Newcastle City Council contacted Valuing Care in June 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them.
Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:
- Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
- Managing the data collection process
- Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
- Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
- Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
- Final reporting and data loading
As well as completing the survey and reporting, Newcastle City Council have commissioned Valuing Care to support them in completing their Market Sustainability Plan. By using Valuing Care in this way, they have access to market insight, both in their region and through the company’s support for trailblazer authorities.
All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording. The Council will also use Valuing Care’s benchmarking data which will prove invaluable in completing the exercises.
The survey collection
The survey collection will complete by early September 2022 with report writing due to start in the same month. Once completed, the final proposed model rates for 2022/23 will be recommended to the Council. The report will be completed with sufficient time for the Council to meet the 14th October deadline.
By conducting the exercise in this way, Newcastle City Council can be reassured that their market sustainability plan captures the balance between paying providers a sustainable rate and ensuring value for money for council taxpayers.
