1.  Care Home Fee Payment and Remittance Advice Note Queries (Information for All Care Homes Caring for Birmingham City Council Funded Citizens)

2.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - CareMatch Portal Key Messages – Keeping User Accounts Up to Date (Information for Contracted Providers)

3.  REMINDER Care Provider Cost Pressure Survey – DEADLINE 19 August 2026 (All Birmingham Contracted Providers)

4.  REMINDER 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)

5.  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)

6.  Skills for Care - Upcoming Essential FREE Registered Managers Webinars (Information for all Providers)

7.  REMINDER Skills for Care – Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) (Information for all Birmingham Providers)

8.  REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for August 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)

9.  REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub – Training Dates in August – September 2026 (Information for Birmingham and Solihull Care Homes)

1.  Care Home Fee Payment and Remittance Advice Note Queries (Information for All Care Homes Caring for Birmingham City Council Funded Citizens)

• For care home payment queries (non-payment, incorrect payment, etc.) please email SCHAdultsPayments@birmingham.gov.uk

• For remittance advice notes queries (not received, late, incorrect, etc.) please email june.t.stephens@birmingham.gov.uk

2.  REMINDER Birmingham City Council - CareMatch Portal Key Messages – Keeping User Accounts Up to Date (Information for Contracted Providers)

Commissioning request providers to check that their CareMatch Portal Users are up to date.  Section 8.7 of the user guide for explains how to do this.

User Guide for providers using Care Match Portal | Birmingham City Council

If Users have left your organisation and no longer need access to the system, please contact marketintellingence@birmingham.gov.uk.  This message would need to come from either a registered manager, owner, or staff that have the permission to Manage Users.

If you are not sure after reviewing the guidance how to check which Users are assigned to your organisation, please contact marketintellingence@birmingham.gov.uk who can assist with this.

3.  REMINDER Care Provider Cost Pressure Survey – DEADLINE 19 August 2026 (All Birmingham Contracted Providers)

As part of the Council’s approach to gathering evidence from care providers to inform our 2026 fee uplift proposals, we are seeking a range of feedback and information about last year’s fee increases, current and emerging cost pressures, the impact of the Employment Rights Act, and sustainability risks across the sector.

You are invited to complete a MS Forms based questionnaire and submit this to us by 12.00 midday on Wednesday, 19 August 2026.

N.B. there are two questionnaires, one for care homes and one for home support, supported living and extra care providers. The questionnaires ask the same questions, but please complete the one appropriate to your service provision type. If your service is dual registered, e.g. a care home which also provides home support, you can of course submit two questionnaires if the information you wish to submit is service type specific.

We want to assure you that any information you provide will be viewed by the Council only. Data shall be anonymised, aggregated and analysed. If the Council decides to publish or share any of the data or analysis this will be done on an anonymised basis and no information or comments will be attributed to a specific company, organisation, or individual.

Please see the links to the questionnaires below. Should you have queries in relation to the survey please email costofcare@birmingham.gov.uk

Care homes survey

Care Home provider cost pressure survey - 2026/27

Home support, Supported Living, and Extra Care survey

Home Support, Supported Living and Extra Care provider cost pressure survey - 2026/27

4.  REMINDER 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 27/04 and these are currently being processed.

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 were made early and period 27/06 is due to be paid from 24 August 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

You will continue to receive standard payment remittances, however more detailed Care First remittances are currently on a request only basis via SCHAdultsPayments@birmingham.gov.uk.  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.

5.  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

6.  Skills for Care - Upcoming Essential FREE Registered Managers Webinars (Information for all Providers)

Winter pressures - practical advice to refine your contingency plans

Tuesday 22 September | 11:00 – 12:00 | Online

Get ahead of winter pressures and join this webinar delivered in partnership with The Outstanding Society.

Discover how to build an effective contingency plan, confidently manage operational risks and workforce challenges, and maintain high-quality care during periods of increased demand. You’ll learn proven approaches from high-performing services and gain the confidence and tools to be able to action immediately

Book here: 

Winter pressures - Practical advice to refine your contingency plans

Help shape the future nursing workforce

Tuesday 29 September I 14:00 – 15:00 I Online *

Explore how your service can shape the future nursing workforce by joining our Strategy to enable social care placements for student nurses and nursing associates webinar for registered managers.

You'll hear how student placements add value to social care nursing, strengthen links with universities, and support future recruitment. The webinar will explore the new placement strategy, practical steps to get involved, and the support available to help your organisation offer rewarding learning experiences. This opportunity will provide you with valuable insights, a space to ask questions, and help position social care as a placement of choice for nursing.

Book here:

Strategy to enable social care placements for student nurses and nursing associates - Registered manager webinar

7.  REMINDER 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:

Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)

A free service commissioned and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

By signing up your service will gain access to the following:

signing up 

• Funding for staff training access eligibility for funding opportunities through:

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

Eligible training courses and qualifications - GOV.UK

Learning and development funding for adult social care

8.  REMINDER Skills for Care Updates for August 2026 (Information for all Birmingham and Solihull Providers)

Please find attached Skills for Care updates for August 2026.

Headlines include:

• The Training Hub by Skills for Care- NEW courses added
• NEW: Applications now open for the Care Workforce Pathway Care Provider Support Programme
• 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

9.  REMINDER Birmingham and Solihull Training Hub – Training Dates in August – September 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:

18 August 2026 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Introduction to Dementia, Support to Care Home Team, UHB

7 September 2026 Advance Care Planning 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

7 September 2026 Foundations in adult palliative and end of life care – 4-day programme 9:00 am – 4:00 pm 

• 23 September 2026 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
• 6 October 2026 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
• 29 October 2026 12:00 pm - 5:15 pm

7 September 2026 Assessment and Care Planning 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm

7 September 2026 Care in the Dying Phase 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm