Commissioning intentions and business opportunities

Our Community and Corporate Plan and our current priority adult social care commissioning intentions are:

Prevention and early help

1. Focus on prevention, early intervention, rehabilitation and recovery to:

• Support people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible.
• Reduce ASC demand.
• Delay entry into residential care.

2. Increase independence and re-ablement through better access to community equipment, assistive technology, home improvements, including Disabled Facilities Grant.

Community

Support people to remain living at home and exercise choice and control over their lives through the availability of:

• High-quality homecare & domiciliary care services (which include complex support) and a focus on personal re-ablement and recovery.
• Personal assistants, support planning and brokerage services.
• Providers with which people can use their personal budgets.

Support the sustainability of a vibrant voluntary and community sector by:

• Maintaining and using the local mapping work by ICB, ICO, LA commissioners and local sector.
• Reducing current duplication of services and quality variance.
• Using a lead voluntary sector organisation to commission services on our behalf.
• Vibrant communities where there are increased feelings of neighbourliness, connection, and accessible places of welcome.

Accommodation with care and support

In line with the strength-based approach underpinning the Care Act 2014, Torbay’s commissioning approach seeks to:

1. Develop a dynamic forecasting model that will assist in determining the right size, type and supply of residential and supported living (SL) care in Torbay, to meet the current and emerging social care demand, including more complex needs.

2. Increase the use of enabling housing-based models of care and support so that people have a greater choice and control over how, where and with whom they live, as well as who and how their care is provided.

3. Reduce the systemic use of residential care to meet social care needs, by:

• Creating effective supported living options for all age groups that enable people to live well at home for longer.
• Supporting more people to maintain their independence through early advice on personal and community assets, and access to equipment and technology to meet their emerging needs.
• Not placing working-age adults into residential care, wherever possible.
• With better homecare alternatives, significantly delaying the entry of older people into residential care and reducing stays.
• With our NHS partners, only commissioning and placing in homes capable of meeting very complex and nursing needs.

4. Work with our residential and nursing care sector to improve quality and capability, and develop agreed outcomes-based specifications.

5. Work with our supported living providers to develop sufficient capacity and quality to meet emerging demand, including complex needs and to develop agreed outcomes-based specifications.

6. Implement the Housing Strategy

7. Develop further units of extra care housing and sheltered accommodation that meet the needs of people with more complex conditions.

Learning Disabilities (LD)

Development and Co-Production of Torbay Council Big Plan for Learning Disabilities. Finding out how we are working together to make Torbay a better place to live for people with learning disabilities.

Community

• Focus on people living full and independent lives, where secure homes and fulfilling lives are a priority.
• Improve access to paid employment and training through provision of targeted person-centred support.
• Develop an outcomes-based commissioning of day-activities to ensure daytime activities/services offer more choice, develop community inclusion and deliver more aspirational outcomes.
• Improve accessibility to community services for people with a learning disability, through reasonable adjustments.

Accommodation with care and support

Torbay’s commissioning approach seeks to:

• Reduce the number of under 65 adults with LDs in long-term residential settings by a third over the next three years.
• Halve the number of larger residential settings (those with over eight beds, which have a more institutional feel.
• Ensure there is greater housing choice, particularly self-contained SL, sheltered housing, extra care and access to general needs housing.
• Ensure more consistency of provision and fewer complaints about the quality of support delivered.
• More people with LDs living with parents are diverted from entering residential care and have the opportunity to live as independently as possible.
• Ensure the quality of support and tenancies in supported living are given more assurance and improve.

Autism

This strategy was co‑produced with our Autism Ambassadors, carers, professionals and the wider community. It reflects national priorities and focuses on what autistic people in Torbay told us matters most. This was signed off in December 2025 and will be supported by an autism strategy action plan which will focus on the points below:

• Understanding & Acceptance
• Health & Care
• Employment
• Community Support
• Justice System
• Education & Transitions

Community

• Commission services based on adequate population data and needs assessment, including peer support.
• Improve accessibility to community services for people with autism through reasonable adjustments.
• Delivery of associated actions arising from the Autism Business Case and Self-Assessment Framework 2016
• Torbay Adults Autism Strategy Co-produced with Lived experience and working

Accommodation with care and support

Torbay’s commissioning approach seeks to:

• Reduce the number of under-65 adults with autism in long-term residential settings.
• Ensure greater housing choice, particularly self-contained SL, sheltered housing, extra care, and access to general housing needs.
• Ensure some more skilled providers can offer enabling support to people with complex issues and challenging behaviour.
• Commission Positive Behaviour Support and Crisis
  Planning training to support the development of the workforce.

Mental health

Partnering with Devon Partnership Trust to deliver the statutory mental health provision, integrated across Health and Social Care, Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust, and Devon Partnership Trust, where the commissioning responsibility is shared to deliver the Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF) in Torbay.

The dementia Strategy 2025 across Devon will be published in 2025 in collaboration with all key stakeholders and the ICS. Providers, statutory and independent organisations, have been in partnership and have developed a Devon-wide pathway/strategy.

Community

Deliver the improvement plan and input to mental health service redesign with Devon Partnership NHS Trust, Devon County Council, and the Devon NHS.

Commission services based on adequate population data and needs assessment, including peer support.

The Torbay Dementia Path will be co-produced.

Accommodation with care and support

Torbay’s commissioning approach seeks to:

• Reduce the number of working-age adults with mental health issues in residential settings.
• Ensure there is greater housing with support choice, particularly self-contained SL, sheltered housing, extra care, and improved access to general needs housing.
• Ensure some more skilled providers can offer enabling support to people with complex mental health issues and behaviour that challenges.
• Commission Crisis Planning training to support the skills development of the workforce.

Implement the public health strategies

Integrating Torbay Public Health initiatives into Adult Social Care (ASC) commissioning priorities is a strategic effort to enhance the overall health and well-being of the community. Torbay Council's Public Health department focuses on preventive measures, health promotion, and addressing social determinants of health.

By embedding these public health principles into ASC commissioning, the council aims to create a more holistic and proactive approach to care. This integration ensures that services are not only reactive to immediate care needs but also work towards preventing health issues before they arise, thereby improving long-term outcomes for residents.

Torbay Integrated Commissioning is crucial in this integration by fostering collaboration between various health and social care providers. This partnership model promotes coordinated care, where different services work together seamlessly to address the diverse needs of individuals. The ASC commissioning priorities, which include helping people live independently and safely, are aligned with the goals of public health to create a supportive environment for all residents

This collaborative approach is designed to enhance the quality of care, reduce health inequalities, and ensure that resources are used efficiently to benefit the community as a whole.

Public Health Torbay

Torbay Health Partnerships

Links to NHS commissioning intentions

Work very closely with NHS colleagues to deliver an integrated service. This includes end of life services, hospital discharge placements for people and community services that are NHS-led, such as integrated care. For End of Life commissioning information, please see palliative and end of life care.