Watchdog urges councils to make efficiencies on adult care assessments

Councils could fund annual care packages for nearly 20,000 people if they reduced their expenditure on social care assessments and reviews to that of their most efficient counterparts, the Audit Commission has claimed.

In a report, Reducing the cost of assessments and reviews, the watchdog estimated that more than £300m could be released in this way.

The Audit Commission highlighted how spending on assessments and review had increased in real terms in 12 of the past 14 years, a trend partly attributable to the move towards personalisation of care.

However, it argued that this did not explain the differences in unit cost across councils.

In 2010/11, councils spent £2.2bn (or 12% of gross spending on adult social care). The variation across councils was between 8 and 17%.

The Audit Commission claimed that the cheapest councils spent “about half the amount of the most expensive councils on each assessment and review, while undertaking a similar volume of work and reaching the same quality standards”.

It insisted that many councils would be able to make significant savings by identifying and eliminating the causes of cost variation.

The watchdog said the biggest contribution to making savings would come from changing the mix of staff grades and skills that councils employ to carry out assessments and reviews.

It also recommended that councils:

  • Redesign the 'care pathway' to provide information at an early stage to reduce the potential demand for formal assessments;
  • Reduce overheads by streamlining the administration supporting assessments and reviews;
  • Review pay rates to find savings, “but without risking recruitment and retention”;
  • Match staffing more closely to workload; and
  • Collaborate with other councils to reduce overheads and share costs.

Andy McKeon, Managing Director at the Audit Commission, said: “Assessments and reviews are a crucial element of social care, enabling individuals' needs to be properly identified and met. However, our evidence suggests that councils can spend less and still do an excellent job in helping people receive the care that they need.

“As councils struggle to meet the needs of a growing older population with less cash, any opportunity to save money and redirect it into care should be pursued enthusiastically.”

A copy of the report can be viewed here

In response, Cllr David Rogers, Chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing board, claimed it would be “wrong to suggest that efficiency savings alone would solve the immediate and growing funding crisis we are facing in providing care to our rapidly aging population”.

He pointed out that the cost of social care already took up more than 40% of council budgets.

“Yet councils, who are already facing an estimated £1bn reduction in social care budgets, and this year will have to find an additional £890m, will see a further £2bn added to the annual cost of adult social care in 2015 due to demographic pressures alone,” Cllr Rogers said.

He added: “Local government is playing its part and it’s now vital that government urgently addresses this widening gap. Gifts of extra cash here and there just paper over the ever-expanding cracks. Serious and real reform must include an honest appraisal of what a modern social care system costs and how it is to be funded.”