Executive to discuss service transformation plans and development of in-house Enablement Service
Adult social care05 August 2025
North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive will be discussing a proposal to transform the current Specialist Support Service for Younger Adults (SSYA) and to develop a new Enablement Service, at its meeting on 12 August 2025.
Specialist Support Service for Younger Adults (SSYA)
The Specialist Support Service for Younger Adults (SSYA) is an in-house domiciliary care service providing personal care to younger adults across North Northamptonshire, aged 18 to 65, who have physical or learning disabilities.
The SSYA service works across five ‘longer-term’ settings where people live in their own home (a flat) with the accommodation provided by a registered social landlord and care and the domiciliary support provided by the council via the SSYA service.
This arrangement of living and support is known as Supported Living. As well as ‘longer-term’ settings, the SSYA service provides support in the community, supporting people in their own homes.
The proposal to commission the in-house SSYA services, currently provided by the council, from an external provider aligns with the council's strategic position, as set out in its Adult Social Care Strategy, not to seek to compete with the external provider market, where the market is able and willing to provide support, and can provide optimum opportunities for the best quality of life that enable people to live active and fulfilled lives.
If agreed, the proposal would address the current service overspend and deliver a modelled financial benefit of up to £432,000 in the first full year and an annualised saving of up to £967,000 within five years over the council’s medium term financial plan (MTFP). This cost saving would free up resources to support the creation of an Enablement Service, which would over time, realise additional £273,000 annualised savings. The modelled MTFP benefit of the combined proposal totals approximate savings of £2.428m by 2031.
Enablement Service
The Enablement Service will provide preventative services to support children transitioning into adult social care, as well as adults who have never lived independently who will receive intensive enablement to support them to maximise their independence with the aim of reducing need for long term support from adult social care.
Each year the Council support on average 199 people aged 18-64 who are new to Adult Social Care and an Enablement Service would provide capacity and a way to support these people to live more independently.
An estimated 70 people each year would benefit from an Enablement Service and given the relative youth of this cohort of people who draw on Adult Social Care, the benefits of an enablement service could be felt for decades.
I recommend this proposal to the council’s Executive Committee, which has been put forward following an in-depth review of the current service provision and the needs of those using services.Cllr Eddie McDonald, Deputy Leader of North Northamptonshire Council and Executive Member for Adults and Health Partnerships
The proposal aligns with the Adult Care Service’s strategic intention, which requires a change in focus, culture, and delivery; moving away from longer term provision, unless there is a need for a service that the wider care market is not able to deliver.
By commissioning the care and support for the people currently supported by SSYA externally, there is the potential to mitigate the current overspend within the service and generate additional savings through which to unlock the development of an Enablement Service.
In doing so, I am confident council officers will ensure that, as with in-house provision, externally commissioned services are of a high quality and that standards meet statutory requirements. The council has established methods that are working effectively to monitor external care providers, to gain assurance that people are well supported and enabled to achieve individual outcomes.