1.  Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Children's Trust are Moving to a New Finance System and Will not be Making Routine Payments Between 20 July and 18 August 2026 (Information for All Providers with BCC Funded Citizens)

2.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Home Support and Supported Living Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) DEADLINE 24 July 2026 – (Information for all Providers Holding the Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 Contracts)

3.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – July 2026 – DEADLINE 31 July 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Care Homes)

4.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Who to Contact in the Adult Commissioning - Regulated Care Team (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Providers)

5. Skills for Care - Two Years of the Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)

6.  REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) – IPC Champion of Champions Awards 2026 Nominations – DEADLINE 21 August 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)

7.  REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for July 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)

8.  REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub – Training Dates in July 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)

9.  REMINDER CONSULTATION Birmingham City Council – Ageing Well Strategy Consultation Survey – DEADLINE 28 July 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)

1.  Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Children's Trust are Moving to a New Finance System and Will not be Making Routine Payments Between 20 July and 18 August 2026 (Information for All Providers with BCC Funded Citizens)

Home Support and Supported Living Providers paid by invoice

For Home Support and Supported Living Providers that invoice the Council, you should have already submitted your invoices for the period 27/03 and these are currently being processed.

To avoid delays to your payments, it is essential that invoices are submitted as set out below.

Key Submission Dates

Schedule No.	Invoice Period	Invoice to be submitted to BCC by	Payment to be processed by BCC by
27/03	25 May 2026 – 21 June 2026	6 July 2026	1 August 2026
27/04	22 June 2026 – 19 July 2026	3 August 2026	29 August 2026

Action Required

For services provided between 22 June 2026 and 19 July 2026, compliant invoices must be received no later than: 3 August 2026

Send invoices to:  Home.Support.Payments.Team@birmingham.gov.uk

Why This Matters

If invoices are submitted late, or are returned due to missing information, payment may be delayed.

Following the finance system migration, payments will resume from 18 August 2026 and will be processed as quickly as possible.

For Care Homes and Supported Living Providers paid by Autopay

For care homes and supported living providers that are paid automatically by the Council, payments for the period 27/05 will be made early in line with the below schedule:

Schedule No.	Invoice Period	PTP Run	Release	BACs Run
27/05	13 July 2026 – 9 August 2026	13 July 2026	17 July 2026	20 July 2026
27/06	10 August 2026 – 6 September 2026	17 August 2026	21 August 2026	24 August 2026

This means for the period 13 July 2026 – 9 August 2026, you should receive cleared funds by no later than 24 July 2026.  There are currently no changes planned for the payment period 27/06 due to be released on 24 August 2026.

You will continue to receive standard payment remittances, however more detailed Care First remittances are currently on a request only basis.  After the 18 August, it is hoped that routine Care First remittances will be provided.

Financial Difficulties During the Transition Period

If, between 20 July and 18 August 2026, you experience financial difficulties that may affect your ability to continue providing care and support, please contact:  marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

Thank you for your cooperation and support during this transition.

2.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Home Support and Supported Living Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) DEADLINE 24 July 2026 – (Information for all Providers Holding the Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 Contracts)

If your service holds either or both of the Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 contracts, you are requested to complete and submit this questionnaire by clicking this link:

Home Support and Supported Living MIQ – July 2026

The deadline for completion is Friday 24 July 2026

A pdf copy of the questionnaire is attached for reference, and to assist in collecting the data required. It must not be used to submit your answers to us.

The questionnaire is issued quarterly. The attached briefing gives details of the questions, information about our approach, and how the data we are asking for will be used.

Completion of the questionnaire is part of the terms of the Home Support 2024 and Supported Living 2023 contracts

The purpose of the questionnaire is to collect information to assist our market shaping and development role, the production of our Market Position Statements, fulfil our Care Act duties around ensuring a quality and sustainable market, to help us direct resources, identify areas of risk, and monitor progress towards our strategic aims. It has been co-produced with health colleagues to reduce duplication in data collection, and has been streamlined so that we are only collecting information that is not available to us from elsewhere e.g. the Capacity Tracker.

3.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Care Homes Market Intelligence Questionnaire (MIQ) – July 2026 – DEADLINE 31 July 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Care Homes)

Please click this link to access the questionnaire:

Care Home MIQ July 2026

The deadline for completion is Friday 31 July 2026

Please note that a new system is being used to collect the data. This is explained in the attached briefing. Because of the change, three weeks is being allowed for completion on this occasion.

This questionnaire is issued quarterly. Details of the questions are included in the attached briefing a long with how the information we collect is used.

Completion of the questionnaire is part of the terms of the Care Homes 2023 contract, for contracted providers, but we ask all Birmingham care homes to take part in the process to help us meet our responsibilities to all Birmingham citizens.

