Guidance

ASCFR terminology and its usage

Published 20 May 2026

Applies to England

Overview

This terminology guidance defines terms used in the adult social care finance return (ASCFR) pro-forma and guidance. Its purpose is to support consistent use and interpretation of terms across local authorities.

Use these definitions and guidance alongside the ‘Instructions for completing the ASCFR 2025 to 2026’ document. Using this terminology consistently helps ensure data is recorded accurately and can be compared across local authorities.

Costs

Own provision (including joint arrangements)

Own provision refers to all the services plus associated costs provided by the local authority for itself as part of its in-house services.

Provision by others

Provision by others includes services contracted by the local authority from the voluntary, private or independent sectors. It can also include services bought from another local authority. Other provision should also include a proportion of the overheads. Even if the authority incurs these overheads, it should still apportion and allocate them to the related service, including ‘other provision’.

Grants to voluntary organisations

Grants to voluntary organisations are payments made by a local authority to voluntary or third‑sector organisations to enable them to provide an adult social care-related service, where the authority is not directly commissioning specific units of activity.

Include grants to voluntary organisations that enable them to provide a service under the column ‘grants to voluntary organisations’. Record these grants against the most appropriate finance measure. For example, record grants to the third sector that aim to support people in the community through low-level support or advocacy in the ‘information and early intervention’ measure.

This expenditure is not included when calculating unit costs.

Income

Client contributions

Client contributions are payments made by an individual receiving adult social care, or by someone acting on their behalf, towards the cost of services that are delivered or commissioned by the local authority following a financial assessment. This includes contributions made directly to the local authority or paid to a service provider as part of an agreed care and support package.

For supported residents in private residential and nursing homes, record the full gross cost of care under expenditure. Record any contribution made by the client under ‘income: client contributions’. Where the local authority pays providers on a net basis, you may need to obtain or reasonably estimate the client contribution.

For residential homes run by the local authority, record the total gross cost of running the home under expenditure. Record the following under ‘income: client contributions’:

• contributions paid by residents
• contributions paid by relatives on behalf of residents
• payments made by full-cost-paying residents

Personal budgets are the assessed value of care and support allocated to an individual with eligible needs under the Care Act 2014. For personal budgets, whether delivered through a managed budget or a direct payment, record the total value of the personal budget under expenditure. Record the service user’s assessed contribution under ‘income: client contributions’, even where the individual pays the service provider directly.

You must record expenditure relating to direct payments under ‘provision by others’, not ‘own provision’.

Deferred payment agreements (DPAs)

A deferred payment agreement (DPA) is an arrangement with the local authority that enables individuals to use the value of their home to delay paying the costs of the care and support they draw on, either in a care home or in supported living accommodation. If a client is eligible, the local authority will help to pay the client’s care home bills on their behalf. The costs are later recovered by the local authority, most commonly from the sale of the home.

Record income received from recovered DPAs as ‘Income: client contributions’. Include interest payments or admin fees relating to DPAs in ‘other income’.

Third party top-ups

Third‑party top‑up payments are additional payments made by someone other than the local authority or the adult receiving care. These payments cover the difference between the cost the local authority would normally pay to meet assessed needs and the higher cost of a more expensive care option chosen by the person.

You must exclude third-party top-up payments from both income and expenditure, even where the local authority pays the full cost to the provider and subsequently recovers the top-up.

Where third-party top-up payments cannot be separately identified (such as from wider client contributions), include them in both income and expenditure, and record this in the comments box in the pro-forma.

Joint arrangements

In adult social care, a joint arrangement is where the local authority delivers or commissions services alongside one or more partner organisations (for example, another local authority or care trust), and where funding responsibilities are shared. This includes pooled budgets and other formal joint funding arrangements.

Jointly funded packages of care with NHS funding are not treated as joint arrangements for ASCFR purposes - record them under ‘income from NHS’.

