What's New Bulletin 279 - 18 December 2025
This is edition 279 of the provider bulletin, containing information on guidance, procedures and new initiatives. Very urgent or high priority communications may still be issued on an ad hoc basis, but we will try to keep these to a minimum
1. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) - Urgent Community Response (UCR) Birmingham and Solihull - Latest Information and Resources (Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
2. Birmingham City Council - Business Continuity Arrangements (Information for all care providers)
3. REMINDER Care Home Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – Additional Questions in January 2026 Edition (Information for all Contracted Care Homes and all Care Homes in Birmingham)
4. Capacity Tracker Engagement North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) – CareFind (Information for all Providers)
5. REMINDER Birmingham City Council – Birmingham Connect to Support (Information for all Providers Operating in Birmingham)
6. Skills for Care – Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
7. REMINDER CONSULTATION Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - Fair Pay Agreement Process in Adult Social Care – DEADLINE 16 January 2026 (Information for all Providers)
8. REMINDER Birmingham City Council Ensuring Care Plans and Risk Assessments are Attached to Requests for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) Assessments (Information for all Birmingham Contracted Care Homes)
9. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) Training Hub January 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Providers)
** Please note that there will be no Care Provider Bulletin for the next 2 weeks. The Next Bulletin will be sent out on Thursday, 8 January 2026. Any urgent messages will be shared. Wishing you a Merry Christmas from the Market Intelligence Team **
1. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) - Urgent Community Response (UCR) Birmingham and Solihull - Latest Information and Resources (Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)
Care Homes in Birmingham and Solihull are advised to contact the UCR in the first instance for receiving urgent care. The team can provide a rapid response service within two hours of your call. This referral service offers an alternative to calling an ambulance and helps to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions or readmissions. This service has highly skilled and dedicated clinicians who can deliver a rapid response to the urgent care needs of your residents or refer to the ambulance service if emergency hospital care is needed.
For further information please see link below:
Urgent Community Response service for referrers across Birmingham and Solihull
2. Birmingham City Council - Business Continuity Arrangements (Information for all care providers)
Local authorities have specific duties in relation to business continuity management (BCM). This BCM duty applies to all services that the local authority carries out (including services that are provided by a third party). This means that the local authority needs to ensure all services have appropriate business continuity arrangements in place and will be seeking assurances that this is the case. The requirement for Business Continuity Plans is written into the Councils’ care contracts and plans must be reviewed by care providers annually or after any event that questions or challenges the continuity of their service. Any incident, whether large or small, accident or deliberate, can cause major disruption to your business. Examples of disruptions that can occur during winter pressures include; flooding, heavy snow, disruption to energy supplies and transport, staff shortages or pandemics.
The following links outline key business continuity arrangements that need to be in place and example templates, which can be tweaked to suit the needs of the service being delivered;
Business continuity | Is your business ready? | Birmingham City Council
Business continuity plan for care providers | Birmingham City Council
International Recruitment is a key concern when looking at Business Continuity Management. WM-ADASS and West Midlands Employers have launched a guide, published by Lester Aldridge Solicitors, which is available on the West Midlands Social Care International Recruitment Hub.
This guide includes:
- An overview of your obligations under UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) regulations.
- Guidance on meeting Right to Work requirements and preparing for UKVI compliance audits.
You can download a copy of the guide here:
http://irwestmids.co.uk/compliance-guide/
Birmingham City Council has Displaced Worker Support arrangements in place and details can be found here:
Displaced worker support | Birmingham City Council
Should contracted Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered care providers holding Skilled Worker Visa Sponsorship Licences want to be added (or removed) from the Recruitment Opportunities section (this section lists care providers who have indicated to Birmingham City Council that they will consider employing displaced workers if they have employment vacancies) please email Market Intelligence at marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk
3. REMINDER Care Home Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – Additional Questions in January 2026 Edition (Information for all Contracted Care Homes and all Care Homes in Birmingham)
Some additional questions are being added to the January 2026 edition of the Care Home MIQ, which will be issued in the bulletin on 8 January 2026, for completion by 23 January. We will now be asking for information on the funding source for residents’ care (BCC, BCC with top-up, other Local Authority, NHS, self-funder).
4. Capacity Tracker Engagement North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) – CareFind (Information for all Providers)
In October 2024 NECS launched CareFind.com - a free, impartial website that helps families find the right adult social care at the right time, in the right place. Currently, it supports care home providers and receives over 125,000 public searches each week.
