Policy information

Cost of care before the introduction of charging reforms in October 2023.

In November 2022, the Government made the decision to delay the national rollout of these reforms from October 2023 to October 2025. However, funding for implementation has been maintained within local government to enable local authorities to address current adult social care pressures.

The Council has conducted two cost-of-care exercises covering the Care Home and Home Care markets and has prepared a Market Sustainability Plan.  

These documents have been submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care and published below:

Provider engagement

The cost of care reports were informed by submissions from providers about the cost of care delivery. This was supported by the Council through Provider forums, special events, and training sessions facilitated by the Care Providers Alliance. We also disseminated information and guidance to providers and engaged external consultants to support the completion of the exercises with providers. The Market Sustainability Plan was informed by the data captured in the cost of care exercises.

We would like to thank all those providers who took part in the exercises, despite the many challenges they presented. These challenges are specified in further detail below.

Next steps

Following the publication of the cost-of-care exercises and the Market Sustainability Plan, we will continue to engage and work closely with providers.

The outcome of the cost-of-care exercises is not intended to be a replacement for the fee-setting element of local authority commissioning processes or individual contract negotiation.

If you are a provider and have any questions, or would like to discuss this further, please email:

alison.rogers@selondonics.nhs.uk
Director for Integrated Commissioning
London Borough of Bexley and NHS South East London Integrated Care Board (Bexley)