Extra care housing engagement

There are many different approaches to extra care that involve private and publicly funded public arrangements. Sometimes the arrangements are mixed. There is no one single model.

What the Housing Learning Improvement Network say about extra care

The term 'extra care' housing is used to describe developments that comprise self-contained homes with design features and support services available to enable self-care and independent living.

It comes in a huge variety of forms and may be described in different ways, for example:

• 'very sheltered housing'
• 'housing with care'
• 'retirement communities' or 'villages'

Occupants may be owners, part owners or tenants and all have legal rights to occupy underpinned by housing law (in contrast to residents in care homes).

For more information, visit Housing Learning Improvement Network (opens new window).

Our current model

The council contracts with providers to deliver the extra care support service at Needham House, Crammer Court, Meadow Court and Bell Orchard. The model currently used at these schemes has been defined as meaning independent living accommodation for residents who:

• are typically, over the age of 55
• have current social care needs, or
• may develop social care needs in the future

ECH stands for 'extra care housing', also known as 'housing with care'.

This means there is no legal requirement to provide the service. There are certain services that are statutory and non-statutory for councils to provide to their residents. An example of a statutory service in Wiltshire is organising for residents' household waste to be collected. The ECH service is an example of a non-statutory service, meaning that the council does not have a duty to provide it. However, people living in ECH schemes often also access other types of care and support in addition to the ECH service itself. This can include formal care services for people with eligible care needs.

Consultation is a form of engaging and involving people in the delivery of services, such as asking for opinions on how things are working at the moment and thinking about options for the future. We began consulting with residents when we asked for your thoughts on ECH in late 2020 and in our letters before and after Cabinet in February. Co-production is a term we use to describe how we can work with you to design those options together and find shared solutions. The Care Act describes this as: 'when you as an individual influence the support and services you receive, or when groups of people get together to influence the way that services are designed, commissioned and delivered'.

As a starting point, the February 2020 Cabinet paper (opens new window) proposed three options for an ECH service model, with an initial preferred model. We want to work with residents to design a new way of providing ECH and make sure everyone has their say. This means that the final option may look different to the initial model that cabinet considered in February. We appreciate that in any group of people using a service there will be a lot of different views, and we will work with you to pull ideas together to create a solution that is a best-fit. Cabinet has given us until the end of September to work with residents and explore options for ECH, so we will be carrying out further engagement events.