Community Budgets, set up with the specific brief of tackling social problems affecting families with complex needs, will go live in April 2011.
Covering 16 areas in England, the budgets will be controlled by and made up of funds pooled by 28 councils and partner organisations.
Money will be spent on solutions to help vulnerable families. The aim is to join up services and intervene at an early stage so that lives can be improved and long term problems averted.
Community Budgets develop the principles promoted by Total Place, and are seen by government as an opportunity to redesign and integrate front line services and management functions. Emphasis is on reducing the cost of services and improving results for local people.
The 16 areas have been chosen because of their strong track record in building local relationships with key players in public, voluntary and community organisations; and includes the West Midlands area of Birmingham.
The budgets will be rolled out nationally by 2013-14.
Read more
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Total Place lives on in new Community Budgets
Principles underpinning the Total Place approach to local services will be adopted by the Community Budgets, a government initiative allowing councils and their partners to pool funding and resources with the purpose of improving services and reducing cost.
From April next year, a selected number of councils and partner organisations will put various strands of funding into a single ‘local bank account’. This will be used to set up community budgets that will be spent on services prioritised by local communities.
The initiative follows year-long Total Place pilots, testing how to improve services while reducing costs and encouraging greater collaboration between organisations, and wider involvement of local people.
Earlier this year, Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, described Total Place as “a step in the right direction”, but says councils now have the opportunity to be more radical and innovative.
Read more
From April next year, a selected number of councils and partner organisations will put various strands of funding into a single ‘local bank account’. This will be used to set up community budgets that will be spent on services prioritised by local communities.
The initiative follows year-long Total Place pilots, testing how to improve services while reducing costs and encouraging greater collaboration between organisations, and wider involvement of local people.
Earlier this year, Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, described Total Place as “a step in the right direction”, but says councils now have the opportunity to be more radical and innovative.
Read more
Learning lessons from Total Place
Results from 13 Total Place pilots across England show better services can be delivered at less cost, if public sector organisations work collaboratively and put citizens at the heart of designing services.
The report, Total Place: a whole area approach to public services, details work undertaken in the pilot areas, covering 63 local authorities, 34 Primary Care Trusts, 12 fire authorities and 13 police authorities. Each pilot had its own theme and mapped all of the public spending in their area.
Analysis of spending on key local priorities was also carried out, and views were sought from the customer’s perspective. This gave participating organisations a clearer picture of how benefits from spending might be enhanced.
Testing of Total Place in services for older people was led by three councils and two primary care trusts in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole.
In addition to mapping spending, expenditure on avoidable admissions and residential care was also examined.
Ways of shifting the balance of care towards the community were identified, for example, instituting joint case management of people with long term conditions by integrated health and social care teams.
The pilot concluded savings could be made by reducing avoidable hospital admissions by 15%.
The report also outlines a new approach to delivering public services that includes:
• freedom from centralised performance and financial controls
• freedom and incentives to encourage local collaboration
• freedom to invest in prevention
• freedom to drive growth
Most of these freedoms have been taken up in the new Community Budgets to be introduced in April 2011, and have been backed up by the abolition of a raft of reporting and inspection requirements, including national indicators used to monitor council performance.
Read more
The report, Total Place: a whole area approach to public services, details work undertaken in the pilot areas, covering 63 local authorities, 34 Primary Care Trusts, 12 fire authorities and 13 police authorities. Each pilot had its own theme and mapped all of the public spending in their area.
Analysis of spending on key local priorities was also carried out, and views were sought from the customer’s perspective. This gave participating organisations a clearer picture of how benefits from spending might be enhanced.
Testing of Total Place in services for older people was led by three councils and two primary care trusts in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole.
In addition to mapping spending, expenditure on avoidable admissions and residential care was also examined.
Ways of shifting the balance of care towards the community were identified, for example, instituting joint case management of people with long term conditions by integrated health and social care teams.
The pilot concluded savings could be made by reducing avoidable hospital admissions by 15%.
The report also outlines a new approach to delivering public services that includes:
• freedom from centralised performance and financial controls
• freedom and incentives to encourage local collaboration
• freedom to invest in prevention
• freedom to drive growth
Most of these freedoms have been taken up in the new Community Budgets to be introduced in April 2011, and have been backed up by the abolition of a raft of reporting and inspection requirements, including national indicators used to monitor council performance.
Read more
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Free masterclass - Health and wellbeing, a new agenda for an ageing society
With an eye on forthcoming changes to the NHS, this masterclass looks at the role local authorities can play in improving results for older people.
Organised by Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID), the free masterclass takes place on 8 December 2010, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
It covers:
Read more
Organised by Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID), the free masterclass takes place on 8 December 2010, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
It covers:
- role of public health and health and wellbeing board
- joint commissioning between GP consortia and local authorities
- improving efficiency while protecting outcomes
- engagement of older citizens in identifying needs and planning local services.
Read more
Impact of funding squeeze on social care
A discussion paper called "The impact of a tightening fiscal situation on social care for older people" has been published by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU
The main purpose of the paper is to assess the effects of reduction in funding for care, in a climate of fiscal constraints and likely cuts to social care funding.
See www.pssru.ac.uk
The main purpose of the paper is to assess the effects of reduction in funding for care, in a climate of fiscal constraints and likely cuts to social care funding.
See www.pssru.ac.uk
Telecare and Telehealth Conference
The National Telecare and Telehealth Conference 2010 will take place at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel, from 15 to 17 November.
Hosted by the Telecare Services Association, organisers promise to give you facts, information and ideas to take home and put into action.
Read more
Hosted by the Telecare Services Association, organisers promise to give you facts, information and ideas to take home and put into action.
Read more
Top tools for independence and wellbeing
Details of tools and support available to help local authorities draw up plans for promoting the independence and wellbeing of older people, is available free of charge from Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID).
Available as a PDF, information has been compiled as part of LGID’s Ageing Well programme. It includes diagnostic tools and improvement options for designing bespoke programmes to assist independence and wellbeing of older citizens.
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Available as a PDF, information has been compiled as part of LGID’s Ageing Well programme. It includes diagnostic tools and improvement options for designing bespoke programmes to assist independence and wellbeing of older citizens.
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