CUMBERLAND Council is due to be inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) before the end of next year.

The local authority took part in a LGA Peer Challenge last month to test its readiness for the inspection and was given initial feedback on the final day of the exercise, May 16.

Members of the council's people overview and scrutiny committee were given an update at Cumbria House in Carlisle on Thursday (June 13).

Paul Latimer, the council's assistant director for adult social care and housing, told members that going through the process had enabled them to put together an improvement plan in preparation for the actual inspection by the CQC.

Lesley Sanczuk, the council's senior manager for adult social care and housing, said the peer review lasted a few days, from May 13 to May 16, and added: "It was a lot of work and very intense."

She said all local authorities would be inspected by the CQC by the end of December 2025 and during the peer review the principal social worker selected six case files, from a total of 24, spoke with 12 people with lived experience and over the three day period there were a total of 100 meetings with members of staff.

During her presentation she outlined a number of key messages form the initial feedback including:

  • There is strong, committed and energetic political leadership for the adult agenda including a commitment to joining-up on a council wide platform where appropriate;
  • Much work has been done, and remains ongoing, to adjust to the structural and staffing changes resulting from local government reorganisation (LGR);
  • The immediate focus needs to be on addressing and reducing the risks around safeguarding and on oversight and management of waiting lists;
  •  Political and officer leadership and commitment to co-production was noted. Staff with lived experience as well as members of the public are keen to support;
  • The peer challenge team noted examples of exceptional outcomes. However, there were some concerns noted in practice, particularly around safeguarding adult work.

Mr Latimer said that, while it was a "dress rehearsal" they had "treated it as a proper inspection".

Councillor Andy Pratt (Millom Without, Conservative) asked whether the 12 people with lived experience were taken from across the whole of the council area or were they taken from a particular area such as Carlisle?

Ms Lesley Sanczuk said all 12 were randomly selected and they did not ask for the 'best' cases to be put forward for selection.

She added: "We didn't know what they were going to say."

Councillor Martin Harris (Dearham and Broughton, Labour) asked about the backlog of cases and said that high risk cases should not be included in the backlog.

Mr Latimer said that when calls are received, they were placed into a triage system, and added: "All high risk cases are prioritised and will be seen within 24 hours."

He said that the number of cases within the backlog were down and, as of last week, they totalled 104 and added: "They should have come down further."

It is expected that the council will receive a written report within four weeks of the peer challenge and members noted the contents of the council report.