Social care

Guidance and services

• Social services codes of practice
  Guidance for local authorities and social care professionals on their responsibilities under the Social Services and Well Being (Wales) Act 2014.
• Charging for social care
  Local authorities can charge for the social care and support a person receives.
• Social services complaints procedure
  Guidance for local authorities on how to handle complaints about social services.
• The law on care and support: summary
  A summary of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and how it affects health and care services.
• The law on care and support: resources
  Materials to help you understand the Social Services and Well Being (Wales) Act 2014.
• Well-being statement for people who need care and carers
  Explains what well-being means for people who need care and support and carers who need support.
• Safeguarding guidance
  Guidance to help you follow the law on safeguarding people.
• Performance measurement framework for local authorities: factsheet
  The aim of the framework and how it will help improve care and support services.
• Social services performance measures 2020 to 2021: technical guidance
  Guidance to help local authorities measure the performance of their social services.
• Evaluating social services support for adults
  Documents to help local authorities get feedback on adult care and support services.
• Evaluating social services support for parents
  Documents to help local authorities get feedback from parents on care and support services.
• Evaluating social services support for children
  Documents to help local authorities get feedback on care and support services for children.
• Review and monitoring of a child or young person’s care and support plan
  Standards for Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO) when reviewing the care of looked-after children.
• Social services national outcomes framework: factsheet
  Explains the social services national outcomes framework and how it will help people who need care and support and carers.
• Advocacy standards and outcomes framework for children and young people
  The standards advocacy service providers have to meet when supporting children and young people.
• Directions for providing a National Adoption Service: letter
  Letter to local authorities about laws requiring them to work together to provide a National Adoption Service.
• Joint adoption service arrangements for local authorities
  The regulations that outline how local authorities must work together on adoption services.
• Guidance for regulated adoption services
  Guidance to help providers of regulated adoption services meet regulations.
• Intercountry adoption guidance
  Guidance for local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies on the adoption of children who are a national of a different country.
• Guidance for regulated fostering services
  Guidance to help providers of regulated fostering services meet regulations.
• Young people leaving foster care
  Guidance to help professionals who make arrangements for young people leaving care.
• Guidance for providers of care home and domiciliary support services
  Guidance to help providers and responsible individuals meet regulations.
• Supporting people moving to a care home
  Guidance for care homes on what to include in a welcome pack for new residents.
• Mealtimes in care homes
  Guidance for care homes to help them provide positive dining experiences for residents.
• Review of low and medium secure placements in independent hospitals (WHC/2016/019)
  Details of a review on mental health and learning disability placements in independent hospitals.
• Evaluating social services support for carers
  Documents to help local authorities get feedback from carers on care and support services.
• Flu vaccinations for residential care and nursing home staff in 2018 (WHC/2018/036)
  Advice on the free NHS flu vaccination programme for staff working in care and nursing homes.
• Unaccompanied asylum seeking children: guidance for professionals
  Social workers and foster carers can use these leaflets to help unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
• Regulation and inspection of social care: summary
  How the law on regulation of social care makes sure that care and support services are as good as they can be.
• Social services national outcomes framework: technical guidance
  Guidance on how to measure improvements in social care.
• Recording progress on personal outcomes in a care plan: guidance
  Guidance for local authorities and social workers on how to measure improvements to the lives of carers and the people they care for.
• Guidance for adult placement services
  Guidance to help providers of adult placement services meet regulations.
• Directions for the delivery of the National Adoption Service
  What local authorities must do to ensure effective joint arrangements to deliver adoption services are in place.
• Welsh language in social care: guidance for staff
  Advice to help you provide social care and social services to patients in Welsh.
• Social services and well-being legislation (WHC/2015/045)
  Guidance on the sections of the law on social care that are relevant to health boards and trusts.
• Improving outcomes for children: phase 3 (2018 to 2021)
  Sets out the 3 work streams for the next stage of the programme.
• Guidance for regulated advocacy services
  Guidance to help providers of regulated advocacy services meet regulations.
• Measuring social services performance: code of practice
  Guidance for local authorities on how to measure progress on improving care and support services.
• Citizen Voice Body information sessions: questions and answers
  Summary of question and answers from information sessions about the Citizen Voice Body held in January 2022.
