Information and advice strategy tool

What is the tool?

Getting started

How to: work with community leaders, partners and stakeholders to initiate an information and advice strategy.

Strategy template (Part 1)

Leadership

Getting the strategy owned by the Health and Wellbeing Board. Ensuring it is sponsored by a senior manager and supported by partners. Appointing a person or team to develop the strategy.

Questions to consider

  • Is the Health and Wellbeing Board sponsoring the development of this strategy?
  • Has the Health and Wellbeing Board understood the requirements of the Care Act 2014, and the importance of this strategy for the community? (If "No", see the next two sections of this toolkit).
  • Have key partner agencies (including both the council and the CCG) expressed their support and commitment?
  • Is a named elected member taking responsibility for championing the strategy?
  • Is a named senior officer accountable to the Board for the development of the strategy?
  • Have we appointed a Project Lead and/or project team? How will these people be managed and supported?

Key resources:

Other resources

Understanding the importance of information and advice

Ensuring that community leaders understand the strategic benefits of good information and advice - including helping people to manage their own health and care, and build their resilience - and see this as a priority.

Questions to consider:

  • Are we clear about how good information and advice will contribute to our locality's strategic goals?
  • Specifically, are we clear about how information and advice could help us "manage demand" and make more effective use of our limited resources?
  • Are we clear about how this strategy will link to, and contribute to, our other strategies such as our ASC Transformation Programme and our joint prevention strategy?


  • The tools in this section might help you to consider how information and advice can contribute to local strategic goals.
  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "GETTING STARTED" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

Understanding the importance of the Care Act 2014

Ensuring that community leaders understand the specific requirements of the Care Act 2014 - and especially section 4, which relates to information and advice.

Questions to consider:

  • Do we understand what we must and should do, to comply with the relevant requirements of the Care Act 2014?


  • The tool in this section might help you to recap the relevant requirements of the Care Act.

Key resources:

Tools:

Stakeholder engagement

Identifying the stakeholders who will need to be involved in developing and implementing the strategy. Making decisions about how to engage them.

Questions to consider:

  • Have we mapped the stakeholders who will need to be involved or consulted during the development and implementation of this strategy? Do we have a plan for engaging appropriately with each identified group?
  • Does this include a communication plan, so that busy people are kept informed about the project, and will know what the strategy is about and how it affects them?
  • Does this include a consultation plan, to ensure that the views of the most important stakeholders are gathered and analysed?
  • Have we talked to Healthwatch and voluntary sector colleagues about how they can help us communicate and engage?
  • Specifically, how will we ensure that we understand local people's experience of accessing and using information and advice? (NB This topic is addressed again in the next section of this toolkit)


  • You may find it useful to use the stakeholder mapping template (opens new window) in this section.

Useful resources:

Tools:

Co-production with local people

Engaging with local citizens who need information and advice (including carers and self-funders). Deciding how to co-produce the strategy and with whom.

Questions to consider:

  • Are we committed to co-producing this strategy with people who use information and advice now (or who may need it in the future)?
  • From our stakeholder mapping exercise, have we decided which groups of people to involve?
  • Who could represent these groups (i.e. who are their key representatives)?
  • Have we talked to these key representatives about how they would like to be involved in the development of our strategy?
  • How can we set up a structure or mechanisms to involve them in a way that suits them?
  • Will they need training, development or support to enable them to play their part to the full?

Useful resources

Scoping the strategy

Summing up the scope of the strategy, and how it will dovetail with other strategic planning activity. Confirming how and when we will produce the strategy, and who will be responsible.

Questions to consider:

  • Have we agreed the scope of this work?
  • Do we understand how our strategy will fit with other local strategies and with other ongoing work to implement the Care Act 2014? (Are we sure we are not "reinventing the wheel"?).
  • Are key developments and changes already planned, that will have a particular impact for our strategy? (Examples: website developments, new locality focus, plans for shared access points, use of Better Care Fund, etc).
  • Have we talked to those responsible for related strategies, to ensure we are complementing and not duplicating each other's work?
  • Have we confirmed how and when we will produce the strategy, and how we will get it signed off? Have we identified the resources to do this work?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "GETTING STARTED" downloadable template (opens new window).

