Councillor Matthew Winnington, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing, Health & Care, along with Councillors Spencer Gardner, Graham Heaney and Chris Dike, met to discuss several Adult Social Care reports. The meeting covered topics such as the Adult Social Care complaints, prevention strategy, client level data, and use of resources, with all recommendations in the reports approved. The reports were noted as being for information only and not subject to call-in.

Adult Social Care Use of Resources

The report on Adult Social Care Use of Resources provided an overview of Portsmouth City Council's resource allocation in adult social care, utilising benchmarking data from the Local Government Association (LGA) for the 2023/24 financial year. The report aimed to compare Portsmouth's performance against national, regional, and statistical neighbours regarding spending, service delivery, and outcomes.

Key findings included:

• Overall Spending: Portsmouth's gross overall spend per adult (18+) was £545.06, below the national (£592.34) and regional (£588.90) averages.

• Trends Over Time: Spending has increased since 2020/21, particularly for adults aged 65 and over, rising from £1,067.87 in 2020/21 to £1,370.12 in 2023/24.

• Age-Specific Insights: Portsmouth ranked above average for spend per adult aged 65+, but below average for those aged 18-64, reflecting a commissioning strategy focused on supported living options for younger adults.

• Demand and Access: Requests for support have risen sharply, but a high percentage (58%) resulted in no services being provided, suggesting potential service gaps.

• Care Settings and Delivery: Portsmouth had a high reliance on residential and nursing care for older adults, with a low use of direct payments.

• Unit Costs: Unit costs for care in Portsmouth were relatively high, including home care hourly rates and residential/nursing care costs.

• NHS and Better Care Fund Contributions: NHS income funded 13% of Portsmouth's adult social care expenditure, with the Better Care Fund contributing 7%.

The report highlighted the need to explore rising demand, high unit costs for residential placements, low uptake of direct payments, and a focus on community-based solutions. The Adult Social Care Strategy improvement plan aims to address these areas through new commissioning approaches, processes, and staff development.

Adult Social Care Prevention Strategy

The Adult Social Care Prevention Strategy provided a summary of the strategy, aligning with the Adult Social Care (ASC) Strategy 2024-2027 outcome: People have access to preventative support that helps them optimise their independence and wellbeing . The strategy outlines existing and developing preventative work, in line with the Care Act 2014, and is supported by the Portsmouth Health & Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2030 and national policies.

Key objectives and progress included:

• Enhance Digital Accessibility: Developing a user-friendly digital front door for adult social care services. A digital roadmap has been created, and the adult social care web pages are being updated.

• Strengthen Carer Support: Expanding respite care, peer support networks, and employment support for carers. The Portsmouth Carers Service is reviewing respite offers and expanding peer support networks. The Carers Leave Act 2023 is now integrated into the council's special leave policy.

• Promote Strengths-Based Practice: Embedding strengths-based approaches across all services. Adult Social Care has adopted the MASOSS framework, with training being delivered to front-line staff.

• Expand Community Reablement Services: Increasing capacity to support recovery and independence post-illness or hospital discharge. A business case is in its final drafting stage to expand the Community Reablement Service (CRS).

• Improve Mental Health Support: Transforming community mental health provisions to ensure timely access to appropriate services. Wait times for medical input within Access services have significantly improved.

• Develop Micro-Provision Networks: Encouraging small-scale, personalised care service providers. Work is underway to support the growth of a vibrant market of micro providers¹.

• Utilise Green Spaces: Collaborating with the Greening Development Group to repurpose and develop green spaces for community wellbeing activities. Portsmouth City Council has been awarded Nature Towns and Cities funding to transform the city's green infrastructure.

The report also identified potential risks such as the digital divide, carer burnout, fragmented information, and underutilisation of preventative services.

Client Level Data

The Client Level Data report provided an overview of long-term adult social care support in Portsmouth, using data from the national Client Level Dataset (CLD) from March 2025. The report highlighted key trends, demographic patterns, and service pressures across different care settings.

Key points from the report:

• Understanding CLD: CLD is a statutory data collection introduced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to transform how adult social care activity is recorded and understood across England.

• Local Context: Portsmouth faces challenges in producing accurate and complete data due to care record limitations and data interpretation by NHS England.

• Data Reporting: The report included charts presenting a visual summary of long-term support received by adults in Portsmouth, broken down by age group, type of support, gender, and ethnicity.

• Trends: The data showed that older adults make up the majority of those supported, with younger adults primarily supported in the community. A slightly higher proportion of women receive support, and there were noted issues with ethnicity data recording.

The report concluded that while CLD has the potential to support more responsive and informed decision-making, it must be used alongside local intelligence, professional judgement, and operational insight.

Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2024/2025

The Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2024/2025 provided an analysis of complaints and other contacts received between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 regarding adult social care services in Portsmouth, comparing them to the previous 12 months.

Key findings included:

• Complaints Received: There were 59 statutory complaints made about Adult Social Care, representing less than 1% of all people receiving a service from adult social care (6,556 service users).

• Complaint Themes: Staff communication, inadequate service, and funding issues were the most prevalent complaint themes.

• Performance: 81% of complaints received a full response within 15 working days, with an average response time of 11 working days.

• Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Cases: There were 2 complaints referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), with one complaint not investigated and another finding fault with the council.

• Complaints Upheld: 36% of complaints were justified in some way, leading to efforts to identify actions to improve service.

• Compliments: 136 compliments were received for Adult Social Care, a notable increase from previous years.

• Councillor and MP Enquiries: There were 50 Councillor/MP enquiries for Adult Social Care, the same as the previous financial year.

The report highlighted examples of learning from complaints, such as improved communication processes and amendments to policies.