Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director, Adult Social Care.

The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, submitted a report (previously circulated) to update and inform Members on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assurance framework and inspection activity. Following an informal update on the inspection at the last meeting of this Scrutiny Committee, this served as a formal report on the findings of the inspection.

The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, first outlined the CQC’s inspection process, detailing how this is the framework by which Local Authorities are assessed in accordance with the care act. The final report was received from the CQC on the 30^th May 2025, with an overall score of 73%, which provided Darlington Borough Council with an official ‘GOOD’ score. The score was received alongside commentary from the inspecting officer and comments from key stakeholders.

The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, informed the Committee that the 73% score places the Council as one of the highest rated adult services in the country, a testament to the hard work, commitment and dedication of the adult service teams and wider colleagues who have worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome.

The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care referred to the nine different quality statements by which the Council was assessed. The Council received ‘good’ in eight of the nine quality statements, with a Requires Improvement for Equity in Experience and Outcomes.

Members posed questions regarding the area which required improvement, specifically regarding whether this was something the team was expecting, to which The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, answered stating that this was something they were conscious of as other Local Authorities had received similar scores. The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, affirmed to Members that the score was close to ‘Good’, but are actively trying to improve this.

Members also questioned regarding the 60-day turnaround for Occupational Health as to whether the team were agile enough to meet this time scale, to which The Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, confirmed of the team’s proven success in doing so.

Members concluded this area of discussion by congratulating the Adult Services team for their ongoing hard work, ability to respond to feedback, and fantastic result.