County Council to save more than £400,000 a year in adult social care accommodation

County Hall, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Council is expected to save more than £400,000 a year by repurposing flats designed to assess older people into a more long-term care service.

Melanie Williams, Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health at the County Council, decided on July 9 that health assessment flats being reused elsewhere in the department will bring in savings in their first year.

The council currently commissions 32 assessment flats in three locations: Poppy Fields in Mansfield, Gladstone Court in Newark, and Priory Court in Worksop.

The flats are designed for short-term assessment of older people who have experienced need changes or have come out of hospital and cannot return home without support – ultimately to ‘maximise’ patient independence according to a document.

People who fit this criteria could be referred to the flats, but their usage has constantly dropped in recent years.

There were 410 referrals in 2022/23, dropping to 229 in 2023/24 and 121 in 2024/25 – a 70 per cent decrease in two years.

Based on review findings regarding the need for the flats, the council has decided to repurpose them as longer-term Extra Care accommodation.

These schemes offer older people requiring health support more long-term, responsive, 24/7 care in a more independent setting—a self-contained home—and the decision is set to save the authority thousands.

For the 2024/25 financial year, the flats cost the council over £1.3 million, with £915,000 of this going on the care and £411,000 on housing costs.

Reusing them for longer-term accommodation will now cost £987,000, meaning a full-year savings of £428,000 against the authority’s budget.

By functioning as longer-term flats from October 1, 2025, the council will save over £200,000 for the half year.

Adult Social Care is one of the largest sectors councils spend money on, so any savings in this department will be welcome.

In November 2024, the then-Conservative County Council overspent by £10.6 million in this department, which was only partially offset by underspending in others.

According to a document, there is a demand for longer-term accommodation. All Extra Care schemes across the county are occupied, and the wait list fluctuates between 20 and 30 people.

Cllr Barry Answer, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said in a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We’re focused on making sure people get the right care in the right place — and that it’s good value for money too.

“[This decision] is possible thanks to better homecare services and our Transfer of Care Hubs, which are teams based at hospitals that help plan safe and speedy discharges.

“These hubs were vital during the pandemic and have helped reduce the need for residential care. Because of this, we’ve decided to stop using the assessment flat, offering significant ongoing savings.

“For working-age adults—especially those with disabilities or mental health needs—we’re expanding supported accommodation. This means people can live more independently, with their own front door, and get the care they need. It’s also more affordable than traditional residential care. This approach gives people better outcomes and helps us use public money wisely.”

The assessment flats service has run since 2016, but in May 2024, a system-wide review from the Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board—looking at hospital discharge and bed-based care—highlighted how a review into the flats may be needed.

The review questioned further the need for the flats, due to care technology advancements, meaning more older people being supported from home, ‘excessive’ lengths of stay in the flats, their cost-effectiveness, lack of purpose in stay, inconsistencies in flat usage and a lack of clarity whether the flats had achieved what they set out to do.