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<p>It is important that there is a vibrant market of local care and support providers
offering a choice of high quality services that are able to adapt over time to meet
changing needs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Care Act introduces new duties on
local authorities to promote their local market, with a particular focus on quality,
diversity and sustainability. The Government recognises that local authorities’ own
commissioning is likely to be their most important tool for facilitating their markets.
The Government has worked with the Local Government Association and the Association
of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) to co-produce material to help local
authorities promote their local markets and improve their own commissioning.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ultimately, local authorities remain locally accountable for
how their budgets are allocated, including spend on care and support. However, the
Care Act is clear that prices agreed with care providers will have to reflect the
new duties outlined above in relation to the promotion of sustainability of the overall
market. The Government recently published statutory guidance setting out how local
authorities should meet these new duties when commissioning, including the consideration
of the actual costs of care and support when negotiating fee levels. A copy of the
guidance is attached.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>More widely, as in any market,
provider exits and entries are inevitable. Where continuity of care is at risk because
a provider’s business has failed, local authorities must temporarily step in to ensure
an individual’s needs continue to be met, including the needs of both those that are
self- and state-funded. In order to help local authorities respond to potential situations
where a provider is particularly large or geographically concentrated, and where an
individual local authority may struggle to carry out this duty on its own, the Government
has created a new market oversight function which will be carried out by the Care
Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC will act to oversee the finance of specified providers
with a view to providing local authorities with early warning of financial failure
and to ensure effective contingency plans can be put in place.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p>The Government has also commissioned the ADASS to publish guidance for local
authorities to assist them in developing contingency plans for managing provider failure
which should be available by summer 2015.</p><p> </p>
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