Where are we now?

How to: gather evidence - to map and evaluate current provision.

Strategy template (Part 2)

People’s experience of information and advice

Understanding why people seek information about social care, the sources they typically use, and the experience they have.

Questions to consider:

  • Have we gathered available evidence about local people's experience of accessing information and advice (e.g. from the POET tool, carers surveys, mystery shopping exercises, etc)? (NB Most local authorities already have a great deal of evidence, or will find that evidence is readily available from their key partners and stakeholders).
  • Have we checked our Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) performance (i.e. in relation to users' and carers' experience of getting information)?
  • Do we have an understanding of WHY people might need information and advice?
  • Do we have an understanding of HOW people access information and advice?
  • Do we have an understanding of WHAT IT IS LIKE for people in our community to access information and advice at present?
  • Are we sure we have covered a wide range of views (e.g. from people who use social care now, and from people who may develop a need for social care in the future - including carers)?
  • Are we sure we have done justice to the views of people who may particularly struggle to access information and advice (e.g. because of a sensory impairment, a mental health issue, social isolation, language or cultural barriers, etc?)
  • Have we summed up what works well about the current system, and what does not work well, from people's own perspectives?
  • Have we checked our conclusions with the representatives who are co-producing this strategy with us?


  • You may find it helpful to use the tools in this section - on what triggers people's need for information and advice, what channels and locations they typically use, and what experience they may have.
  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

Tools:

Population needs

Using the JSNA to analyse local demographic trends. Understanding the health and care issues affecting the population, and associated inequalities. Identifying the priority issues that need to be addressed, the geographical areas that need to be targeted, and the specific groups that are our priority.

Questions to consider:

  • What do our JSNA and Health and Wellbeing Strategy tell us about:
    • our local demography, and how it is changing?
    • the ethnicity of our population, and how it is changing?
    • the health conditions that are most prevalent, and about health inequalities?
    • the prevalence of sensory impairments (and how this is changing)?
    • the geographical areas and communities that are a priority?
    • the number of carers in our community, and their information and advice needs?
    • the number of people who fund their own care, and their information and advice needs?
  • Does your council make use of special tools to analyse population needs (e.g. MOSAIC etc) and could these help?
  • Taking all this into account, what are the headline priorities for our information and advice strategy?


  • You may find it helpful to use the simple population needs analysis template (opens new window) in this section.
  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

  • TBC (opens new window)
    Independent Age have produced tools to help councils understand their local population needs.
  • Older people who self fund their social care (opens new window)
    OPM's publication about people who fund their own care includes a "commissioning scorecard" that helps councils to assess what improvements are needed for this group.
  • The accessible information standard (opens new window)
    The Accessible Information Standard directs and defines a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents, where those needs relate to a disability, impairment or sensory loss. The Standard applies to service providers across the NHS and adult social care system, and effective implementation will require such organisations to make changes to policy, procedure, human behaviour and, where applicable, electronic systems. Commissioners of NHS and publicly-funded adult social care must also have regard to this standard, in so much as they must ensure that contracts, frameworks and performance-management arrangements with provider bodies enable and promote the Standard's requirements.

Tools:

The council’s current provision

Understanding our council's current "offer" to the community (including a range of corporate services such as Housing). Mapping our council's own information and advice provision, including our online resources, and forming a view about our strengths and weaknesses.

