Voluntary sector partnerships
We have continued to build positive partnerships across our third sector organisations. The community and voluntary sector are buoyant and well developed in Torbay. We receive actively engaged from the sector to work on shared endeavours with a common goal of maximising independence and support to people within our communities. This wider network supports people in ways that are outside of scope for statutory services but neither the less offer the glue that often keeps people safe, well and connected. We remain committed to furthering our relationship so we can really hear and understand the voices from our community and find ways to strengthen and build resilience for local people closer to home.
Front door and in-person hub support
We have re-procured our community helpline and community hub (which is in Paignton Library)
These services support us to divert statutory referrals to the community and voluntary sector, where we believe outcomes can be improved by addressing low level needs early, which may prevent or delay people needing statutory/commissioned care.
We continue to actively engage with the voluntary sector network as we start to look at national schemes that build on the principles of place and neighbourhoods. Taking a joined-up view on how services (across the whole health and social care network including voluntary sector) work in a joined-up way to impact on the whole population living within a defined geographic area.
The hub at Paignton Library offers a relaxed and accessible environment where people can get advice, information, and support. The helpline is a telephone service which is accessible to members of the public or health and social care professionals to seek advice, guidance or make a referral for support.
Supported living and extra care housing
- Our vision is to ensure that people can be as independent as possible in a place they can call home, with the right support. For some people this may mean increasing care and support provision over time to delay a need for more intensive support like a residential placement, for other people this may be about building new skills and decreasing support until they can move onto their very own accommodation one day without support. In some circumstances this means the housing care and support offer needs to be more specialised in the form of a supported living scheme or extra care housing.
- We continue to support people who draw on social care services to make choices about where, how and with whom they live across a range of housing options. By having an experienced supported housing commissioner within the Strategic Commissioning Team, we have greatly improved our ability to meet increasingly complex needs within mainstream social housing. This has enabled people to step down from long-term out-of-area hospital beds directly to a home of their own with the security of an assured tenancy and all the necessary adaptations to maximise their independence.
- We also continue to slowly increase the availability of housing with support, now that we have an effective Strategic Housing Delivery Team working with us and using the Government’s social housing funding programme to deliver the adult social care housing requirements set out in the Torbay Housing Strategy. The Council is now seeking planning consent for a new 92-apartment extra-care housing scheme in Paignton, with building due to start in March 2026 and be completed in late Spring 2028. This will be followed by a further scheme of similar size in Torquay, scheduled for completion in 2030.
- Work is ongoing to improve our commissioning partnerships with Registered Providers of social housing, independent social developers, specialist support providers, health and social care professionals and the supported living sector as a whole. During 2025-26 this will ensure the delivery of 8 new 1-bed and 2-bed adapted apartments for people with complex learning disabilities; 12 new 1-bed apartments for people recovering from mental illness and other bespoke housing opportunities for people needing specific environments or locations.
- Looking ahead, our focus will be on continuing to prepare the supported housing sector for the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, and to deliver more Social Housing Grant-funded social housing for people drawing on health and social care services. We will continue to improve our engagement with both housing providers and commissioned support providers, driving up quality and choice across Torbay.
Looking ahead
The work undertaken in 2024/25 has demonstrated the impact of proactive, person-centred approaches in adult social care. We will continue to refine our reablement offer, expand the improvements which will enable people to access community support before seeking ASC interventions, and strengthen our partnerships with health, housing, and community services to create a more sustainable, integrated system of care.
We remain committed to ensuring that people receive the right support at the right time, promoting independence, and enhancing quality of life across our communities.