1. How many individuals are currently on the waiting list for care services, categorised by service user group (e.g.mental health support, learning disabilities, physical disabilities)?
There are currently 53 people awaiting personal care services across Devon. We do not break this down by client groups so do not hold that information.
Future Care Needs Projections:
2. What are the local authority’s projected figures for the need for care services across various service user groups (e.g. mental health, learning disabilities, etc.) over the next five years?
We use Projecting Adult Needs and Service Information System and Projecting Older People Population Information System online publicly available projection tools developed by the Institute of Public Care (IPC) to inform our projections of future demand for care services across different service user groups. These do have their limitations as much of the projections are based on national research/surveys that are then applied locally to population data, so they are used for indicative purposes alongside other intelligence, e.g. historical trend and commissioning patterns.
These webpages will give an estimate for the projected number of people with certain conditions/health needs for the general population in Devon/District Council level for the next 5 years that can then be used to inform service planning.
Care Provider Criteria:
3. What are the criteria the local authority uses to evaluate care providers for service users with different needs (e.g., elderly, mental health, learning disabilities, physical disabilities)?
Depending on the contract model the council undertakes a range of quality checks as part of their due diligence such as CQC rating, references, quality questions and evaluation criteria.
Budget for Care Services:
4. What is the current budget allocation for care services for different service user groups (e.g., elderly, mental health, learning disabilities, physical disabilities) in this financial year?
This information can be found on pages 46 and 50 of the following link Budget Book 2024-25.
Direct Payments and Personal Budgets:
5. How many individuals receive direct payments or personal budgets from the local authority to arrange their own care services, broken down by service user group?
As of September 2024, the following people (18+yrs) are in receipt of Direct payments by Primary Care Group:
Learning disability 733
Autism 154
Mental health 115
Older People 334
Older People with mental health 155
Physical Disability 488
Workforce Development Support:
6. What support or funding does the local authority offer for care providers to train and develop their workforce for working with a wide range of service users, including elderly individuals, people with learning disabilities, and those with mental health conditions?
The Workforce Development team offer several funding and signpost funding options for social care providers to train and develop their workforce. This includes:
- Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support: (previously known as the Workforce Development Fund) this new Gov scheme provides a range of eligible courses covering levels 2-5 including autism, dementia and end of life. The fund also includes the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate. Support is available to providers who will need to complete the Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset to be able to access this funding.
- eLearning: Devon County Council has partnered with Flourish (previously known as Grey Matter Learning) to provide two thirds funded social care courses for all providers in Devon until 31st March 2025. The Click learning platform allows users to access to over 130 social care eLearning courses.
- Apprenticeship Levy: Devon County Council can transfer apprenticeship levy funds to other employers in Devon. This pledge is for social care providers in devon to fund for apprenticeships for staff to help develop the workforce, including new apprentices or existing employees. Since 2021, the fund has supported 44 apprentices in adult social care.
- International Recruitment: A range of training and pastoral support through the Devon International Recruitment offer. Collaborations with local partners to provide support for social care providers and the international recruits.
- Strength Based Approaches pilot project, the funded training includes a suite of e-learning available via a learning portal, plus a series of interactive live workshops covering topics such as Care Act, Goal setting & outcomes, TECS, 247 grid & PATH planning and constant supervision.
- Mental Health Independent Providers Training Programme, Devon Partnership Trust and Devon County Council cover the cost of a range of online training to Mental Health Independent Providers. Training programme for 2024 – 2025 covering training such as Autism Awareness, Hoarding & self-neglect, Housing Legislation, Introduction to mental health level 1 and more.
- Resources and signposting of all local and regional training and support including; The Oliver McGown Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism, Eastern Care Services Team, Northern Care Homes Team and more. For discussions on provider training needs contact Workforcetraining&education@devon.gov.uk.
Care Service Complaints:
7. How many complaints have been received regarding care services for different service user groups (e.g., elderly, mental health, learning disabilities, physical disabilities) in the last 12 months, and what were the key issues raised?
Compliance with this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time. We don’t record the service user group against complaints on our case management system. We would need to review over 300 individual lines of data to establish the service user group, looking at both our case management system and Carefirst. At around 5 minutes per record this would be 1500 minutes and 25 hours.
Under the Act, there is a duty to provide advice and assistance as to how a request can be refined to fit within the appropriate limit. Unfortunately, due to the way the data is held, this is not possible for this request.
Please note, we deliberately don’t record this data as the rules around data protection don’t allow us to do so. Our system doesn’t allow us to provide a report on the details of cases and protected characteristics (such as the nature of a disability, for example) so we can only ever provide one thing or another. We are also reliant on customers providing their classification information, and most choose not to.
Preferred Care Models:
8. Does the local authority have preferred care models for different service user groups (e.g., home care, residential care, supported living for the elderly, mental health, learning disabilities, physical disabilities)?
Care homes – no current prescribed model.
Shared Lives – no prescribed model.
Extra Care Housing – Most of our Extra Care Housing is focussed on those who are 55+ although we do have a small number of clients who are of working age.
Respite and Emergency 163 Rooms:
9a) Does your local authority currently use or foresee a need for respite and emergency 163 rooms for individuals in need of short-term care or emergency accommodation?
No, currently this is delivered in house.
9b)If such services are needed, what level of financial allocation or budget does the local authority provide for respite and emergency accommodation services?
N/A.
9c) Does your local authority procure such services via formal tenders/contracts, or operate on a “pay-per-use” basis when services are required?
If it was to be sourced from the market it would be tendered.
9d) If tenders are used, could you provide details of any upcoming opportunities or frameworks for such services?
There are no current opportunities as it is delivered in house.