Only include the local authority’s expenditure contribution in the return. Where the split of expenditure is known, use the actual figures. Where expenditure is shared but the local authority’s contribution is not explicitly identified, estimate the share using a reasonable and consistent method, such as a pro-rata split based on financial contributions.

If, in exceptional cases, expenditure with non-NHS partners cannot be split, record the total joint expenditure with a comment in the pro-forma to note this. In these cases, record the other organisation’s contribution as income from joint arrangements.

For clarity:

• if the partner is NHS, do not use joint contributions - treat this as ‘income from NHS’
• if the partner is non-NHS and the split is known - report local authority spend only
• if the partner is non-NHS and the split cannot be determined - record the total joint expenditure and record the other organisation’s contribution in ‘income from joint arrangements’

Income from NHS

Income from NHS is all income received from NHS bodies that has been spent on the provision of adult social care, including:

• funds received as part of a joint arrangement with an NHS body (such as a Section 75 agreement under the NHS Act 2006) - record in this column and not in the ‘joint arrangements’ column
• income received by the local authority from an NHS organisation as part of the Better Care Fund (BCF)
• any other spending on adult social care that is funded by the NHS but not funding that is on healthcare

Income from NHS excludes:

• the Improved Better Care Fund (iBCF) - record under special and specific grants in the ASCFR
• any expenditure, income and activity related to Section 117 support under the Mental Health Act 2026 - this should be recorded in the relevant NHS accounts. Note, this exclusion applies even if the local authority contributes to Section 117 funding
• any expenditure, income and activity relating to continuing healthcare - exclude this from the ASCFR altogether and instead include it in the relevant NHS accounts

Details on Section 256, NHS funded nursing care (FNC) and Section 75 agreements

Section 256 (formerly Section 28a): Section 256 of the NHS Act 2006 allows NHS bodies to reimburse local authorities for expenditure they have incurred on services that support health outcomes. Record the local authority’s expenditure gross (the full cost incurred for the service) and show the NHS contribution separately under ‘income from NHS’.

Section 75 agreements: Section 75 of the NHS Act 2006 allows councils and NHS bodies to pool funds to commission health or social care services, including joint or integrated services. Record local authority expenditure on Section 75 agreements gross, and record income received in the ‘income from NHS’ column.

NHS funded nursing care: record expenditure on NHS funded nursing care placements net of NHS payments, therefore only record the final cost to the local authority. If exact contributions are unknown, record expenditure as shown in the accounts. Do not include payments or contributions from the NHS in the ‘income from NHS’ column in either long-term or short-term measures, or anywhere else in the ASCFR. The ASCFR should not include any expenditure or income that is on healthcare - only that relating to adult social care.

Table 1: worked example for recording FNC, Section 256 or Section 75 agreements

Funding source	ASCFR rule	What the local authority pays	What the NHS pays	What is recorded as ASCFR expenditure	What is recorded as ‘income from NHS’
NHS FNC	NHS FNC is healthcare, so exclude NHS payment entirely	£665	£235 (FNC flat rate)	£665 (net only)	£0
Section 256 agreement	NHS is reimbursing adult social care spend so show gross expenditure and income	£1,000	£300 reimbursement	£1,000 (gross)	£300
Section 75 agreement	NHS contribution under joint arrangement is ‘income from NHS’	£6,000	£4,000 pooled funding	£6,000 (local authority share)	£4,000

Better Care Fund

The BCF is a single local pooled budget shared by the NHS and local government. It supports more collaborative working that focuses on people’s wellbeing and moves resources into adult social care and community services to benefit people, communities, and local health and care systems.

Record income from the BCF under ‘income from NHS’. In addition, provide a separate value for BCF income alone in cell I52 of the non-SALT totals sheet.

Record BCF income in both the ASCFR and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) social care and public health revenue outturn (RO3) data collection.

Other income

Other income is income received by a local authority in relation to adult social care that does not fall in standard income categories and includes payments received by the local authority from sources other than adult social care clients or the NHS.

