Implementing a consistent approach to evaluating the Use of Resources in adult social care
The 13-step approach uses a set of questions to promote informed self-assessment and improvement, taking into account local conditions and bringing in challenge at each step. It helps councils to identify areas for further exploration, where spend and/or activity is significantly different from regional or national averages.
It is recognised that inconsistency in interpretation and data collection is a challenge for councils that will impact on the effectiveness of supporting sector led improvement. The Use of Resources support includes discussions with regional networks to review the adult social care finance and activity information each year. These discussions provide a chance to discuss the technical considerations around the national data sets used in this approach and to gain a more consistent understanding of the definitions behind the national finance and performance indicators.
Use of Resources events and reports are aimed at directors and/or assistant directors of adult social care (ASC), ASC finance officers and performance leads. Four key reports are hosted on LG Inform to support quick and easy analysis of data for those steps which draw from national data sets. The reports are available to all registered local authority users and registration is free. You will need to sign in to access the reports.
- Adult social care use of resources narrative report: A short and concise report at local authority level which provides analysis of the key metrics on finance and activity. Typically, this report would be used to provide written feedback to authorities who request support on adult social care finances. It is being made available to all councils, but without any bespoke commentary or recommendations for your area.
- Adult social care use of resources single LA view report: A more detailed examination of the relationship between spending and activity for a selected area and a range of comparison groups.
- Adult social care use of resources single LA view abridged report: This is a shorter abridged single council view for LAs with some comparison with the previous year.
- Adult social care use of resources time series report: To review trends over a longer period, this supplementary report includes all key Use of Resources measures over the last five reporting years.
Please note that due to the impact of COVID 19 any comparison with 2021/22 and in particular 2020 must take into account the impact of the pandemic on both activity numbers and spending. The differing scale of cases around the country and the differing profiles of when the impacts occurred will also affect any comparison between councils. This makes any form of comparative analysis much more complicated and potentially misleading.
If you have any questions about accessing the use of resources reports, please contact [email protected]