market. The rest of the £13 billion is also needed urgently to ensure councils can deliver their statutory duties under the Care Act.
We have also warned that this coming winter is widely expected to be particularly challenging meaning it will be vital that there is significant new investment now so that people are able to access the support they need. This would also help ensure that social care can play its part in helping to alleviate the pressures facing the NHS.
Meanwhile, the County Councils Network (CCN) has called on the Government to delay its social care reforms, warning that services face a ‘perfect storm’ of financial and workforce pressures over the next 12 months. CCN has highlighted that councils risk not having the staff or money needed to implement the financial changes proposed. And the NHS Confederation has called on the Government to introduce extra social care funding.
These issues and more will be discussed in the forthcoming National Children and Adult Services Conference 2022. Aimed at those with a leading role in adults and children’s social care, this landmark annual event will take place in person between 2 and 4 November 2022 in Manchester.
I do hope to see many of you there, alongside NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard; The Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel De Souza; ADASS President Sarah McClinton; ADCS President Steve Crocker; and LGA Chairman Cllr James Jamieson.
Yours,
Cllr David Fothergill
Chairman, LGA Community Wellbeing Board
Stories
Leadership Essentials: adult social care
Running from Thursday 13 October to Friday 14 October 2022 in Warwick, this free development event aims to support new adult social care lead members with the key challenges they face in local leadership of care and health.
More information on our support for lead members, including the series of 'Must knows' for lead members for adult social care on key topics, can be found our adult social care lead member development page.
For more information and to make a booking please email grace.collins@local.gov.uk
Dental services
On 1 October, we highlighted that a growing number of “dental deserts” across the country, with deprived or rural areas having fewer NHS dentists compared to affluent urban areas.
To tackle the shortage of NHS dentists, we have called on the Government to reform the dental contract and to commit to long-term public health funding increases which will provide critical early interventions to take pressure away from NHS dentists. We also highlighted that as we continue to feel the effect of the cost-of-living, some people may forgo crucial dental work.
Roundtable on the Care Act and survivors of modern slavery
The Salvation Army, which manages the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) is hosting a roundtable to focus on understanding and discussing the Care Act 2014 as it relates to survivors of modern slavery. The event will take place in Birmingham on Friday 2 December and is aimed at council safeguarding managers and practitioners and policy leads, as well as MSVCC sub contractor organisations. Councils are asked to register for the event as soon as possible.
Women’s health
Councils are working to ensure women’s health is a priority. We have produced a series of case studies showing the breadth of the work going on, from creating menopause-friendly environments to improving access to reproductive and sexual health services. Although women live longer than men on average, they spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability compared to men. To combat this, the Government in England published its first ever Women’s Health Strategy in July this year. Local government is already rising to the challenge. Before the strategy was published plenty of councils had started developing new programmes and working with their partners to ensure women’s health is supported.
Routine childhood vaccinations in England in 2021-22
Coverage for all routine childhood vaccinations administered to children under five in England in 2021-22 was published this week. Data has shown that coverage decreased in 13 out of the 14 routine vaccination measures in 2021-22. These new statistics have revealed that we are still not reaching the WHO 95 per cent targets for vaccination coverage, are particularly concerning and also show considerable regional disparities.
Changes in the weight status of children between the first and final years of primary school
New OHID research, Changes in the weight status of children between the first and final years of primary school, found that most children who start primary school with a healthy weight retain this healthy weight status until the end of primary school. However, the flow of children from a healthy to an unhealthy weight status (underweight, overweight or living with obesity) was larger than the flow of children from an unhealthy to a healthy weight. This is reflected in the increase in obesity prevalence seen between Reception and Year 6.
Housing our ageing population
The LGA, with Housing LIN, has published Housing our ageing population. This report makes a number of recommendations to Government on how we can best meet the needs of people in later life. It includes case studies demonstrating how councils are addressing the housing needs of an ageing population.
Healthy Ageing conference and community of practice
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is holding a free-to-join Healthy Ageing conference on 15 November. The conference will showcase UKRI's work around key drivers of healthy ageing. People can attend in person, at The Kia, Oval, or online.
The UKRI also run a Healthy Ageing Challenge community of practice. This forum welcomes everyone with an interest in collaborating to maximise the opportunities an ageing population brings and help more people enjoy the benefits of leading a longer life in health.
Find out more about the UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge.
Down Syndrome Act guidance: Call for evidence
The Government has published a call for evidence on the development of the Down Syndrome Act statutory guidance. It is seeking views on what should be included within the guidance. It will consider those views when producing draft guidance which they will be published for full public consultation. The Down Syndrome Act guidance: Call for evidence closes on 8 November 2022.
