More money approved for adult social care

More funding to improve adult social care provision has been approved by Hull City Council's cabinet, after a watchdog found services required improvement.

In October 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave the council the lowest possible ranking of one out of four in both assessing people's needs and supporting people to lead healthier lives.

On Monday, the council's cabinet agreed to spend £4.2m on home adaptations, with £3m of the money going to the council's maintenance company KWL.

A further one year investment of just under £1.4m will fund temporary agency staff, equipment and the outsourcing of assessments.

The improvement plan also includes two "spend to save" schemes, which together require £208,000 investment annually, but should provide even greater savings, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The first scheme involves investing £101,000 per year into the assistive technology team to fund two social workers.

The second involves investing £107,000 per year to expand the Shared Lives scheme, which matches a person who needs care with an approved carer.

The CQC report said there were waits of up to 853 days for assessment by occupational therapists, who help people improve their ability to do everyday, practical tasks, and up to 867 days for annual reviews.

It said some people had waited more than a year for equipment and minor home adaptations designed to maintain their independence.

At Monday's cabinet meeting, the council's portfolio holder for adult services and public health, councillor Linda Chambers, said much of the pressure on services was due to people wanting to stay at home rather than going into care.

"Just the smallest adaptation [to someone's home] can make the biggest improvement to somebody's life," she said.

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