National survey of local authority arrangements for commissioning services for older people: summary report

The National Survey of Local Authority Arrangements for Commissioning Services for Older People aimed to collect information from all English councils with social services responsibilities (CASSRs) about their local commissioning arrangements for services for older people with a particular focus on the implications of the on-going personalisation agenda. The study follows a similar survey implemented by PSSRU in 2001 and also funded by the Department of Health1. Since then, significant changes have taken place in the way local authorities commission services in terms of the types of contracts used and, in particular, in response to the increased personalisation of social care and the increased control by users over key commissioning responsibilities. The evidence collected from the survey provides a national benchmark from which to assess changes in commissioning processes in England over the last 10 years and differences in arrangements between local authorities. This report presents a descriptive summary of the contents of the survey.