Council and democracy

Making adult care services as efficient as possible

Each year we are given efficiency targets to meet. We are prioritising both the identification of new, innovative and individualised approaches to providing care, which are more efficient and promote greater independence, and the review and scrutiny of our existing services and the methods we use to provide these services.

Over the next three years we plan to:

• Introduce individual budgets and further develop expert purchasing of care placements for adults
• Increase the number of direct payments
• Review and configure the provision of day services for older people
• Increase the supply and use of extra care sheltered housing rather than residential care for older people
• Standardise, streamline and simplify processes, especially relating to the finance function, to enable increasing numbers of clients to be served within existing staffing levels
• Reduce the costs of staff cover through sickness and absence by improving support to staff and maximising the opportunity for flexible working
• Maximise the number of places in supported accommodation within available resources by securing better value through a review of contracts with key providers
• Implement the new policy on charging for care services