• Your rights to care and support as an older person
  Understand your rights as an older person and how your local authority can help and support you.
• NHS and social care financial recognition scheme: guidance for social care workers
  Information on who is eligible for the payments and how these will be made.
• Health and social care testing flow charts (COVID-19)
  Guidance for health and social care staff, visitors to care homes and those returning from international travel.
• Understanding experiences and outcomes of the Social Services Performance and Improvement Framework
  Guidance to help local authorities to understand the experiences and outcomes of those who use social services.
• Claim for help with health costs if you live in a care home: form HC1(SC)W
  Use this form if you are entitled to claim for health costs and you live in a care home or recently left local authority care.
• Performance and Improvement Framework for Social Services : using evidence to inform improvement
  Guidance for local authorities on using evidence to assess the performance of social services.
• Social care recovery framework: COVID-19
  Includes the principles and priorities designed to help social care recover from the effects of COVID-19.
• Children Receiving Care and Support Census and Looked After Children Census: privacy notice
  Explains how we use personal data collected by the Children Receiving Care and Support Census and Looked After Children Census.
• Regional Partnership Boards (RPBs)
  RPBs bring together health boards, local authorities and the third sector to meet the care and support needs of people in their area.
• Hospital to home community of practice
  Guidance for those working with hospital to home community practice discharge models.
• Food and nutrition guidance for older people in care homes
  How to provide quality, nutritious food and support residents to eat and drink well.
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): supporting vulnerable people privacy statement
  How we will store and process your details under the General Data Protection Regulation.
• COVID-19 guidance for unpaid carers: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  Guidance on the access and use of PPE for those who provide unpaid care for family and friends.
• Social care alert levels COVID-19 testing guidance
  Guidance for social care services on the testing measures at each COVID-19 alert level.
• Independent visitors: guidance for local authorities
  Explains the role of independent visitors and how to appoint them.
• Loneliness and social isolation fund: application form 2021 to 2024
  Use this form to apply for the Loneliness and social isolation fund 2021 to 2024. Local authorities and County Voluntary Councils can apply for this funding in partnership.
• Guidance on protecting people most likely to get very poorly from coronavirus (shielding): easy read guide
  Easy read guide to shielding people defined as extremely vulnerable.
• Code of Practice and Guidance under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014
  Code of Practice and guidance on the exercise of social services functions and partnership arrangements in relation to market stability reports.
• Charging for social services: code of practice
  What local authorities must do to follow the law on charges and financial assessments for care and support services.
• Evaluating the impact of rehabilitation services post COVID-19
  Guidance on evaluating the impact of rehabilitation services to help people affected by the impact of COVID-19.
• Loneliness and social isolation fund 2021 to 2024
  Funding is available to support communities to tackle loneliness and isolation. Local authorities and County Voluntary Councils can apply for this funding in partnership.
• Sustainable Social Services Third Sector Grant for 2020 to 2023: funded projects
  List of projects we have funded under the grant scheme.
• Reporting suspected abuse, harm or neglect (safeguarding)
  What to do if you suspect someone is at risk of harm, abuse or neglect.
• Working together to safeguard people: Code of safeguarding practice
  This sets out Welsh Government expectations in relation to safeguarding arrangements. We expect individuals, groups and organisations offering activities or services to follow this advice.
• Older people's rights to care and support: guidance
  Guidance for service providers on meeting older people's rights to care and support.
• Analysis of options for the use of additional social care funding
  Analysis of options for the use of additional funding raised through a potential levy or alternative way of raising funding for adult social care. 

Policy and background Includes strategy, reports, projects and assessments.

• Social services: strategy
  Policy and strategy
  What we will do to ensure that social services provide good quality care and support.
• Social services national outcomes framework
  Policy and strategy
  How we will measure progress on improving care and support services.
• Social services national outcomes framework: annual report 2017 to 2018
  Report
  The progress we have made in improving care and support services from 2017 to 2018.
• Albert Heaney
  Key people
  Albert Heaney is the Deputy Director General
• Resilience of health and care services: 2017 to 2018
  Report
  A review of how well health and care services managed over winter 2017 to 2018.
• Paying for care: research March 2019
  Report
  Findings of a survey on the public's understanding of social care and paying for care.
