Implementation and timing considerations for Local Authorities implementing online assessment tools ahead of the charging reforms
The Government's social care charging reforms deadline may have been extended to October 2025, yet many local authorities (LAs) are continuing to ensure social care transformation remains at the top of their agenda.
The deadline may no longer loom imminently, but LAs could quite easily fall into the trap of pausing, halting, or delaying social care reform progress. Preparation for self-funder assessments remains – as it should – a key focus in 2023. The reform delays have merely granted a slightly more comfortable window for researching, selecting, implementing, testing and refining of the right tools – including skills training.
Imosphere breaks down the implementation challenges and considerations LAs face when preparing for the changes.
The nature of the reforms
The government’s original reforms timetable advised local authorities to begin conducting needs and financial assessments for people funding their own care at least six months ahead of the care cap’s go live date. Assuming this principle still applies, LAs looking to implement new systems and technologies have two years from March 2023 to select, purchase, configure test and deploy these.
An online facility for self-assessment and supported self-assessment has been identified as key to managing public demand – and early preparation of the right tools minimises the risk of delays, including ‘early assessments’ stacking up or having to be picked up using existing practitioner-driven assessment routes – which in most or all areas are already overstretched.
Care Account ‘metering’ for individuals funding their own care may seem a long wait away, but LAs will benefit from being prepared ahead of the deadline. Early configuration of a selected solution/tool for setting IPBs will enable LAs to thoroughly test assessments and procedures to ensure they are working as expected.
Future-proofing with defensible and transparent operations
As part of providing Independent Personal Budgets (IPBs) to those currently self-funding, local authorities will need to be able to demonstrate that IPB amounts have been based on the equivalent cost of similar packages of care for those already receiving Personal Budgets (PBs).
Working with LAs across England, Imosphere has developed a Self-assessment tool which includes a ‘Citizen-facing Needs Profile’, meaning that Formulate – Imosphere’s tool which already provides fair and accurate estimated Personal Budgets (PBs) in many LAs – will be able to be used for calculating IPBs using the same methodology. The implementation process for Formulate includes an ‘accuracy testing’ stage where the locally-configured model is checked to ensure appropriate alignment with the cost of care for local individuals with existing PBs – thereby meeting this key condition, which is often not the case with alternative budget-setting solutions.
Imosphere’s off-the-shelf yet locally configurable solution provides a low-effort way for LAs to manage the increased demand for assessments and the calculation of IPBs which alleviates the need to develop or update an in-house solution and keep that up to date over time. The tool will provide the basis for IPB calculations, and with the expectation that there will be individuals moving between a PB and IPB, this common mechanism will provide a defensible solution which aligns with the new government guidance relating to the need for consistency of approach across PB and IPB calculations.
Formulate will enable LAs to adopt a fully transparent, defensible and consistent calculation system for adults with social care needs.
Develop in-house or purchase off-the-shelf?
A key decision for LAs is whether to develop a Self-assessment and IPBs solution in-house or purchase a solution like Imosphere’s off-the-shelf.
Developing an in-house solution can be tempting; the product can be tailored to your exact needs, and it seems like you can get started more quickly than waiting to buy-in a solution. Things are not always so straightforward though, and the full implications of building in-house are not always clear until it’s too late. Costs and resource usage quickly stack up, development usually takes a lot longer than anticipated, and there is often little in the way of opportunity to factor in good practice and lessons learnt from other local authorities.
There is far more to building a successful system than just achieving the features you need. Your solution needs to be architected for future expansion and growth, as well as ease of long-term maintenance. You need to have senior, trained subject matter expert(s) who can architect a system which balances simplicity and ease of use with high levels of accuracy, and ensures the right information is captured in the right way. You need strong, version-controlled testing and release processes – and importantly, you need to ensure that those who build the system either stick around to manage updates over time or hand the key information to someone who will – a frequent challenge for LAs with high staff turnover.
Off-the-shelf meets locally tailored
Imosphere tools have been built from the ground up in partnership with LAs following industry best practices. Coupling this with highly experienced product managers and data analysts, we ensure our off-the-shelf tools closely fit the common needs of LAs whilst being flexible enough to be appropriately customisable for each individual LA. For example, our proven, guided local configuration process for Formulate means that our ‘national model’ can easily be tailored to reflect the costs of care in your local area – with our unique benchmarking service meaning you can make these decisions in the context of the decisions made by other LAs using the same tool.
Additionally, the economies of serving large numbers of LAs across England means Imosphere will always have experienced personnel on hand to provide support and guidance with implementation and ongoing use.
Proven and trusted support
With almost 30 years of experience, Imosphere has worked with local authorities across England to develop tools which facilitate a fair and consistent approach to assessment and resource allocation. Formulate is based around a strengths-based assessment already proven to be effective. Not only does it empower individuals to capture their needs in the most straightforward way possible, but it is also flexible enough to be adapted for a local IT system and local processes while providing reassurance to LAs that their operations will be future proof.
Get in touch today to book a product demo or informal chat to discuss how we can support your LA to navigate the social care reform.