Examples include:

• charitable contributions made to the local authority that are spent on adult social care services
• payments from other local authorities for services provided to them. Net these off of gross expenditure and record in the ‘other income’ column. Do not include them in the ‘own provision’ column, or non-SALT totals sheet

Exception: if it is not possible to separately identify the other local authority’s clients in your activity data, you can include the income in ‘other income’. This ensures that expenditure and income remain consistent and reasonably attributable, in line with the Service Reporting Code of Practice (SeRCOP)

Do not include the following in ‘other income’:

• income from the NHS (including Section 75 and Section 256 agreements) - record this in line with the instructions in the ‘income from NHS’ section
• third-party top-up payments from relatives or other third parties - exclude these from the ASCFR entirely

Specific and special grants

Do not include specific and special revenue grants as income. Enter the total value of income from specific and special grants in cell L56 at the bottom of the non-SALT totals sheet.

Ensure expenditure funded by specific and special grants is included in the relevant expenditure columns.

Examples might include:

• grants relating to the iBCF
• winter pressures grant
• adult social care support grant

Note that income from specific and special grants is not included in RO3 and needs to be excluded from reconciliations.

Social services management and support services (SSMSS)

SSMSS refers to indirect costs associated with the delivery of adult social care services. It is reported separately to distinguish between frontline service delivery and the supporting infrastructure required to deliver those services. This definition includes broader items often referred to as ‘overheads’.

These costs relate to activities and functions that enable the planning, commissioning, management and administration of services, but which are not directly attributable to individual service users, types or specific care settings.

The collection of SSMSS costs is necessary to support a complete and consistent understanding of all adult social care expenditure.

Examples include:

• strategic and operational management
• finance, human resources and information technology
• legal and governance functions
• commissioning and contract management
• administrative and business support functions
• office-related costs

Where and how to include SSMSS costs

In the ASCFR, SSMSS costs will be included twice.

Firstly, record them in the current expenditure lines (columns C, D or E of the FR001 LTS, FR002 STS and non-SALT sheets) combined with all other direct expenditure per service.

Secondly, report them separately in column S of the same sheets.

This separation enables analysis into the costs of overheads associated with different services per local authority.

Principles for reporting SSMSS costs

Apply the following principles alongside SeRCOP principles when reporting SSMSS costs to ensure an accurate reflection of how expenditure is incurred across adult social care services:

• overarching SSMSS costs must be included in the return and allocated appropriately
• ensure all SSMSS costs are included and accounted for across the relevant expenditure lines in columns C, D and E, and as separated out figures in column S of the FR001 LTS, FR002 STS and non-SALT totals sheets
• allocate costs incurred through the actual delivery of care (including operational management, supervision or client-facing activities) to the relevant long-term, short-term or non-SALT SSMSS measure. For example, if a local authority employs a service manager (not directly delivering care) responsible solely for service users aged 65 and over in residential care for physical support, include these costs both combined with wider costs in the relevant column (C, D or E depending on provision type) and separated out in cell S70 of the FR001 LTS sheet
• capture costs that support the delivery of adult social care but that are not directly linked to individual clients in their relative non-SALT totals category. For example, if a local authority has a central commissioning team responsible for procuring care services and managing contracts, include this in ‘commissioning and service delivery’ SSMSS costs, both combined with wider costs in cell C, D or E, as well as separately in cell S27 of the non-SALT totals sheet
• report SSMSS costs on a gross expenditure basis
• where SSMSS costs cannot be broken down as far as the service lines or provision categories in the pro-forma, use a reasonable and consistent method of apportionment to distribute wider SSMSS costs across service areas. See ‘Apportionment of SSMSS costs not otherwise able to be allocated’ below for further details and a practical example of this
• where services are used across functions wider than adult social care, allocate only the proportion of costs that relates to adult social care to SSMSS measures. Councils can use actual or estimated proportions, guided by SeRCOP principles
• exclude bad debt provisions and write-offs from SSMSS costs and the ASCFR altogether