CareFind.com (see link below, is expanding to include home care providers. Home care providers can now update their profiles through Capacity Tracker (see link below) to ensure they’re visible when the new feature goes live. Log in to your Capacity Tracker account today to access training materials and videos (see link below) to help you get started. It is anticipated to be launched to the public in January 2026.
For support with the Capacity Tracker, please see details below:
- For sytem support and guidance - please contact NECS Capacity Tracker Support Centre - 0191 691 3729 or necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net (Open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, excluding public holidays)
- Changing registration, closing, change of ownership – please contact the CQC - T: 03000 616161, E: enquiries@cqc.org.uk, CQC Provider Portal (Open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm, excluding public holidays)
If you receive an enforcement notice – please contact the NHS Business Services Authority Enforcement Team (NHSBSA) – T: 0300 330 2088, E: enforcement@nhsbsa.nhs.uk (Open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm
5. REMINDER Birmingham City Council – Birmingham Connect to Support (Information for all Providers Operating in Birmingham)
For any provider wishing to promote their services or any of their activities, please be aware that we are unable to include these in our Bulletin. You will be able to share your information using Birmingham Connect to Support though. You can do this by following the link below and clicking on ‘Products and Services’ at the top right, and then ‘Add a listing’ on the following page. This will take you through to a page where you can sign up to be able to add products and services.
Please use this link to access Connect to Support
CtS Home | Birmingham Connect to Support
6. Skills for Care – Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) (Information for all Birmingham Providers)
Currently, Birmingham has one of the lowest uptake rates nationally for the:
Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)
This is a free service commissioned and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Use this link to sign up:
Your service will gain access to:
Funding for staff training access eligibility for funding opportunities through the:
Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS)
Safe and free storage of staff and training records. Define mandatory training for each role and receive alerts when training is expires.
Easy inspection readiness – securely share data with CQC and your Local Authority ready for inspections.
Benchmarking tools to benchmark your service against similar providers, help you stay competitive on pay, retention, and workforce planning.
Exclusive ASC-WDS Benefits Bundle to support your service further (including discounts on CQC focused seminars and eLearning modules from Skills for Care)
An ASC-WDS support team, available Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. You can reach them by calling 0113 241 0969 or emailing ascwds-support@skillsforcare.org.uk
Useful links below:
Video to find out more and read case studies from other enrolled care providers, as well as register and set up an account, using this link
www.skillsforcare.org.uk/ASCWDS
Invite to online session to find out about the benefits of the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) - Wednesday 14 January 2026 10:30am – 11:30am
Take a virtual tour of the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set
Eligible training courses and qualifications - GOV.UK
Learning and development funding for adult social care
7. REMINDER CONSULTATION Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - Fair Pay Agreement Process in Adult Social Care – DEADLINE 16 January 2026 (Information for all Providers)
As part of the Employment Rights Bill, the government intends to implement an Adult Social Care Fair Pay Agreement negotiating body and process. The Department of Health and Social Care has opened a consultation about the process which will close on 16 January 2026.
You can access further details about the consultation including how to respond to it using this link:
Fair pay agreement process in adult social care - GOV.UK
8. REMINDER Birmingham City Council Ensuring Care Plans and Risk Assessments are Attached to Requests for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) Assessments (Information for all Birmingham Contracted Care Homes)
Can providers ensure they attach care plans and risk assessments in every instance when requesting a DoLS assessment via the portal;
Please also ensure you complete all relevant parts of DoLS Forms 1 and 2 with as much information as possible. This will help Birmingham City Council’s DoLS Team to prioritise the referrals and carry out the assessments accordingly.
9. REMINDER NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) Training Hub January 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Providers)
The Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub Website is for those working in a primary or social care role in the Solihull / Birmingham area. The information is for students looking for support with career development or a visitor wanting to find out more.
Please use this link for training, further information and booking:
Social Care – BSol Training hub
All training events are listed in the calendar section. You can also contact the training hub by email bsol.traininghub@nhs.net.
The next sessions are:
6 January 2026 Completing the Data Securityu and Protection Toolkit for the first time 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
8 January 2026 Mouth Care Matters Training 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
12 January 2026 Safeguarding adults – for managers and newly appointed safeguarding leads 9:30 am - 13th January 2026 @ 5:00 pm
15 January 2026 From Good to Outstanding: Presenting Evidence to the CQC That Tells Your Story 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
15 January 2026 Continuing Health Care Fast Track Pathway Training (January 2026) 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
19 January 2026 Exploitation in International Recruitment: “Spotting the Signs: Early Identification and Intervention” 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
20 January 2026 Managing Continence 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
20 January 2026 Review and Republish your DSPT 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm