Adult Social Care in Torbay is changing. We want to focus on bringing what matters most to you, close to you.
On 26 March 2026, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust Board made a decision to give 12 months’ notice on the Section 75 Adult Social Care agreement, which has seen the Trust provide adult social care services in Torbay over the past 21 years.
This means that on 1 April 2027, adult social care staff will be directly employed by Torbay Council, which means that over the next 12 months the Council and TSDFT will be working together to ensure a smooth transfer of staff.
Our vision for adult social care in Torbay is “thriving communities where people prosper.”
We want all our residents to have a place to call home in a community they can be a part of whilst empowered to achieve what matters to them by the best care and support available.
The priorities identified in the Torbay’s Adult Social Care Strategy include:
The ending of the Section 75 partnership gives us the opportunity to:
Regardless of what happens in future with arrangements for providing Adult Social Care, these remain our guiding principles in Torbay.
We understand that any period of change brings uncertainty and wanted to assure you that we will ensure that people who access care and support services in Torbay will continue to receive appropriate care during this process, and that we will continue to uphold our safeguarding duties.
The Council is prepared for this change and has a Programme Board in place with representatives from Senior Leadership and all key departments within the Council to ensure a smooth transition over the next year.
In Torbay, since 2005, adult social care has been provided by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of Torbay Council through a Section 75 agreement with oversight from the Integrated Care Board. This arrangement had been praised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as “enabling joined up care and shared resources.”
We will make sure we keep those who work in the service and those who access care and support services informed throughout this process in the coming months.
We will also work to ensure that our adult social care services in Torbay continue to be outcomes focused, maximising independence and wellbeing for all residents, reducing inequalities and improving access to care, delivering high quality sustainable services, and empowering people to have choice and control over their care.
We will update this section of the website on a regular basis with FAQs and other updates so watch this space.
Anna Coles, our Director of Adult And Community Services, talks about the forthcoming changes to Adult Social Care in the below video, following the announcement that the existing Section 75 arrangement between the Council and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust will come to an end in 2027.