Questions to consider:

  • What are the main ways for people to contact the council about social care? (Are these changing?).
  • How well does the council respond to people with multiple types of query (e.g. health, housing and social care)?
  • What evidence do we have about the effectiveness and efficiency of our initial contact services, and the outcomes they achieve? Specifically:
    • are we skilled at responding to safeguarding concerns or alerts?
    • are we skilled at offering preventative advice or signposting to people who are not eligible for formal social care?
    • are we skilled at responding to carers?
    • are we skilled at responding to self-funders (and others) who may need financial advice?
  • Do all our front-line staff have access to a live database, and training and development to help them respond well to a range of queries?
  • Which partner agencies (including the housing and voluntary sector) do we most often signpost to, and how well do these arrangements work? Do we monitor this?
  • Is our website accessible and useful to people? (What is our evidence?)
  • Does our website (and other online resources) help people to direct their own support and make informed purchasing decisions?
  • Does our website cover all the areas that must or should be included to comply with the Care Act 2014?
  • Have we gathered up all available evidence (including customer feedback) and reached conclusions about our development priorities?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

Other statutory provision

Understanding what our key partners offer. Engaging with the CCG, with GPs, with housing, with Public Health, with Healthwatch, and with other statutory partners, to understand their approaches. Identifying synergies between local authority and NHS activity, and identifying any duplication and gaps.

Questions to consider:

  • Have we broadly mapped the information and advice provision of our key statutory partners?
  • Does this include:
    • CCG
    • Housing
    • Public Health
    • Healthwatch
    • The police/Crimewatch
    • District councils?
  • Have we gathered the views of these partners about what they need from the council (and other key local organisations) and what they can contribute to this strategy?
  • Have we gathered ideas about how our respective plans and activities can be linked up?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Resources

  • Care and Repair (2015): Making the Case for integrated, impartial information and advice on housing and care for older people (opens new window)
    "Making the Case" focuses on impartial information and advice for older people, which brings together housing and care options and related financial advice. It sets out how integrated housing and care information and advice services enable local councils to meet their new duties under the Care Act. It makes the case for continued investment in information and advice services - the mainstay of many HIA providers. The work was brought together by Care and Repair England and includes contributions from several partners. It has been endorsed by ADASS (Association of Directors of Social Services).
  • Connecting Care: Technology advice for social care providers (opens new window)
    Connecting Care is a Department of Health project, delivered by Lasa, to help charitable providers of adult social care make the most of information and communication technologies. It's free to participate. All we ask is that you commit to working with us to achieve benefits for your organisation, and share your experiences and learning from the project.

Specialist local resources

Mapping the specialist information and advice services that are arranged or commissioned by the local authority, the NHS, or both. Understanding the objectives of each organisation, and the numbers of people who use these services. Assembling available information (e.g. through contract monitoring) about their effectiveness. Identifying the budgets spent on these services.

Questions to consider:

  • Have we identified the relevant specialist information and advice services that are funded or commissioned by the council and NHS? (NB Some councils may have mapped these in their Market Position Statement).
  • Have we identified the budgets spent on these services?
  • What evidence do we have about the effectiveness and efficiency of these services, and the outcomes they achieve? (Do we need to do some more bespoke evaluation?)
  • Viewed overall, how well do these services reach the priority target groups in our population?
  • Viewed overall, how well do these services cover the topics and issues that are a priority for local people?
  • How well do these services link up? (Do they signpost well to each other?)
  • Have we gathered up the available evidence (e.g. through contract monitoring) and reached conclusions about the combined strengths and weaknesses of our locally commissioned services, and how they work together?


  • If you decide to carry out some in-depth evaluation of your locally commissioned services, you may find it helpful to use the evaluation tool (opens new window) in this section.
  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Tools:

Other community assets

Identifying the people and networks that are our important informal assets. Recognising that many voluntary organisations offer information and advice, whether or not they receive funding for this. Recognising that frontline staff across many professional groups play a key role. Understanding the importance of volunteer advisors, and people who are experts by experience.

