Strategies, policies and procedures

Our market position statement has been developed in partnership with our excellent care market in Shropshire. This document is designed to:

• Inform providers, and future providers, of adult social care services about the existing and future demand for care services
• Be a starting point for discussions between us and providers about how we can best work together to shape a diverse, flexible market for care, which achieves the best possible outcomes for Shropshire residents, in line with our key principles
• Be a resource for providers, where market information, including best practice, can be pooled and shared
  

Our market position statement will be reviewed regularly and any update will be added to this page so that, in addition to our overall and strategic commissioning intentions within the MPS, you'll be able to see updates on current commissioning changes and intentions.

You may also want to take a look at the market position statement published rates for residential and nursing beds update 2024-2025.  n recognition of the impact of financial pressures on providers and our commitment to support a sustainable and varied market, the council revised its rates for new purchasing in 2024/25 and will  seek to commission care at these rates wherever possible. 

Co-production framework 

We recognise the value of co-production, and the co-production framework is the next step in embedding it as a daily working practice at Shropshire Council.

Co-production is about recognising and listening to the experiences of the communities who use services provided or funded by us, to achieve the best outcomes for both those communities and the council.

This means that individuals should have a voice in how they're supported to live their lives, and that services should be planned and delivered in a way that works for them. Co-producing support plans and services that make a positive difference to individuals and local communities will enable Shropshire Council to work in an effective and efficient way.

Practice framework - Adult social care

The Practice Framework - Adult Social Care, has been co-produced by Adult Social Care staff and people who draw on services. It was created in 2019 and updated in 2023. The document sets out the values which inform the work and practice of all staff in the People’s Directorate and how we will know when we have achieved these.

The framework includes a staff pledge to:

• ensure you are at the centre of everything I do
• be open and honest with you and respect your views
• aim to make your experience positive

The Local Account is Shropshire Council’s magazine about Adult Social Care. It describes some of the achievements and challenges of the past year and introduces our key priorities for the next year. 

In this edition we tell our story through a variety of people and organisations who are involved in many different ways with Adult Social Care in Shropshire.

This strategy underpins everything we do.

Our Shropshire Autism Strategy is in the process of being updated to reflect changes in national strategy.

An updated five year National Strategy for Autistic Children, Young People & Adults was released in 2021 addressing an all-age approach covering the period 2021-2026.

The national strategy focuses on the need to succeed in improving autistic people’s and their families’ lives, working collaboratively to implement these actions across national and local government, the NHS, the education system, the criminal and youth justice systems, and with autistic people and their families – six priority areas have been highlighted as follows:

• Improving understanding and acceptance of autism in society
• Improving autistic children and young people’s access to education, and supporting positive transitions into adulthood
• Supporting more autistic people into employment
• Tackling health and care inequalities for autistic people
• Building the right support in the community and supporting people in in-patient care
• Improving support in the criminal and youth justice systems

In Shropshire we're working locally to review our priorities against the national agenda, and in doing so engaging with all age-groups; autistic people of all ages; parents; carers; families; professionals across health, education and council; businesses and organisations to determine the key areas of need and challenge that need to be addressed.

We continue to strive to improve the lives of people with an autistic spectrum condition, and their families.

The result of this work will be an updated Shropshire Autism Strategy with clear and measurable targets to positively impact the lives of autistic people and their families.

If you'd like any further information on the progress we're making, or would like to know how to become more involved in the development of the strategy, please email Pip Long, commissioning officer (autism) Pip.Long@Shropshire.gov.uk or commissioning@shropshire.gov.uk

For autism support and assessments please take a look at the following:

• For ages 0-5 years – Shropshire Community Health Trust
• For ages 5 – 18 years – BeeU, Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT)
• For adults – Shropshire Autism Hub/A4U - first line of enquiry for adults wanting an autism assessment. The Shropshire Autism Hub provides pre-assessment support and organises training, activities and social groups

Further support can be found on the Healthier Together Website, and Autism West Midlands provides online training resources, one-to-one support and social events.

This strategy is part of the following ‘golden thread’, so that all plans and strategies link:

• Partnership plans and strategies
• Shropshire Council corporate plan
• Vision and strategy for adult social care
• Service/team plans
• Individual staff appraisal objectives

This strategy has been developed by the Shropshire Autism Partnership Board. Its purpose is to provide the strategic direction for statutory health and social care organisations in Shropshire, with regard to supporting adults and young people with an autistic spectrum condition.

There are approximately 1,400 adults living with a learning disability in Shropshire who we want to enable to engage and participate meaningfully in all aspects of our community. The learning disability strategy explains how we do this.

Direct payments

Our policy, co-produced by Shropshire Council staff and people who use direct payments, has been created to reflect the aims of the direct payment vision - to be open and honest, flexible and creative, and clear and simple.