Building the Right Support
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published the Building the Right Support action plan, which is about supporting more people with a learning disability and autistic people to have the life they want in the community. It sets out what partners, including local government, need to do to support more people with a learning disability and autistic people to leave mental health hospitals by March 2024.
Working in partnership with people and communities
NHS England has published statutory guidance on working with people and communities for integrated care boards, NHS trusts and foundation trusts to support them to meet their legal duties on public involvement. This guidance will also be of interest to local authorities, who are key partners with the NHS in developing plans and services. NHS England has also organised a series of webinars on the new guidance, primarily for the NHS but local authorities may also be interest in participating:
Safeguarding incidents involving armed forces personnel
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has asked us to highlight recommended procedures for councils, partnerships, trusts or committees in relation to safeguarding issues and armed forces families. Where input from the MOD is required in relation to a safeguarding incident (for example, a safeguarding practice review, learning review, domestic homicide review) or where councils have been informed of an allegation against a serving person of a safeguarding nature that requires a local authority designated officer or equivalent involvement, councils are encouraged to notify the MOD Safeguarding Policy Team (SPT) at People-AFFS-Safeguarding-Mailbox@mod.gov.uk to promote timely information sharing. This mailbox should also be used if there are themes or specific cases involving serving personnel and their families which councils feel provide a learning opportunity for the SPT.
National Children and Adult Services Conference 2022
The programme for the National Children and Adult Services Conference 2022 is now live.
The annual conference and exhibition offers delegates the opportunity to hear and engage in the latest updates and thinking in key policies and improvement agendas. Speakers joining NCASC 2022 include Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England, Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Integrated Care and Interim Chief Operating Officer of CQC and Amanda Spielman, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted.
Colleagues are encouraged to book their delegates place via the NCASC website, which also includes helpful FAQs and accommodation information.
Adult social care position statement
LGA
Women’s Health: How councils are making a difference
LGA
Explaining variation in spending - public health
LGA
Survey of confidence in adult social care reform
LGA
Care and support and homelessness: Top tips on the role of adult social care
LGA
The cost of caring: poverty and deprivation among residential care workers in the UK
The Health Foundation
The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England
Skills for Care
Building capacity and capability for improvement in adult social care
The King's Fund
Towards a new partnership between disabled people and health and care services: getting our voices heard
The King's Fund
Public perceptions of health and social care: what the new government should know
The Health Foundation
Leading quality improvement in the NHS - Findings of the national evaluation of the NHS-VMI partnership
The Health Foundation and NHS England
Building an organisational culture of continuous improvement
The Health Foundation
Interoperability is more than technology: The role of culture and leadership in joined-up care
The King's Fund
Guidelines on mental health at work
World Health Organisation
Events
Handling online abuse and intimidation
27 October 2022 | Zoom webinar
National Children and Adult Services Conference 2022
2 and 4 November 2022 | Manchester
Social care workforce: top tips for embedding wellbeing
10 November 2022 | Zoom webinar
UKRI Healthy Ageing Conference
15 November 2022 | The Kia, Oval (hybrid)
LGA Annual Conference and Exhibition 2023 – Bournemouth
4 - 6 July 2023 | Bournemouth International Centre
Media
NHS “dental deserts” persist in rural and deprived communities – LGA analysis
1 October 2022
LGA responds to Childhood Vaccination Coverage statistics
29 September 2022
Councils call for £13 billion for social care to be delivered as promised by PM
22 September 2022
Parliamentary
Fabian Society inquiry on a roadmap to the National Care Service
The LGA submitted written evidence to the Fabian Society on their inquiry into the National Care Service, supported by Unison, which we understand would be Labour’s policy for social care in England if they came into power the next election. In our evidence, highlighted our own Green Paper from 2018 on the future of social care and wellbeing and urged the inquiry that in any future system, council run adult social care services must continue to be run by councils. Local leaders know their communities best and puts them in a unique position to provide support based on the needs of their local areas. This is what separates central government from local government, and it must continue to be harnessed.
COVID Inquiry
The independent COVID-19 inquiry held its first preliminary hearing last week covering Module 1 of the inquiry which focuses on the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic. The LGA and Welsh LGA have been confirmed in the list of Core Participants for Module 1 of the Inquiry and you can view the transcript of the preliminary hearing. The Inquiry team will be considering information and evidence they will require from local authorities and the issuing of ‘Rule 9 Inquiries Regulation 2005’ requests. Rule 9 provides that the inquiry panel must send a written request for a written statement to any person from whom the inquiry proposes to take evidence. You should also have been notified by DLUHC about the requirement to preserve documents relevant to the issues being considered by the Inquiry. The Inquiry made it very clear that the warning contained in this letter from the Inquiry to the Cabinet Office dated 20 January 2022 about document retention applies to local authorities. The LGA will be holding a webinar on the Inquiry with a focus on preparation on 18 or 19 October.
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