Questions to consider:

  • What do we know about the community and neighbourhood resources that people use to get information and advice, and how this varies from one place to the next? (Note: you may want to refer back to the tools in the earlier section on "people's experience of information and advice").
  • What do we know about the contribution being made by front-line staff across all agencies including the NHS? What are their development and support needs? (Note: you may want to refer back to your stakeholder map to check on the important professional groups who often advise people about their care and support choices).
  • What do we know about the role played by volunteers in our community, in imparting information and advice? Do we have special initiatives (such as the training of volunteer "health champions", "community connectors" etc) that are highly relevant to our strategy?
  • What do we know about the extent of "peer support" locally? How do peer supporters communicate with people and share information and advice? What are their development and support needs?
  • Overall, do we have a sense of the wide range of existing assets (and especially people) that could be developed and supported as part of this strategy?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Useful resources:

Case examples:

  • Social capital (opens new window)
    Lancashire's JSNA includes a good section on "social capital". Its website includes excellent material on identifying community assets.
  • Shropshire's People to People service (opens new window)
    Shropshire Adult Social Care has redesigned its Information and Advice/ Signposting service in response to personalisation and the Care Act requirements. Its outsourced social enterprise, People2People, offers "Let's Talk" local sessions in the community.

National resources

Identifying the key national organisations, websites and helplines that are important resources for local people.

Questions to consider:

Resources

  • DPA Eligibility Calculator Launched by DCLG - Free APIs now available (opens new window)
    The Local Digital Programme at the Department for Communities and Local Government has launched a Deferred Payment Agreement calculator. The APIs are now available for all councils across the UK to use, and can be incorporated into existing online social care tools. The calculator returns immediate results regarding eligibility and is interactive so users can test different scenarios in making social care finance decisions. It serves as a source of information for citizens and carers alike, and can save time for councils by moving enquiries online.
  • Access the 3 APIs (opens new window)
  • Watch the DPA explainer video (opens new window)
  • NHS Choices free syndication feeds for local authorities (opens new window)
    The Care Act places a requirement on local authorities to provide information and advice about local care providers. A cost-effective method of meeting these requirements is to integrate NHS Choices content into local authority websites as this will provide a significant amount of health and social care content without charge. Syndication will allow local authorities to pull content from NHS Choices website vie feeds, widgets, interactive tools and videos.

Reaching conclusions about our whole system

Pulling together the relevant evidence, to understand the key features of our information and advice provision. Comparing our current performance against the expectations in the Care Act. Ensuring that our analysis is strongly informed by the views of local citizens. Identifying our main strengths and development priorities, including the potential to improve quality, join things up and make better use of resources.

Questions to consider:

  • Has our research given us a good idea of the features of our current system (including its strengths and weaknesses)?
  • Are we now clear about our local assets, and the improvements we should make in order to be compliant with the Care Act 2014?
  • Have we formed some impressions about (a) the potential to make quality improvements, (b) the potential for services to become more joined up (c) the potential to make more efficient use of resources across the system?
  • Have we identified other local opportunities (as well as threats)?
  • Are we now able to sum up our provisional conclusions?
  • Have we checked these conclusions with the people who are co-producing this strategy with us, and do they agree?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE ARE WE NOW?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

Where do we need to get to?

How to: develop a clear vision and priorities for the future.

Strategy template (Part 3)

Agreeing a vision, approach and priorities

Establishing a clear and ambitious vision for improving local information and advice. Outlining a broad approach, and our main priorities for the future.

Questions to consider:

  • Have we produced a simple vision statement, that can be easily understood by all our stakeholders (and links to our local area's health and wellbeing vision)?
  • Have we agreed our overall approach (or the "principles" we will adopt)?
  • Have we identified SMART priorities for change over the next 5 years?
  • Have we checked that our vision, approach and priorities link back to our assessment of "where we are now" and that they cover the identified areas for improvement?
  • Have we checked that our vision, approach and priorities will ensure compliance with the Care Act 2014?
  • Have we shared our proposed vision, approach and priorities with our co-production partners, and do they agree?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHERE DO WE NEED TO GET TO?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

  • Gearing up for change - part 2 (opens new window)
    TLAP's publication on "Gearing up for change" considers how six councils are implementing their strategies and what their issues are. It includes several practice examples and useful resources.