Apportionment of SSMSS costs not otherwise able to be allocated

Apportionment of SSMSS costs focuses on ensuring that overall costs are represented as accurately as possible across adult social care services. Since there is no central methodology for apportionment, it is the responsibility of each local authority to devise its own methods. Ensure the method:

• reflects how SSMSS costs and support are consumed across services
• is applied consistently across reporting periods
• is documented for audit purposes and summarised in the relevant comment boxes in the ASCFR pro-forma

Approaches could allocate SSMSS costs based on:

• proportion of direct expenditure
• activity levels (such as client volumes)
• staffing distributions

Application

For ease, we recommend that all SSMSS calculations are done separately (without being combined with direct service costs) initially and then added. This aims to:

• prevent double counting
• avoid apportionment being distorted
• make it easier to complete column S (separate reporting of SSMSS costs) in the pro-forma

It is expected that some SSMSS costs will be easily and directly attributable to specific ASCFR service lines, while the remainder must be apportioned.

Apportion all costs relative to how they were incurred. For example, if the SSMSS cost cannot be allocated because the service manager covers all long-term care users aged 65 and over, regardless of primary support reason (PSR) and service setting - then apportion these costs across all long-term care services for those aged 65 and over (not all the ASCFR service lines).

As such, the local authority could look at the proportions of spend across long-term care already reported in the return and apply these proportions pro-rata. You can see an example working of this in annex A below.

Examples of other instances in which this apportionment method could be applied include when it cannot be determined what proportion of costs are attributable to:

• ‘own provision’, ‘provision by others’ or ‘grants to voluntary organisations’
• each PSR
• short-term support to maximise independence (ST-Max) or ‘short-term other’

In each instance, the area would take on a proportion of the SSMSS costs reflective of the proportion of overall costs it represents.

If, even after considering relevant apportioning methods, there are SSMSS components that cannot be split out, capture these costs in ‘commissioning and service delivery’ across the relevant expenditure lines in columns C, D and E and as separated out figures in column S of the non-SALT totals sheet.

Capital charges

Capital charges are the costs associated with the use of fixed assets in the delivery of social care services. This includes:

• depreciation
• interest or notional rent on properties and equipment used to provide services
• loss on impairment of assets
• credit for amortisation of capital grants (the proportion of a capital grant recognised in the year, where the grant funded an asset used over time in delivering adult social care services)

Capital charges are their own category of spending. Do not, for example, group them together with SSMSS costs. However, the principles for reporting capital charges closely mirror those for reporting SSMSS costs. Read the following principles and apply them alongside the detailed guidance on allocating SSMSS costs above. You must:

• allocate and include overarching capital charges in the return
• include and account for all capital charges across the relevant expenditure lines in columns C, D and E and as separated out figures in columns O and P of the FR001 LTS, FR002 STS and non-SALT totals sheets
• apportion capital charges following the same methodologies and processes as SSMSS costs as chosen by the local authority

Additional notes on capital charges

Include capital charges and other residual costs associated with the closure of establishments in expenditure on commissioning and service delivery (columns C, D and E) and as capital charges (columns O and P).

Include credit for amortisation of capital grants but exclude the element of notional interest from capital charges.

A text field is included in the ASCFR (cell B63 of the activity sheet) to enable local authorities to notify the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) if their average or unit costs are not comparable with previous years because of capital or property revaluations.

Primary support reasons (PSRs)

A PSR describes the main reason an adult requires social care support. Record in line with the definitions set out by SeRCOP.

In the ASCFR, each care user must be reported under one PSR at a time, even if they receive multiple services relating to multiple needs. Allocate expenditure to the PSR that represents the person’s main support need at the point the cost is incurred.

If a person’s primary need changes during the year, record later expenditure under the new PSR. Costs must not be split across multiple PSRs for a single individual at the same point in time.

