South Gloucestershire Council

This page includes information for organisations that supply care services to adults and older people in South Gloucestershire.

Market sustainability and fair cost of care

The government announced plans in September 2021 to give funding for local authorities to pay providers a fair rate of care.

This was followed by:

• a grant determination letter
• further guidance for 2022 to 2023 to start preparing local markets for reform

We commissioned C-CO and worked with providers and Care and Support West to collect information from care providers in South Gloucestershire.

This data has been analysed by C-CO to help us understand the costs of providing care (the cost and the price are not necessarily the same thing).

Using this work we are having further discussions with care providers and undertaking further analysis to:

• understand what a fair cost of care is
• find out what we need to do to ensure long term mutual sustainability
• make sure adults receiving care and support get the best possible outcomes

Following an analysis of the information collected, the results are available in the following reports:

Cost of care – domiciliary report

Cost of care – residential report

If you need these reports in a more accessible format contact ProviderInfo@southglos.gov.uk

Market Sustainability Plan

We have engaged with care providers to publish our Market Sustainability Plan.

Why this is important

From October 2025 more people who pay for their own care in care homes can ask us to arrange care on their behalf to get better value. They will do this with section 18(3) of the Care Act 2014. People in domiciliary care can already ask us. This will help to address the difference in fees charged to some people who self-fund.

Providers who rely on subsidising state funded care with fees from people who self-fund may be affected by this change. We will make sure that there is a sustainable and affordable market for all to access.

Our current analysis is that a sector of the local market will want to continue to offer higher-priced services to self-funding clients, and that a sector of our population will continue to want to purchase those services directly.

Market Position Statement

The South Gloucestershire Market Position Statement Summary is intended to provide useful information about current demand, forecast and planned approach for meeting the demand for adult care and support and will be updated every few months. It is aimed at both current and prospective health and social care providers in the South Gloucestershire area. It can be read in conjunction with the Market Sustainability Plan.