Guidance

Information for providers around our future commissioning intentions, market sustainability, annual cost of care and inflation uplifts.

Market position statement

Croydon’s market position statement for Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) services seeks to reflect the current picture of demand for care and support. Alongside the design, supply and utilisation of provision across the market to meet the changing needs of local people, such as the current financial challenges experienced across health and social care. 

We will continue to maintain an open dialogue with providers and people who use the services we commission through our provider forums and resident engagement groups. We hope to ensure there is sufficient choice of provision to help people meet their aspirations and live as independently as possible. We will monitor the content of the Market Position Statement regularly and refresh it when there are significant changes to report.

For further information and the report view Croydon’s market position statement for ASCH.

Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund 2022 to 2023

We participated in the Department of Health and Social Care process of engagement and data exchange between local authorities, commissioners and providers. This resulted in local authorities and care providers arrived at a shared understanding of the local cost of providing care. As set out in section 5 of the Care Act 2014, we have a duty to promote the efficient and effective operation of a services market for meeting care and support needs, with a view to ensuring services are: 

• diverse
• sustainable
• a high quality for the local population, including those who pay for their own care 

Further information and the resulting reports may be found on the market sustainability and fair cost of care.

We will continue to work with its providers to agree sustainable local fee rates. The Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care 2022 to 2023 exercise does not replace our fee setting process. The information drawn from the market sustainability and fair cost of care exercise will help to inform the fee setting process, alongside a range of other commissioning considerations including (but not exclusively) quality, funding allocations, inflation, demand and capacity.

Annual inflation uplift

Every financial year, we review the level of fees for commissioned providers of residential care, nursing care, supported living services, home care and day centres.  

We use local and national data to determine fee uplift rates for the coming year, taking into consideration the potential costs that providers may incur for the year whilst ensuring its statutory duty to achieve a balanced budget. The council will each year:

• consult with care providers on what factors the council should consider around ensuring a fair cost of care is paid to ensure a sustainable care market
• send an annual inflation uplift timetable to providers
• ensure that uplifts are communicated to commissioned providers when calculated
• ensure that uplifts are implemented automatically and providers do not need to contact the council to accept these changes
• implement these annual dates in line with the relevant DWP benefit increase date

As part of our consultation with our great care providers, please see links below for our consultation webinars for 2024 to 2025 and a question and answer feedback from the webinars.

If providers have any questions with regards to inflation uplifts please email inflationrequest@croydon.gov.uk.

Further information

• View additional care-related policies
• Social value policy, Value Croydon
• Adult social care and health strategy
• Croydon's safeguarding adults policy (Awaiting updated policy)
• Pan-London multi-agency Adult Safeguarding Policy and Procedures.