The Market Sustainability Plan requires the council to identify the key risks to market sustainability for the 65+ care home market and the18+ domiciliary care market and establish plans to address any issues

In September 2021, the government published its plan for reforming funding for Health and Social Care (Build Back Better: Our Plan for Health and Social Care) which included a proposal for charging reform.

In December 2021, the government published its white paper for reforming the delivery of Adult Social Care (People at the Heart of Care) which sets out a 10-year vision and includes three objectives:

• People have choice, control, and support to live independent lives
• People can access outstanding quality and tailored care and support
• People find adult social care fair and accessible

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) established the Market Sustainability and Cost of Care Fund to enable local authorities to prepare their markets for Adult Social Care Reform. Councils were required to consider the median cost of care for the delivery of care and support services when setting their fees, as appropriate to the local care market.

Delay

The government has since delayed the national rollout of the adult social care charging reforms until 2025. The original purpose of the cost of care exercise was to establish a single median rate representing the cost of provision for each of the types of care in scope.

The government required local authorities to start building strong foundations and prepare markets for wider reform and thereby increase market sustainability. As a condition of receiving future funding, local authorities were asked to evidence the work they are doing to prepare their markets. We have worked closely with local care providers on this government-mandated programme to re-establish the cost of delivering care in Oxfordshire.

Our duty for fee-setting is not replaced by the cost of care exercise and any annual uplifts will be considered separately from the median care cost of care rates.

The median rate is part of the evidence informing this process. It is not taken in isolation as the rate itself. The median cost was calculated on the total cost of care per hour for each type of care as at 31 March 2022.

Outcomes

The outcome of the exercise for care providers of:

• Age 65+ care homes, including residential and nursing care
• Age 18+ domiciliary care, excluding extra care and supported living

Read the executive summary and the detailed report (docx format 1Mb). 

Market Sustainability Plan

The Market Sustainability Plan requires the Council to identify the key risks to market sustainability for the 65+ care home market and the18+ domiciliary care market and establish plans to address any issues

• Market Sustainability Plan - March 2023 (docx format, 7.6Mb)