Bath and North East Somerset Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 30 January 2025

About Bath and North East Somerset Council

Demographics

Bath and North-East Somerset (B&NES) is a unitary authority district in Somerset with two thirds of the area lying in ‘green belt.’ B&NES Council was created on 1 April 1996.Liberal Democrats currently hold B&NES and have been in place since 2019. B&NES currently has a population of approximately 196.000. B&NES has an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 1 (with 10 being the highest and most deprived) and is rated 142 out of 152 local authorities (1st being most deprived). Nevertheless, there are significant gaps in education, employment and health outcomes for people.

The population is predominantly people of working age but there is a growing ageing population. The population of B&NES is projected to increase by 8% from 2018 to 2028, from 192,106 to 207,919. The 65+ population is projected to increase by 15% over the same period, the largest increase is projected to be in the 75-84 age range (33%), followed by the 85+ age group (20%). In 2030, it is projected there will be 3,670 older people (65+) with dementia in B&NES which is an increase of 36% since 2019. People living in B&NES are predominantly White (92.19%); Asian, Asian British, Asian Welsh (3.3%) and multiple or mixed race (2.72%).

The Integrated Care System (ICS) covers B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW). When the ICB was formed B&NES integrated Care Alliance Group (ICA) became the strategic focus group for B&NES. Three localities have been set up to tackle inequalities across BSW, each represented by their own place-based ICA’s.

B&NES have recently undergone a transition from commissioned services back to in-house and are currently going through a full transformation of adult social care and staff job roles. In 2017 Adult Social Work statutory functions and Learning Disability Day Services, alongside residential services were included in a contract with the HCRG Care Group until 31st March 2024. In October 2020, residential services were transferred back to B&NES and in October 2022 the Safeguarding Team was also transferred back to B&NES. The Learning Disabilities Day Services, Supported Living Day Services, Adult Social Work, Direct Payments Team, Shared Lives and Employment Inclusion Teams returned to B&NES in April 2024. The Community Health Services, including Reablement and the third sector contracts currently remain with the HCRG Care Group. The Out of Hours Emergency Duty contract sits with South Gloucestershire local authority.

Financial facts

The financial facts for Bath and North East Somerset are:

• The local authority estimated that it would spend 70,955,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2022/2023. Its actual spend was 74,584,000, which is 3,629,000 more than estimated.
• In 2022/2023, 30% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/2024, with a value of 2%. Please note the amount raised through ASC precept varies from local authority to local authority.
• Approximately 2205 people were accessing long term adult social care support, and approximately 310 people were accessing short term adult social care support in 2022/2023. Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No 2 care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.