The Adult Social Care, Health and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee of West Northamptonshire Council was scheduled to meet on Monday 9 March 2026. The primary focus of the meeting was to review the outcomes of the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) inspection of the Council's Adult Social Care function and to discuss the committee's work programme.

Outcomes of the Care Quality Commission Inspection

The committee was scheduled to receive a report and presentation detailing the findings of the CQC's inspection of the Council's Adult Social Care function. The report indicated that West Northamptonshire Council received an overall rating of Requires Improvement with a score of 59%.

The inspection identified several strengths, including:

• Person-centred practice
• Prevention initiatives
• Safeguarding systems
• Effective hospital discharge processes, particularly Pathway 1

However, the report also highlighted areas for improvement:

• Long waiting times for assessments, reviews, equipment, and therapy.
• Inconsistent communication and difficulties in contacting services by phone.
• Challenges for carers in understanding support, accessing assessments, or receiving help in a crisis.
• Limited service availability and longer delays for those with complex needs and in rural areas.
• Inconsistent accessibility of information, with a lack of provision in multiple formats or languages.

To address these issues, five priority action areas were identified:

• Workforce development and Practice Framework: Refreshing and embedding a practice framework to ensure consistent and equitable approaches across all teams and commissioning.
• Communication and Information Sharing: Improving communication, access to information, advice, and guidance for residents, carers, and staff, using diverse communication methods.
• Leadership Development and Team Support: Ensuring stable leadership and consistent support through a clear development plan and supporting workforce strategy.
• Data and Performance Management: Becoming data and performance-driven with clear reporting, focusing on areas such as waiting times for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), reviews, and assessments.
• Partnership Working: Strengthening partnerships with the NHS, providers, and voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations.
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Developing a programme to understand the experiences of both colleagues and service users, with a focus on embedding equity across services to achieve equitable outcomes for all residents.

The report outlined the development of an Becoming Better Together – Improvement Plan, which would be coproduced and sit alongside the Adult Social Care sustainability plan. This plan would incorporate feedback from various stakeholders, including the scrutiny committee, staff, partners, and service users. The report noted that the level of support and intervention from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) remained unclear.

Review of Committee Work Programme

The committee was also scheduled to review its work programme for the remainder of the 2025-26 municipal year. The report indicated that the next meeting, scheduled for 9 March 2026, would primarily focus on the CQC inspection outcomes. The committee's Action Log was also to be appended to the work programme for future meetings.

The work programme included a range of topics previously scheduled for discussion, such as an overview of the Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board, public health priorities, the Community Safety Partnership Annual Report, and the Domestic Abuse Strategy. It also detailed ongoing scrutiny of Adult Social Care performance monitoring, prevention strategies, and workforce planning. Future items for consideration included the Community Funding Grants Programme, communication and access to services, and health inequalities.

The report also highlighted potential cross-cutting themes for scrutiny committees, including joint work on the Home Adaptations Policy, Local Area Partnerships (LAPs), and the transition of young people with additional needs from children's to adult social care.