Somerset Council has been rated requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following a wide‑ranging assessment of how well the authority is meeting its legal duties to support adults in need of care under the Care Act 2014.
The inspection – part of CQC’s new responsibility to evaluate how councils work with residents and partners – examined nine areas across themes including how the authority works with people, how it provides support, how it ensures safety, and the strength of its leadership. Somerset received mostly level‑two scores, indicating notable shortfalls in several key areas.
CQC Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care, Chris Badger, said the assessment found “an authority whose leaders and staff wanted to improve the quality of services but faced challenges both financially and structurally that were affecting their ability to make a difference to people’s experiences.”
He said the council was still adjusting after becoming a unitary authority in 2023, with restructuring in adult social care continuing to affect how quickly people could access support. Staff were described as positive about changes underway, but leaders acknowledged that improvements were needed, particularly around waiting times for assessments, equitable access to services, and demonstrating better outcomes for residents.
Safeguarding was highlighted as an area of concern. Inspectors found that staff did not always act on safeguarding alerts consistently, meaning some concerns were not investigated thoroughly. Badger warned this could leave vulnerable people “at risk of not receiving the protection or support they required.”
One of the starkest findings involved Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), where the council was unable to keep up with demand. One person with dementia had waited nearly seven years for an assessment, raising serious questions about whether their rights had been upheld. While the council had good oversight of the backlog, CQC said there was still no clear plan to reduce it.
Advocacy support was another issue. Case reviews often failed to show whether people had been offered an advocate when needed. In one example, a person with dementia was permanently moved into a care home without anyone advocating on their behalf about whether this was the right decision for them.
Carers also told inspectors that conversations tended to focus on the person receiving care rather than their own wellbeing, leaving many feeling overlooked.
The assessment found that Somerset did not consistently ensure social care expertise was available at the first point of contact. With more than 5,000 referrals a month, reliance on on‑call specialists meant risks were not always identified early enough. Complaints handling was also criticised, with 85.71% of complaints upheld by the Ombudsman – well above the national average – and most remedies delivered late.
Despite the challenges, CQC highlighted several positive developments. Somerset’s use of village and community leaders as trusted local contacts was praised as an innovative way to reach people who might not otherwise engage with services. Inspectors also noted strong provision of micro‑providers in rural areas and effective use of direct payments, supporting a more accessible “no wrong door” approach.
The authority was also recognised for improving how it spends money for maximum impact. By investing more in preventative support, Somerset had reduced the need for hospital stays by 35%. A new programme using residents’ own data and feedback to shape services was also showing early success.
Badger said leaders “know the areas where improvements are needed and are working to develop and embed improvements,” adding that CQC looks forward to seeing progress.
Somerset Council has not yet issued a full response, but the findings will now form the basis of an improvement plan expected to be closely monitored over the coming months.
