DORSET County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council and Borough of Poole have agreed in principle on a landmark project to transform adult social care across the county.

The first of its kind in the UK, a Dorset-wide Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) is being considered which would combine the existing adult care services of all three councils, and deliver them to more people in need.

As part of the Better Together programme – a Dorset-area partnership committed to transforming health and social care services across the county - talks have taken place between Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole councils to create one LATC which would look after all their directly provided Adult Social Care services.

The proposals will set an innovative way forward for the three councils to deliver and sustain high quality care for adults – including older people, people with a learning disability and people with a disability - in the long term.

The additional ability of the LATC to raise income from those who receive a direct payment, informal carers, and those who fund their care privately, would enable all three councils to make vital savings. Extra revenue generated could be ploughed back into the LATC to provide further services, or be reinvested back into the three authorities.

It is proposed the local authorities would hold 100 per cent of the shares in the new company without providing any financial subsidy and retain strategic control of the LATC through an Executive Shareholder Group. This would include representatives from each council and help ensure that the LATC would maintain the high standards of quality that service users across Dorset currently enjoy.

The company would have a combined budget of almost £37m, comparing favourably with other similarly-sized LATCs elsewhere in the country that are performing well financially. Additional benefits for the Dorset-wide LATC include a greater choice of services, long-term stability, better value for money and the simplification of how both professionals and the public can access the social care services on offer.

With the business plan approved in principle by all three authorities, subject to the outcome of the current public consultation and formal approval in February 2015, it is hoped to have any new company launched and operational during the 2015/2016 financial year.

Cllr Jill Haynes, Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care, said:

“We have been looking for ways to work more closely with our colleagues in Bournemouth and Poole, and the LATC represents a fantastic opportunity for all three authorities to transform the way they deliver social care to people across the county. By combining our high quality services and excellent staff, we can create a sustainable organisation that provides better value for money and will benefit all service users and carers across Dorset by offering greater choice and control.”

Bournemouth’s Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, Cllr Blair Crawford, added: “In these days of financial restraints and with a growing older population we have to look at ways we can continue to deliver our services and how we can develop them in the future.  A Local Authority Trading Company would give us the freedom to be as adaptable and flexible as those who currently operate in the private sector whilst at the same time ensuring we are able to fulfil our commitment to providing care to those who need it.”

Cllr Karen Rampton, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care, Borough of Poole, said: “The creation of a new pan-Dorset Local Authority Trading Company offers us an exciting opportunity to work in partnership to help improve the way social care services are delivered. I look forward to working alongside colleagues to move this forward following the approval by Council.”