Case examples:

Improving people’s experience of using information and advice

As part of our vision, being clear and explicit about how we intend to improve the experience of people who need information and advice about social care. Agreeing this with our co-production partners.

Questions to consider:

How will we get there?

How to: specify what will change and how we will achieve this.

Strategy template (Part 4)

The changes we will encourage and stimulate

Stimulating change and improvement, by working with a wide range of people and organisations in the local community. Building the capacity of our community to respond to people's information and advice needs.

Questions to consider:

The changes we will encourage and stimulate

How and when will we deliver our priorities? What are the key milestones, and who will be responsible?

Depending on what your identified priorities are, these prompts may be useful:

  • How will we improve the awareness and knowledge of people who do not currently use the internet, and improve internet access in our community?
  • How will we support staff across a range of professional groups, including the housing and the voluntary sector, to fulfil their role in offering information and advice?
  • Will we develop new outlets in accessible locations (e.g. GP surgeries, libraries, post offices)?
  • Can we use neighbourhood maps to identify areas where people have weak access to information and advice, and develop community assets in these areas?
  • How will we foster and support the work of volunteer advisors and navigators, and peer supporters?
  • How will we improve collaboration, signposting and sharing of resources across agencies? (Perhaps we should we establish a new "information partnership network" to drive a more co-ordinated approach?)


  • You may find it helpful to record your action plan in the "HOW WILL WE GET THERE?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Case examples:

The services we will commission

Agreeing a joint commissioning plan that specifies the specialist information and advice services we will commission in future. Optimising the potential to pool budgets, and promoting new and innovative partnerships between providers so that services are better joined up.

Questions to consider:

How and when will we deliver our priorities? What are the key milestones, and who will be responsible?

Depending on what your identified priorities are, these prompts may be useful:

  • How will we help market key independent sector providers as the "first port of call" for many people in the community?
  • Should we re-commission some or all of our funded information and advice provision?
  • Should this be done jointly with health partners?
  • How can we promote innovation - such as further integration and/or consortium arrangements between providers?
  • What procurement methods will we use to achieve this?


  • You may find it helpful to record your action plan in the "HOW WILL WE GET THERE?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

Other resources:

Case examples:

  • Stockport FLAG (pdf - 321Kb) (opens new window)
    Stockport FLAG is a council-wide "one stop shop" information and advice service, overseen by a consortium of voluntary organisations.
  • Kingston advisers forum (opens new window)
    Kingston's advisor's forum is an example of a partnership between advice providers who have the aim of "working together to make advice work"
  • Salvere (opens new window)
    Salvere is a social enterprise that is working with several local authorities to develop information and brokerage services. It has developed online self-assessment and support planning tools, available to the public.
  • My Care My Home (opens new window)
    My Care My Home is an organisation that is working with several local authorities to help people to assess their needs and access care services, including independent financial advice.

The council’s future provision

Confirming a plan for improving the council's current provision of information and advice, that optimises the use of online resources and ensures an efficient and effective response to people's requests. Ensuring that the plan emphasises the importance of preventative advice, and of helping people to manage their own care. Knowing where we will signpost people to, and how. Ensuring that our plan takes account of the requirements of the Care Act.

Questions to consider:

How and when will we deliver our priorities? What are the key milestones, and who will be responsible?

Depending on what your identified priorities are, these prompts may be useful:

  • How and when will we develop the content of the local authority website to ensure full compliance with the requirements of the Care Act 2014?
  • How and when will we develop and market our online portal and tools, as a key resource for staff, community organisations and citizens?
  • How will we raise the profile of key national and local sources (e.g. via visible links, etc)?
  • Are the council's initial access arrangements going to change? (If so, how and when?)
  • How will we develop, support and train our first contact staff (and other staff) to enable them to respond well to a wide range of enquiries and to signpost effectively?
  • How will we improve our response to:
    • People who wish to raise safeguarding concerns or alerts;
    • People who are not eligible for formal social care, who may need preventative advice or signposting;
    • People who have multiple issues (such as a combination of housing, financial and social care issues)
    • Carers;
    • Self-funders, and others who may need independent financial advice;
    • People who manage their own care (including those in receipt of direct payments)?
  • How will we improve the accessibility of information and advice for other priority groups (e.g. specific minority ethnic groups) as identified in the earlier section of this toolkit?
     