Many thanks to staff at the care homes who completed the previous questionnaires. If this did not include your care home, please ensure that you complete this and subsequent editions.

The purpose of the questionnaire is to collect information to assist our market shaping and development role, the production of our Market Position Statements, fulfil our Care Act duties around ensuring a quality and sustainable market, to help us direct resources, identify areas of risk, and monitor progress towards our strategic aims. It has been co-produced with health colleagues to reduce duplication in data collection and has been streamlined so that we are only collecting information that is not available to us from elsewhere e.g. the Capacity Tracker.

Please see attached further information about our approach and how the data we are asking for will be used. A PDF version of the questionnaire is also attached for review in advance of starting to complete the on-line questionnaire

4.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - Who to Contact in the Adult Commissioning - Regulated Care Team (Information for all Birmingham and Contracted Providers)

Commissioning officers are aligned to the five geographical areas of the City and are an assigned point of contact for contracted homes support, supported living, extra care sheltered housing, care home and nursing home providers. The contact details for commissioning officers in your area can be found here:

Area Commissioning Teams – Contact and Care Provider Forum information | Who to contact in the commissioning team | Birmingham City Council

Please also visit our Shaping the Market web pages for a wealth of information on tender opportunities, commissioning mechanisms and systems, our quality monitoring process, fees and payment arrangements, and good practice resources:

Information for care providers | Birmingham City Council

Our Market Position Statements (MPS) are also available within these web pages to help explain our strategic approach to commissioning and priorities and to assist providers in making effective business planning decisions:

Market position statements | Commissioning strategies | Birmingham City Council

For enquiries about an MPS, strategic dialogue or future market developments, please email marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk who will redirect your enquiry accordingly.

For new provider enquiries about how to apply to join our open contracts or any issues with using the CareMatch Portal, please contact marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

5. Skills for Care - Two Years of the Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)

July 2026 marks two years since the launch of the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England. With 600 champions, 77% of the 56 recommendations now complete or in progress, see how providers up and down the country are putting the strategy into action, get the latest on the six priority recommendations and learn why national leaders say this is the ‘Most joined-up, policy-influencing driver’.

Action in focus Two years on Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England

Thank you for everything you have done so far to support the strategy work.

If you would like any further information about the work being done and how you can ensure you continue to be involved, please don’t hesitate to get in touch Jamie.bloomfield@skillsforcare.org.uk

6.  REMINDER Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust - Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) – IPC Champion of Champions Awards 2026 Nominations – DEADLINE 21 August 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)

IPC Champion of Champions Awards 2026 – Friday, 18 September 2026 - Nominations Now Open until 21 August 2026.

IPC are looking for that person/s who has really taken on the IPC Champion role after completing their IPC Champions Training.

They would like to celebrate excellence and improvement in infection prevention and control (IPC) practice, recognizing new initiatives and champions who consistently promote best IPC standards.

• Nominate a colleague - Do you have an IPC Champion/s colleague who has demonstrated IPC excellence within your care home.
• Nominate yourself - Have you demonstrated IPC excellence within your care home, better still ask your line manager to nominate you

IPC Champions Awards 2026 Information

IPC Champions Awards 2026 Nomination Form

If you have any queries about regarding any of the infection control related events above, please contact the team via bchc.ipcdata1@nhs.net or 0121 466 6550

7.  REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for July 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)

Please find attached Skills for Care updates for July 2026 with local and national updates.

Headlines include:

• NEW: The Training Hub by Skills for Care
• NEW: 25/26 Size & Structure of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England report
• Birmingham and Solihull Registered Managers Network meeting
• BBCS ICS Social Care & Independent Sector Faculty information
• Skills for Care National and Regional Events in July
• Other Partner News

8.  REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub – Training Dates in July 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)

Have you visited the Birmingham and Solihull training hub website yet?  You can view information as someone working in a primary or social care role in the Solihull / Birmingham area, as a student looking for support with career development or as a visitor wanting to find out more.

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:

24 July 2026 IPC Champions Training Day 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

9.  REMINDER CONSULTATION Birmingham City Council – Ageing Well Strategy Consultation Survey – DEADLINE 28 July 2026 (Information for all Birmingham Providers)

Birmingham Public Health have launched their Ageing Well Survey – and need your voice to help shape a Birmingham where everyone can age with dignity, independence and connection.

As our city’s older population grows, it’s vital that the services, spaces and support truly reflect what people need – and the best way to do that is by hearing directly from you.  The survey is quick to complete, but your feedback will have a long‑lasting impact.  Please use the link below to complete the survey.

Ageing Well Strategy Consultation Survey - Birmingham City Council - Citizen Space

If you want to find out where engagement events are taking place, please email: AgeingWell@Birmingham.gov.uk