Project plan
The Council commissioned Social Care Strategies Ltd to bring focus and momentum to its implementation of the A Suitable Place to Live project.
The project plan was developed through a process of consultation with internal and external stakeholders. Service users and carers have been directly involved in the development of the plan. The plan is designed to describe a simple, logical process of:
- Knowing the type and volume of need to be met over time.
- Understanding individual requirements for housing and support.
- Engaging all relevant stakeholders in working out how best to meet assessed need.
- Identifying the resources available to invest in current and future services.
- Ensuring that project objectives and actions are widely understood and owned.
- Ensuring that workforce planning is consistent with project objectives.
Key issues
Social Care Strategies Ltd has identified a number of key issues which it must help the Council to address if successful outcomes are to be achieved:
- Successful project outcomes are dependent on bringing together the knowledge, skills and resources of a range of Council functions - adult social care, children’s services, housing and Supporting People. Therefore, a successful housing strategy is most likely to be achieved if the Council plans and acts as a single corporate body.
- This principle should be applied to each stage of project development, beginning with the collection and analysis of information about current and future need. A single database is being developed as the basis for long-term strategic planning.
- Excellent individual services are dependent upon high quality assessment and care planning. In order to ensure that housing and support needs are consistently and effectively identified, a dedicated team will be identified, trained and supported to perform this task.
- The Council and its partners are already committed to a housing strategy which requires the needs of vulnerable people to be identified and met. The Strategic Housing Partnership has agreed to commission a sub-group to ensure that this happens.
- In order to secure wider stakeholder engagement in the project a major conference was held to launch and consult upon the strategy. It is intended that this event will add real value to the development and implementation of the project by enabling the contributions of providers, service users and carers.
- On completion of its work the consultant will recommend to the Executive Director measures for ensuring that responsibility for the long-term management of project objectives and actions is embedded within the Council’s organisation structures.