  • You may find it helpful to record your action plan in the "HOW WILL WE GET THERE?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Case examples:

Focussing on quality

Ensuring that our plans encompass ways to improve and sustain the quality of local information and advice.

Questions to consider:

How and when will we deliver our priorities? What are the key milestones, and who will be responsible?

Depending on what your identified priorities are, these prompts may be useful:

  • Do we need to develop a quality framework for information and advice?
  • Should we make use of nationally available quality standards, and/or encourage external accreditation?
  • How can we encourage our key delivery partners to work with us to improve the quality and consistency of the information and advice that is offered to our community?


  • You may find it helpful to record your action plan in the "HOW WILL WE GET THERE?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources:

  • The Information Standard (opens new window)
    The Information Standard is a certification scheme for health and social care information, established by the Department of Health. All relevant information is available at NHS England's website
  • Customer Service Excellence (opens new window)
    Customer Service Excellence is an accreditation scheme promoted by the Cabinet Office, to promote continuous improvement within customer-facing organisations.

What resources will we need?

How to: identify the resources and structures that will be needed to implement the strategy.

Strategy template (Part 5)

Culture change

Recognising that this strategy depends on culture change, and on the forging of new relationships across agencies. Thinking about how to communicate widely about the new behaviours and attitudes that will be necessary.

Questions to consider:

  • Are leaders in our community prepared to energetically champion our new approaches and keep us on course?
  • What new behaviours and attitudes will be necessary to achieve this strategy (e.g. collaborative rather than competitive relationships between information and advice agencies, renewed commitment to empowering people to manage their own health and care, etc)?
  • What are the training implications, for our staff and those of partner agencies?
  • How will we communicate about our strategy, and enthuse our stakeholders (including staff at all levels) about the proposed new ways of working?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHAT RESOURCES WILL WE NEED?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Useful resources:

Structures

Establishing structures and mechanisms to oversee the implementation of our strategy. Including mechanisms for receiving continuous feedback from people who use information and advice.

Questions to consider:

  • Which group or Board will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of this strategy?
  • Do we need to set up a new mechanism (such as a multi-agency implementation group)?
  • How will we continue to engage our co-production partners in monitoring the strategy?
  • Do we need new mechanisms for collecting feedback from customers about their experience of using information and advice? How and when can we put these arrangements in place?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHAT RESOURCES WILL WE NEED?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Systems

Identifying the implications for our systems (including IT systems), taking account of the Council's Digital Strategy.

Questions to consider:

  • Are there implications for our ICT systems that have not already been identified (e.g. in the context of parallel work to implement the Council Digital Strategy?)
  • If so, have any improvements in functionality been planned and costed?
  • How are we going to audit the content of our website (and/or other online gateways or hubs), generate new content, and maintain it?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHAT RESOURCES WILL WE NEED?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Expertise

Identifying what skills and expertise will be needed to implement our strategy. Questioning whether there are gaps in our expertise, and working out how these will be filled.

Questions to consider:

  • Do we (and our partners) have the skills and expertise to implement all aspects of this strategy?
  • For example, are we well-equipped in such areas as:
    • Subject-specific knowledge of the range of local provision that should be featured on our website/online gateway
    • Website design and development
    • Marketing and communications
    • Market-shaping, including innovative ways of procuring information and advice?
  • How can we secure any additional required expertise?
  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHAT RESOURCES WILL WE NEED?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Staffing resources

Identifying the staffing resources we will need to implement this strategy, including programme and project management support.

