The Adult Care and Well-Being Overview and Scrutiny Panel of Worcestershire Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 7 May 2026. The meeting will consider updates on supported living and shared lives services, the Principal Social Worker's annual report, and the panel's work programme.

Supported Living and Shared Lives

The panel is scheduled to receive an update on the commissioning of supported living and shared lives services for working-age adults. This follows a previous report on demand and price management, where the panel requested further information on this topic. The report outlines Worcestershire County Council's definition of supported living, which includes individuals living in shared houses, clusters of flats with on-site support, or alone with support for ordinary living skills. It details the council's strategic investment in supported living since 2015, noting that it is generally more cost-effective than residential care. The current commissioning approach involves a core and 1:1 model, with tiered pricing based on the complexity of support required. The report also highlights statistics on the number of individuals in supported living, average weekly fees, and weekly spend, with learning disabilities accounting for the largest proportion of both clients and spend. Challenges identified include potential budget overspends, concerns about market viability due to historic fee uplifts, and increased pressure regarding health funding for individuals. The report also touches upon potential changes to supported housing regulation.

Principal Social Worker Annual Report 2025/26

The panel is also scheduled to consider the Principal Social Worker's Annual Report for 2025/26. This report provides an overview of progress against statutory responsibilities, key achievements, and proposed priorities for the upcoming year. The Principal Social Worker role, established under the Care Act 2014, provides professional leadership across Adult Social Care. Key areas of progress highlighted in the report include developments in strengths-based practice, improvements to recording systems and risk assessment tools, and enhanced oversight of safeguarding. The report also details progress in direct payments and co-production, including a new audit form for direct payments and the development of a new co-production strategy. Quality assurance processes, including supervision and policy governance, have been strengthened. Workforce development initiatives, such as the Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy and recruitment pathways, are also outlined. Key achievements for the year include strengthened core practice tools, a co-produced redesign of direct payment audit processes, a successful Celebrating Social Work Week, and improved quality assurance alignment. Priorities for 2026/27 include strengthening direct payment budget management, developing a new co-production strategy, delivering a refreshed workforce strategy, and embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion across practice and systems.

Work Programme

Finally, the panel will review its work programme for 2026. This includes considering any amendments to the planned scrutiny topics. The current work programme includes items such as the outcome of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) local authority inspection, updates on the implementation of the Worcestershire Learning Disability Strategy, and progress on the Early Intervention and Prevention Strategy. The panel will also consider potential future items for scrutiny, including adult safeguarding reporting systems and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.