• Ministerial advisory group for carers: annual plan 2018 to 2019
  Policy and strategy
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  What we are doing to support and improve the lives of carers.
• Understanding the social care experiences of citizens: a citizen’s jury report
  Report
  Findings of a public group who met to discuss what matters in social care.
• Response to the Flynn Report (Operation Jasmine)
  Report
  Recommendations from public bodies on how to ensure the well-being of older people in care homes.
• Response to the Flynn Report (Operation Jasmine): safeguarding boards
  Report
  Recommendations from safeguarding boards on how to ensure the well-being of older people in care homes.
• Reducing the number of children in need of care
  Report
  Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
  Recommendation about how local authorities can help and support families and children.
• Understanding the social care experiences of citizens: final report
  Report
  A review to find out if the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act has helped to improve social care.
• Review on the neglect of older people living in care homes
  Report
  A report on the experiences of older people living in care homes in Gwent (Operation Jasmine).
• Social services: report by the independent commission
  Report
  Independent report on social services with recommendations on how to improve them.
• Use of antipsychotic medication in care homes
  Report
  Report and recommendations on the use of antipsychotic medicines in the treatment of dementia.
• Adoption support services
  Report
  Report of a study of adoption agencies and adoptive parents on post adoption support services.
• Adoption disruption research study
  Report
  Results of a research study to find out why some adoption placements do not work out.
• Adoption disruption study: final report
  Report
  A report on the challenges faced by adoptive families and the support services needed to help prevent disruption.
• Adults with learning disabilities: policy and practice statement
  Policy and strategy
  What we are doing to improve the lives of people with a learning disability.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group minutes: 23 April 2020
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 23 April 2020.
• National review of delivery of urgent and emergency care over winter 2018 to 2019
  Report
  A review of how well health and social care services in Wales managed over winter 2018 to 2019.
• Age friendly Wales: our strategy for an ageing society
  Policy and strategy
  What we will do to use the potential of today's older people and support our ageing society.
• Performance and improvement in social services: impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  A summary of how the performance and improvement of social services in Wales will affect a number of areas.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group summary of minutes: 11 October 2018
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Summary of minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 11 October 2018.
• The pressures and cost of social care: March 2020
  Report
  Inter-Ministerial Group on Paying for Social Care
  A report on the rising cost of social care to local authorities in 2018 to 2019 and projections for 2020 to 2023.
• Care homes action plan: final update
  Policy and strategy
  How we have supported care homes during the winter.
• The Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Joint Adoption Arrangements) (Wales) (Amendment) Directions 2019
  Legislation
  These Directions reduce the timeframe local authorities have to refer details of prospective adoptive children and adopters to the Wales Adoption Register.
• Health and social care winter plan 2021 to 2022
  Policy and strategy
  How we will meet health and social care demands over the winter months.
• Loneliness and social isolation (connected communities): impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  A summary of how the loneliness and social isolation strategy will affect a number of areas.
• Understanding the social care experiences of citizens: citizens’ jury report 2020
  Report
  Citizen’s Jury report that looks to understand what matters in social care.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group summary of minutes: 28 June 2018
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Summary of minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 28 June 2018.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group minutes: 2 July 2020
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 2 July 2020.
• Improving outcomes for children: 2 year plan
  Policy and strategy
  Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
  How we plan to improve care services for children and families in need of help and support.
• The Adoption Agencies (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020: impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  We assessed how the The Adoption Agencies (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 will affect the adoption approval process.
• Understanding the social care experiences of citizens: final report 2020
  Report
  Report on the impact of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and people’s experiences of social care.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group summary of minutes: 16 May 2019
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Summary of minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 16 May 2019.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group minutes: 26 January 2021
  Meeting
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 26 January 2021.
• Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing meeting minutes: 4 February 2020
  Meeting
  Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing
  Minutes from the Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing meeting held on 4 February 2020.
• CMA care homes market study: government response
  Public response
  Government response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) final report on the care homes market.
• Evaluating people's experiences with social care services
  Report
  Recommendations resulting from the outcome of the 'Measuring the Mountain' project.
• Market stability reports: integrated impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  Commencement of section 144B of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and development of supporting regulations and code of practice and statutory guidance.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group summary of minutes: 8 October 2019
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Summary of minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 8 October 2019.