Questions to consider:

  • Are there any additional staffing implications for ourselves or our key partners?
  • For example:
    • Will we need more resources to design and/or develop and/or maintain our website/portal?
    • Will we need an ongoing project manager (and/or project support) during the implementation of the strategy?
    • Will we need more resources to gather and analyse feedback from customers in a systematic way?
    • Will we need more resources for training?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHAT RESOURCES WILL WE NEED?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Financial resources

Identifying the non-recurrent and recurrent budgets that will be required to implement this strategy. With commissioning partners, exploring the potential for achieving efficiencies by working together, including the potential for pooling our budgets. With service providers, identifying the scope for improving the "value for money" of the services offered.

Questions to consider:

  • In what ways will our strategy achieve more efficient use of resources across the sector? (Note: you may wish to refer again to the benefits tool (opens new window), which lists the process and cost benefits which might be possible).
  • Conversely, will we need additional recurrent or non-recurrent funding to deliver the strategy? Have the additional budgets been identified (if applicable)?
  • Will the respective budget contributions of the relevant commissioning agencies be aligned or pooled to deliver this strategy?
  • Overall, are we sure this strategy can be delivered within the available budget? Has this been confirmed/agreed by our senior responsible officer?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "WHAT RESOURCES WILL WE NEED?" downloadable template (opens new window).

How will we measure success?

How to: monitor and evaluate success.

Strategy template (Part 6)

Implementation timetable

Establishing an implementation timetable, including key milestones and review dates. Getting this signed off by the Health and Wellbeing Board (or alternative strategic forum).

Questions to consider:

  • Has our implementation timetable (as reflected in our Action Plan) been agreed with our senior responsible officer and/or steering group and/or the Health and Wellbeing Board?
  • Will progress reports be submitted to the Health and Wellbeing Board (or an alternative strategic forum)? When/at what frequency will these reviews take place?


  • You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "HOW WILL WE MEASURE SUCCESS?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Monitoring Framework

Confirming how we will monitor and evaluate our strategy and establish arrangements (including performance indicators) to measure our success.

Questions to consider:

  • When and how will we monitor that the priorities and milestones recorded in our Action Plan are being achieved?
  • Linking back to the "improvements in people's experience" that are an explicit part of our vision, do we know how we will measure these? (Note: you may wish to refer back to the summing up of your vision, approach and priorities at this stage).
  • Specifically, how will we measure improvements in customer satisfaction? For example:
    • Are we aiming for an improvement in the number of users and carers who report that it is easy to get information? (ASCOF indicator)?
    • Are we aiming for improved customer satisfaction with our website?
    • Do we have contract monitoring information that could be used/collated in a more systematic way?
    • Are we aiming to develop more extensive and reliable methods? If so, how and when could we bring this about?
  • How will we measure the impact of our information and advice provision, and the outcomes being achieved over time? Options could include:
    • Whether people find that their issues are resolved, or whether they return for more help because the information and advice did not address the issue.
    • Whether improvements in information and advice result in decreases in the number of inappropriate referrals to statutory council and NHS services.
    • Whether improved availability of financial advice leads to a reduction in the number of self-funders whose assets become depleted. etc
  • What else do we want/need to monitor? Options could include:
    • Evidence about the take-up of information and advice services?
    • Evidence about improvements in geographical coverage?
    • Evidence about equality of access to information and advice (e.g. across ethnic groups)?
    • Evidence on the effectiveness of signposting arrangements?
    • Evidence about quality improvements in information and advice?
  • Do we collect any of this evidence at present? To what extent are we hampered by a lack of evidence, and/or processes for collecting evidence, and/or resources to organise this? Can we aim for incremental improvements - or some "quick wins"? If so, how?
  • Given the expectation in the statutory Guidance that we will publish evidence about our performance, what can we produce for our first public report?


    You may find it helpful to record your conclusions in the "HOW WILL WE MEASURE SUCCESS?" downloadable template (opens new window).

Key resources

Risk Management

Identifying the risks, and factors that might impede successful implementation of this strategy. Knowing how we will mitigate these risks.

Questions to consider