Council 'requires improvement' says watchdog CQC

A council has been rated as "requires improvement" by health inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found North Somerset Council required improvement, in how well it was meeting its responsibilities to ensure people had access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014).

The CQC had a new duty under the Act to assess how local authorities worked with their communities and partners to meet their responsibilities.

Roger Whitfield, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services at North Somerset Council said they accepted the report findings.

He said: "[We] had already implemented a significant number of improvements when the CQC did their assurance visit last December.

"However, as acknowledged in the report, our changes were too early in their development to demonstrate a sustained improvement.

"The CQC rate councils on a range of services and our score of 59% was just short of the 63% needed to be rated 'good'."

CQC looked at nine areas spread across four themes to assess how well the authority is meeting their responsibilities in order to create their requires improvement rating.

The regulator has given each of these nine areas a score out of four with one being the evidence showed significant shortfalls, and four showing an exceptional standard.

North Somerset Council was given a two for assessing peoples' needs and a three for governance, management and sustainability, for example.

James Bullion, CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said North Somerset Council had leaders who "understood the issues its community was facing."

He added: "North Somerset Council have built a good foundation and must now focus on addressing these shortfalls.

"We look forward to returning to see how their plans mature and the positive impact it has on residents."

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