Published in Social Care on 22/07/2026
In the first quarter of the new fiscal year, the CareCubed Adults implementation team looks at what factors are most impacting the sector.
Primary Sector Challenges
For the CareCubed Adults Implementation team, one of the biggest focuses is the uplift season and ensuring that local authorities and ICBs are prepared for the fast-paced challenges that come with this time of year. With requests for an increase in costs, commissioning care can bring strain and concern around fees and available resources.
The CareCubed Implementation team have been working hard with commissioners to ensure that commissioning teams feel confident with benchmarking this year’s uplifts. This is especially important with budgets becoming more constrained, so value for money is a concept that is looming across the board while savings targets are attached, bringing substantial strain to a sector already under pressure.
Another area in which there are substantial challenges that the implementation team have noticed in the sector is further challenges around the ICB restructuring. There is a significant amount of unknown information and processes surrounding the reorganisation; questions have been raised about how this will impact commissioner and provider relationships going forward.
Ongoing Efforts in the Cost of Care
As CareCubed continues to grow and deliver positive impacts that ensure there is a fair cost of care and value for money within the market, the sector continues to strive towards empowering commissioning authorities’ confidence and comprehension around costs of care and the impact it has on the ground.
Bernadette Nartey, Head of Practice and Professional Services, states, “There is sector feedback regarding commissioning bodies not having a true scope of the operating model that a provider is running, and this is something that is heard across the board. While providers want a deeper understanding of the cost element that is being commissioned and how this relates to the packages of care.”
However, Bernadette believes that the transparency in this regard is more of an internal issue and that the right processes are in place before commissioning a placement to ensure optimal outcomes. “It is about due diligence and ensuring that cost breakdowns and reviews are in alignment with the assessed needs of the individual, and that these are obtained beforehand to ensure optimal outcomes for the individual and the success of the commissioning cycle.”
Common Themes
There are many recurring common themes for the CareCubed Adults Implementation team, including the high costs of care in the market, and the large providers charging higher costs that councils are struggling to keep up with. Bernadette states, “It is about proportionality and ensuring that they are paying for the services that are being delivered, and that overspend is cut.”
Bernadette says that another area that is a common theme in recent times is a continually increasing rate of 1-to-1 requests for packages that are already within the bounds of being adequate.
The CareCubed Impact
While there are still many challenges that the sector faces, the CareCubed Cost of Care tool has made an impact and is helping to drive positive changes within the sector. Through managing implementation of the tool, Bernadette has found there are some key areas where the tool is driving positive outcomes for the market.
“CareCubed has helped improve market understanding and the collaborative efforts between commissioners and providers. One of the primary things that CareCubed users who implement with us often provide feedback that provider relationships have improved. There are a lot more open discussions with providers, sitting together and working out costs.”
Bernadette also believes that collaborative approaches across boroughs have driven positive results. “Where there have been neighbouring boroughs all using CareCubed, it helps to work together, and all sing from the same hymn sheet.”
The Staffordshire Project
There has been work going on within the sector, between the CareCubed team and Staffordshire County Council around the integration of CareCubed into costing processes. The Staffordshire project shows the commissioning team benchmarking their costs to establish their reference rates for their framework, while introducing the tool into their brokerage teams. Now, the project highlights how every placement goes through CareCubed. The commissioning team have been working with CareCubed on when the tool should be used and when it should not, regarding the specifics of individual cases. This project came into play intending to understand the local market; however, eventually it revealed not only market knowledge but process gaps and how to optimise further development in the team’s strategies.
Upcoming Considerations
Several hot topics are on the horizon for potentially significant changes to the landscape of social care. These include the supported housing oversight measures and the SEND reforms, which aim to introduce national standards, cost controls, and new assessment points. This will affect adult social care demand and the planning of the workforce – especially in London.
Finally, with insight into shared working across regions, knowledge of the shared learning experiences has increased comprehension of how LGR could have a positive impact if implemented appropriately. Where local authorities can obtain new insights into care package costing and different approaches to benchmarking costs, it is possible that LGR and unification could bring strengths. Furthermore, central government have suggested an additional £10 million funding for adult social care learning and development. A suggestion to provide more reinforcement to commissioning teams with the approaching changes associated with LGR.
The care sector faces a great many challenges and hurdles, but the experience of CareCubed’s implementation team shows that innovation and teamwork can navigate these challenges and generate positive outcomes for the whole commissioning cycle.
