Diagnostic Review of Adult Social Care Services, Transformation and Savings

Shropshire Council commissions and delivers support for adults aged 18 and above across adult social care services.

The Council wishes to strengthen its understanding of current services, demand, practice and cost drivers across adult social care in order to identify opportunities to improve outcomes, secure better value for money, deliver sustainable savings and support transformation.

This PME seeks a provider that can work in partnership with the Council to review current transformation activity, validate priorities and identify further opportunities to improve services, reduce costs and deliver sustainable savings across adult social care. A priority area of focus within this broader review will be working age adults and complex care.

The appointed provider will be expected to undertake a robust, evidence-led review using case sampling, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and stakeholder insight to assess the Council’s current position, provide independent challenge and validation as a constructive critical friend, and test the assumptions underpinning existing transformation plans and savings proposals. The work must review, validate, challenge and prioritise current work programmes, focusing effort on the areas of greatest spend and highest opportunity for service improvement and savings, and culminate in a clear, deliverable three-year transformation plan supported by expected benefits realisation and a detailed activity delivery plan.

Objectives

•To undertake an evidence-led diagnostic review of adult social care services across commissioning and operational practice, with particular attention to working age adults and complex care as a priority area of focus.

•To use case sampling, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and stakeholder insight to validate the baseline position, identify current inefficiencies, demand drivers, practice issues and opportunities for improvement and savings.

•To act as a critical friend to the service by providing constructive challenge, independent validation of the Council’s current understanding of demand, spend and service performance, and testing the assumptions, sequencing and deliverability of existing transformation activity.

•To review, validate, challenge and prioritise current work programmes and identify additional opportunities to improve services and deliver savings, with particular focus on the service areas representing the greatest spend and the highest potential for service improvement and savings.

•To produce a clear, deliverable and prioritised three-year transformation plan for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29, setting out recommendations, required actions, milestones, KPIs, indicative savings opportunities, expected benefits realisation and a detailed activity delivery plan.

Methodology

1.Inception, document and data review: The provider must undertake an initial mobilisation phase and review all relevant strategies, transformation plans, operational processes, performance information, activity data and financial data to establish a validated baseline position and identify lines of enquiry for detailed assessment.

2.Stakeholder engagement: The provider must undertake a structured programme of engagement with commissioners, operational managers, practitioners and other relevant stakeholders to gather qualitative insight, understand current delivery challenges, and test the practicality and impact of potential changes.

3.Case sampling: The provider must design and deliver a representative case sampling exercise across relevant adult social care services, including high-cost cases where appropriate, to review decision-making, service arrangements, outcomes and cost drivers, and to identify opportunities for alternative approaches and improved value for money.

4.Data analysis and opportunity assessment: The provider must analyse quantitative and qualitative information to assess demand, activity, spend, service performance and outcomes, with particular focus on identifying inefficiencies, unwarranted variation, opportunities for service improvement, and credible, evidence-based savings opportunities in the highest-spend areas.

5.Benchmarking, validation and challenge: The provider must benchmark local practice, cost and commissioning approaches against relevant comparators, best practice and market intelligence, and act as a constructive critical friend by providing independent challenge and validation of the Council’s current position and helping the Council prioritise the most deliverable opportunities for transformation and savings.

Case Sampling Approach

Operators must set out a clear and proportionate case sampling methodology as part of their proposal. The methodology must explain how the sample will be selected, the criteria to be applied, and how the approach will ensure sufficient coverage of the relevant services and groups within scope. The sampling framework must include consideration of factors such as age, level of need, type and cost of support, service setting, geographical distribution, and key transition or pressure points, and should include high-cost cases where these are material to the review. Bidders must demonstrate how case sampling findings will be triangulated with quantitative and qualitative data, stakeholder insight and wider performance information to support robust analysis and defensible recommendations. The proposed approach must also set out how confidentiality, information governance and secure handling of case information will be maintained throughout. The sample size should be sufficient to provide credible evidence and support meaningful conclusions, while remaining proportionate and deliverable within the agreed project timescale.

Deliverables

•An inception and evidence-gathering workshop with key stakeholders to confirm scope, priority lines of enquiry, information requirements and arrangements for delivery.

•A diagnostic report setting out the evidence base, key findings, strengths, risks, validated issues, prioritised recommendations for service improvement and transformation, and a clear assessment of savings opportunities, including cashable savings, cost avoidance and wider non-cashable benefits where applicable.

•A presentation to Service Managers and the Leadership Board setting out key findings, critical issues, proposed priorities, and recommended next steps.

•Supporting outputs, including data visualisations, case study examples and analysis summaries, to evidence the findings and illustrate the principal opportunities and risks.

•A clear, deliverable and prioritised three-year transformation plan covering 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29, supported by expected benefits realisation and a detailed activity delivery plan, including clear actions, sequencing, milestones, delivery dependencies, KPIs, indicative savings opportunities by year, and an assessment of deliverability, risk and benefit realisation.

Timeline and Resources

The contract will require an intensive diagnostic sprint approach; it is expected to be delivered over an eight-week period from mobilisation to final reporting.

Operators must set out a realistic delivery timetable showing key stages, including inception, information gathering, stakeholder engagement, case sampling, analysis, interim reporting and final outputs. The provider will be expected to provide weekly progress updates to the DASS and the Leadership Board, including prompt escalation of any risks, dependencies or issues that may affect delivery. The Council will provide reasonable access to relevant case information, operational and financial data, key documents and identified staff, subject to information governance requirements and availability. Bidders must therefore identify the level and mix of resource they will deploy, including relevant expertise and capacity, to deliver the work within the required timescale.

Operators must demonstrate that their proposed approach is robust, proportionate and evidence-led, and that it will produce clear, practical and deliverable recommendations to support service improvement, transformation, savings delivery, expected benefits realisation and detailed activity delivery planning.

Operators must clearly articulate the methodology used to identify and quantify savings opportunities, including the assumptions applied, confidence levels, and categorisation of savings (cashable, cost avoidance, non-cashable).

Savings must be profiled across the three-year period and supported by clear evidence, benchmarking and case analysis. The provider must distinguish between opportunities deliverable within 12 months and those requiring longer-term transformation, and set out associated risks, dependencies and implementation requirements.

The Council invites providers capable of delivering this service within a financial envelope of £50,000–£250,000