SCIE is proud to have been appointed to provide hands-on support to local areas for the ARF. We’re helping to identify issues and challenges and ensuring local authorities benefit from valuable shared learnings, peer support, and expert insights. This is the first ever such fund for social care innovation, so it’s incredibly important that we gather evidence from both success and failure on how to successfully tackle the barriers to scaling innovation, for the most effective future of social care.
Around 70% of projects have an element of supporting unpaid carers who, sadly, often do not get the recognition or support they deserve. Many of the projects also have the potential to drive productivity benefits through early-support schemes and preventative systems such as hospital discharge that look to embed new technologies.
We’re excited about the opportunities offered by the ARF. Learnings will be critical to laying the groundwork for a future social care service – one that better meets the needs people who draw on care, their family carers, and local communities. As the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said in his speech: ‘The time for progress is now.’ Innovation offers us a way forward, creating new possibilities for offering early support and enabling independence.
Kathryn Smith
Chief Executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)