To provide the Cabinet with the final draft of the Strategic Delivery Plan for Transforming Adult Services 2012-2015.

The Strategic Delivery Plan, as a working document to be used by the Council, other agencies and partners to deliver the necessary transformation for adult services, was approved.

This draft Strategic Delivery and Transformation Plan impacts on the way in which services for adults will be delivered and funded in the future and requires a whole council response to deliver with partner organisations and residents of Herefordshire. It is not a plan that focuses solely on the activities for adult social care.  The delivery of the plan is a key aspect of the council’s corporate plan and contributes to achieving a number of outcomes across the whole of the plan.

The Council is facing significant challenges in financial terms and through the national settlement and reductions in funding.  The Council’s five year financial strategy includes an estimated 29.7% reduction in government formula grant. Budget decisions have been based on a set of core principles that include supporting the vulnerable. The process also includes fundamentally challenging what the council does and the way that it does it to ensure appropriate use of public funding and quality of service.

Continuing to provide the same level and type of services in Herefordshire is not an option given the changing expectations of the people of Herefordshire, their families and carers, the changing national agenda, expectations of providers and the serious budgetary issues the Council and health economies face.  The delivery plan provides a step change to transform the way in which people are supported to live independently, where people cannot live at home this also sets out developments to secure good quality arrangements. Alternative options would be to reduce some activity and increase other activity, but this will be informed by the root and branch reviews.