ADASS Spring Seminar Update

Jeff Jerome

National Director

Social Care Transformation

1. Finance IT Systems

What are we trying to achieve?

• The aim of this project is to help councils to update financial aspects of their information systems, to make these fit for purpose and compatible with personal budgets, the new approach to financial contributions and other key aspects of Putting People First.

• The outputs will enable councils to work with their IT suppliers based on a consistent nationally-agreed high-level specification

Finance IT SystemsWhat will be delivered?

• A description of the core financial process required by councils to implement personal budgets, including financial contributions

• A high-level specification for information systems making clear what functionality needs to be provided

It will outline:

• core principles - for example, one principle may be that of individualised budget allocation

• what must be done – this is the core financial process map, • any requirements that should be adhered to – an example may be that of

allowing ‘split’ payments (a council managed service and a direct cash payment).

Finance IT SystemsWho is involved?

• PPF Finance Reference Group (which includes representatives from over 14 authorities, DoH and Social Care Consortium)

• IT Vendors (Northgate, Liquid Logic, Core Logic, OLM, Civica, CareWorks etc)

• ADASS Personalisation Network

When will it be complete?

• Final draft presented to IT Vendors on 30th April• Circulated to ADASS Personalisation Network for comment• Early to mid May final document released

2. Council Workforce Study

What are we trying to achieve?

• Gathering preliminary information from key ‘advanced’ authorities in order to document their progress in changing their workforce

• Findings will be shared with other councils, and it is planned that this information be used as the basis for a more detailed study

Workforce Study

What will be delivered?• Answers to questions such as:

– What workforce groups were reviewed?– What structural changes to senior and front-line staff

were made?– Examples of joint working– Use of independent organisations– Commissioner/provider type considerations– Training, development and retention issues

Workforce Study

Who is involved?• 9 Authorities :

When will it be complete?

• Early to mid May final document released

Bury

Coventry

Essex

Kent

Leeds

Norfolk

North Lincs

Richmond

York

Workforce Study: headlines• Wide variety of approaches taken, ranging from no formal

restructure or still thinking), to a full review of both senior management and front-line staff

• Joint working:– Norfolk is one of the national pilot sites for the delivery of

Integrated Care Organisations. It has six pilot sites based in primary care delivery. Currently creating a joint commissioning team with Health Partners to cover all customer groups

– In Coventry the Integrated Intermediate Care Service is hosted by the City Council, and was in the process of its own integration and re-organisation throughout this period

– In Richmond the Reablement service is jointly managed in parallel with the Intermediate Care Team. Intention is to merge Reablement with ICT

Workforce Study: headlines

• Staff and/or functions being transferred to independent organisations:– Norfolk currently negotiating the potential to create a

Trading Company to deliver Care Housing in Norfolk which will include 13 Housing with Care Schemes and 26 Residential Care Homes

– Essex has created Local Authority Trading Company ‘EssexCares’ with 850 staff TUPE transferred

– Richmond, 40% of support planning activity is being transferred to the independent user led sector

Workforce Study

Headlines• Were job descriptions reviewed:

– Almost every authority reviewed job descriptions and structures as part of their redesign

– Coventry created new roles such as an Outcomes Broker

– Richmond created new functions in Access Service to broaden the scope and reach of advice and information.

Workforce Study: Headlines• Training, development, recruitment and staff retention

issues:– Many authorities actively working with universities to ensure

personalisation is embedded into future workforce– Coventry is involved in the development of the Social Work

curriculum at Coventry University. Most recently, staff have developed a new Brokerage qualification. Module 1 has been approved by the Curriculum Approval Board and the first cohort will take place later this year

– Norfolk has a Strategic Workforce Group on which their Higher Education colleagues sit and have created a Foundation degree in Health and Social Care for Assistant Practitioners and a ‘Passport to Care’ for both PAs/Informal Carers

3.Budget Management

What are we trying to achieve?

• Very rapid gathering of preliminary information from key advanced authorities in order to document their approach to Budget Management

Budget Management : Headlines

• In some cases, traditional ‘panel’ approaches are initially adopted when PB numbers are low, but these do not appear to be sustainable as volume increases

• Some authorities have devolved budgets back to service manager level. – In these cases clear spend targets are set for each team (either

fortnightly or monthly)– If a team exceeds targets then the reasons for this are reviewed– So far this has reportedly helped foster the right behaviour

4. National Learning Set – Resource Allocation

What are we trying to achieve?1. Benchmarking based on the Policy Document

– A benchmarking tool to assist councils and regions to check their resource allocation methodology against good practice.

– To be an online facility to cover key areas that include co-production, system and process, impact on families, learning from experience

2. RAS Tool Calibration and Implementation– Making the RAS work in a financial environment– Cover 6-8 key areas where improved guidance and good

practice required, inc re-calibrating RAS/‘sizing the pot’

National Learning Set: Resource Allocation

Who is involved?

• 15 councils (all regions are represented), citizen leaders and carer representatives

When will it be complete?

• Final workshop on June 10th to confirm and improve products, and decide the process for finalising

5. Personal Budget Implementation

Headlines

• 38 authorities requested a conversation on support for Personal Budget implementation

• 19 authorities have had this conversation, and;

• 8 have requested ongoing support

Personal Budget ImplementationSupport that has been requested includes:

– Help with outcome based reviews, since the volume of new people coming in isn’t sufficient to meet NI130 targets

– Holding provider events to help providers understand how they can offer more flexible services

– Helping with modelling tools. As authorities move from pilot to mainstream they need to understand what weekly/monthly volumes they should be aiming for

– Resource allocation systems. Helping to unblock the situation where an authority thinks a RAS needs to be ‘perfect’ before implementation

6. PSSEX1 UpdateNext steps • Implementation of the new PPSEX1 categories would take place from 2012-13,

following formal consultation with stakeholders and councils, and a period of testing through early implementation. Work to identify how personal budget statements could be developed by councils is already being carried out by ADASS

• The proposed timescales for taking forward the PSSEX1 proposals are:– Share the revised proposal with ADASS finance reference group (DH, April 2010)– Consult the Strategic Improving Information Programme Board (SIIP), on which

DH, ADASS and the Information Centre is represented (DH, April 2010)– Consult with councils through the CIPFA working party (CIPFA, June 2010)– Develop and demonstrate the proposed approach, through the TRIPS

programme (DH/Information Centre, September – March 2011)– Update proposal to take account of learning from development phase and policy

changes (DH, April 2011)– Develop final definitions and data collection forms (Information Centre, April-June

2011)– Publish final proposals (CIPFA, September 2011)– National implementation of the new PSSEX1 (Councils and Information Centre,

April 2012).