During 2022/23, our adult social care strategic commissioning team has continued to work towards the outcomes set out within the 10-year market transformation blueprint for our learning disability and neurodiverse community.
We want to support people to live happy, independent lives, knowing we’re there to support them when they need us. This includes helping people to live in their own home. We have undertaken a significant amount to create the development of new housing specifically for people with health and social care needs and develop the related market for supported living services.
The learning disability partnership board has continued to develop and its learning disability ambassadors have become adept at targeting issues of particular concern to the learning disability community; they’ve successfully used their specially-commissioned advocacy support to achieve change where they feel statutory services have not recognised or adjusted to meet their needs. The availability of housing is a particular concern, and the ambassadors organised an extremely well-attended housing event at the Riviera Centre in October 2022 to raise awareness of the shortage of suitable housing to providers, developers, commissioners, and councillors.
Our strategic commissioning team has continued to develop the social care market, particularly around supported housing and the associated care and support services. The new Torbay housing strategy contains key information about housing needs for social excluded and Care Act-eligible people to support the ongoing development of new, much needed supported living schemes across the bay. Despite significant inflation pressures within the construction industry and increases in interest rates, various partners have acquired sites and are progressing schemes. Our Homes England-regulated housing company, TorVista Homes, is now in place and actively buying and developing housing on council-owned sites to support the work of our integrated adult social care system.