• Improving Outcomes for Children Programme: legacy report
  Report
  Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
  A review of what the programme has achieved in the past 5 years and what needs to be done in the future.
• Paying for social care
  Report
  An independent report by Professor Gerald Holtham commissioned by the Welsh Government.The report looks at options for new ways of paying for the rising demand for social care in Wales.
• Looked after children: children’s rights impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
  An assessment on how the reduction expectation plans affects children’s rights.
• Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (2020 amendments): impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  A summary of how amendments in 2020 to the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 will affect a number of areas.
• Social care market stability reports: summary of responses
  Report
  Summary of responses for the market stability consultation.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group minutes: 29 January 2020
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 29 January 2020.
• Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing meeting minutes: 30 June 2020
  Meeting
  Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing
  Minutes from the Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing meeting held on 30 June 2020.
• Improving outcomes for children: annual report 2019
  Report
  Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
  Review of progress to reduce the number of children in need of care and plans for the future.
• UK Ageing index: benchmarking the situation of older people in Wales
  Report
  Report on the well-being of older people in Wales compared to the 3 other UK nations.
• Integrated Care Fund (ICF): annual report 2019 to 2020
  Report
  How regional partnership boards have used ICF revenue and capital funding to support health, social care and housing projects.
• Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group summary of minutes: 6 November 2019
  Report
  Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers
  Summary of minutes from the Carers' Ministerial Advisory Group meeting held on 6 November 2019.
• Winter protection plan 2020 to 2021: integrated impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  An assessment of how the Winter Protection Plan 2020 to 2021 will affect a number of areas.
• Winter protection plan 2021 to 2022: integrated impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  We assessed how the Winter Health Plan 2021 to 2022 affects a number of areas.
• Strategy for unpaid carers
  Policy and strategy
  What we will do to improve the recognition of and support to unpaid carers.
• Winter protection plan for health and social care 2020 to 2021
  Policy and strategy
  How we will meet health and social care demands over the winter months.
• Winter protection plan 2021 to 2022: children's rights impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  An assessment of how the Winter Protection Plan 2021 to 2022 will affect children's rights.
• Minister and Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services: letter to social care staff
  Policy and strategy
  Ministers thank all social care staff for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Population needs assessment 2021 to 2022
  Policy and strategy
  This relates to how Regional Partnership Boards carry out their population needs assessments.
• The Primary Medical Services (COVID-19 Care Homes) (Directed Enhanced Services) (Wales) Directions 2020
  Legislation
  The Directions state what services GPs must deliver to care home residents during COVID-19.
• COVID-19 Moral and Ethical Advisory Group Wales: 9 July 2020
  Meeting
  COVID-19 Moral and Ethical Guidance for Wales Advisory Group (CMEAG-Wales)
  Minutes for the COVID-19 Moral and Ethical Advisory Group Wales meeting held on 9 July 2020.
• Wales Integrated Care Fund (ICF): annual report 2018 to 2019
  Report
  How regional partnership boards have used ICF revenue and capital funding to support health, social care and housing projects
• Strategy for unpaid carers: delivery plan 2021
  Policy and strategy
  The unpaid carers delivery plan supports our strategy for unpaid carers.
• Regional Partnership Boards' use of pooled budgets for care home accommodation
  Report
  A review on the progress each of the 7 regional Partnership Boards have made in developing pooled funds.
• Safeguarding children from child sexual exploitation: children’s rights impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  We assessed how our guidance on safeguarding children from sexual exploitation impacts on children and young people.
• Strategy for unpaid carers: equality impact assessment
  Policy and strategy
  An assessment of how our strategy for unpaid carers affects equality of opportunity.
• An integrated approach to improving educational outcomes for looked after children: report
  Report
  Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
  How a joined up way of working can support looked after children in education.
• NHS and social care financial recognition scheme: integrated impact assessment
  Impact assessment
  We assessed how the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme will affect a number of areas.
• Loneliness and social isolation (connected communities)
  Policy and strategy
  Our strategy for tackling loneliness and social isolation.
• The Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020: consultation statement
  Report
  A summary of feedback received about changes to the law made by the Regulations.