10 December 2025
By Lauren Westerman, Practice Development Consultant, SCIE
The Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) was an initiative designed to boost the quality and accessibility of adult social care. Its aim was to support innovation and scaling and kickstart a change in care and support for unpaid carers.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) supported the ARF by providing guidance, resources and expert advice to help local authorities design and implement effective reform projects.
In July, we shared our findings and learnings from this work in our ‘Embracing change: scaling innovation in care in practice’ report. They highlighted a rare, extensive practice-based testbed on how innovation can be effectively developed, embedded and scaled within adult social care.
Scaling innovations
Since the formal conclusion of SCIE’s main support to local authorities on 31 March 2025, a small number of local authorities have continued to receive targeted guidance in a ‘scaling innovation’ project following discussions with DHSC. These authorities are looking ahead—building on the insights, themes and effective practices that first emerged through the ARF—to embed long-term sustainability and maintain momentum in their innovation journeys. By taking a focused, partnership-driven approach, we’re supporting these local authorities to turn strategic priorities into tangible progress that strengthens systems and delivers real impact for people and communities.
So far, our collaborative themes have included:
- embedding sustainability and scalability within innovation programmes
- strengthening organisational culture to support and embed new ways of working
- translating policies and procedures into meaningful practice
- facilitating reflective community discussions to foster growth in local neighbourhood networks and better support individuals in need
- developing contingency plans for unpaid carers, ensuring resilience and continuity of care during times of crisis
- embedding co-production learning throughout project lifecycles to shape sustainable growth based on the lived experiences of those who draw on services
- supporting local authorities that have implemented Shared Lives models, helping them to strengthen preventative approaches and develop long-term plans for embedding and expanding these services sustainably
- enabling local authorities to better connect with health professionals, including GPs and wider health networks, to raise awareness of unpaid carer support and reinforce the vital role that health partners play in identifying and supporting carers.
Through this work, SCIE is helping local authorities transform learning into lasting impact, creating the conditions for innovation to thrive sustainably.
The National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) and next steps
We will shortly be announcing dates for our upcoming Communities of Practice webinars, where we will share the emerging insights with our scaling innovation projects and celebrate how collaborative innovation is shaping the future of support for unpaid carers.
We also reflected on the learnings from our work at NCASC 2025. Our focus was ‘digital innovation’—exploring how technology can support better outcomes and drive meaningful change in social care. We shared insights and showcased great examples of digital innovation, which are improving the efficiency of service delivery while enhancing the experience of those receiving care; many of the ARF projects have the potential to drive productivity through early-support schemes and preventative systems, using digital tools to innovate in hospital discharge, carer-identification and support for unpaid carers.
The learning from the ARF and our scaling innovation projects reminds us that meaningful reform is both iterative and collaborative, a process of ongoing reflection, adaptation, and commitment to better outcomes for people who draw on care and support unpaid carers. The challenge now is to support and grow this across the system.
If you would like advice, guidance or simply an exploratory chat on digital innovation or other challenges you face and how we can help support you, please contact us here.