For each of the following PSRs, report costs according to the following age groups:

• adults (18 to 64)
• older people (65 and over)

Physical support

These are services attributable to adults where the PSR for their care is related to physical support. Include:

• support with access and mobility
• the more intensive support, described as personal care support as defined in the Health and Social Care Act 2008

Sensory support

These are services attributable to adults where the PSR for their care is related to sensory support. Include:

• visual impairment
• hearing impairment
• dual impairment

Support with memory and cognition

These are services attributable to adults where the PSR for their care is related to support with memory and cognition. Include support and services for clients with conditions affecting their:

• thinking processes
• knowing processes
• awareness processes
• remembering processes

Learning disability support

These are services attributable to adults where the PSR for their care is related to learning disability support. Include services provided to assist individuals with:

• understanding new or complex information
• learning and applying new skills

Mental health support

These are services attributable to adults where the PSR for their care is related to mental health support. Include conditions or disorders of the mind involving thoughts, behaviours and emotions that cause significant distress to either the person or others.

Significant distress can mean the person is unable to function, meet personal needs on their own, or is a danger to themselves or others.

Long-term support

Long-term support encompasses any service or support that meets all of the following criteria:

• it is provided with the intention of maintaining quality of life for an individual on an ongoing basis
• it has been allocated based on eligibility criteria and/or policies (that is, an assessment of need has taken place)
• it is subject to regular review

For all components of long-term support, exclude any short-term episodes intended for a time-limited period.

For all the below, report costs according to age:

• adults (18 to 64)
• older people (65 and over)

Support settings

In long-term support, costs are broken down by:

• the PSRs (as defined above)
• the setting in which the support was delivered

See below for definitions for each of the settings.

Note on in-house provision

The ASCFR does not usually account for the provision of nursing care or in-house nursing services. This reflects legislation that limits local authority involvement in running nursing services, because they should be provided by and attributable to the NHS (and therefore reflected in the NHS’s accounts).

If you think you need to record in-house provision by your local authority, contact ascfr@dhsc.gov.uk.

Nursing

Nursing care refers to long‑term accommodation that provides personal care and support together with the provision of registered nursing care on site, delivered or supervised by a qualified nurse.

Include long-term placements in:

• all homes with nursing care registered by health authorities and requiring trained nursing staff to be present
• nursing care beds in dual registered homes

Local authorities should record their contributions to nursing care placements in this subdivision of service, even if there is also a residential placement associated with this care.

Residential

Residential care refers to long‑term accommodation that provides personal care and support for daily living, where care is delivered by care staff but does not include the provision of registered nursing care.

Include long-term placements in:

• homes registered under the Registered Homes Act 1984
• residential care beds in dual registered homes.
• residential care direct payments

Following SeRCOP guidance, include all residential care direct payments here.

Community: direct payments

Direct payment describes a payment process where support is given by issuing monetary payments directly to service users who have been assessed as needing certain services.

Include personalised budgets.

Exclude:

• the cost of administering the payments to clients - include this under ‘commissioning and service delivery’
• grants to voluntary organisations that support direct payments users - include this under ‘information and early intervention’
• direct payments to support carers - include this under ‘social support: support for carer’

Supported accommodation

Supported accommodation refers to long‑term accommodation where the accommodation itself forms part of the care and support model and is therefore provider led. Support may be provided by resident staff or on a shift basis.

Note: residents may pay rent or have tenancy‑type arrangements with the providers, but this does not change the classification of the setting.

Include long-term placements in:

• adult placement schemes (Shared Lives)
• hostels
• unstaffed homes
• partially staffed homes
• group homes

Shared Lives

Shared Lives schemes support adults with learning disabilities, mental health problems or other needs that make it harder for them to live on their own. 

The schemes match someone who needs care with an approved carer. The carer shares their family and community life and gives care and support to the person with care needs. Some people move in with their Shared Lives carer, while others are regular daytime visitors. Some combine daytime and overnight visits.

Note, how costs associated with Shared Lives provision are included in the ASCFR depends on the purpose of the provision.

If the Shared Lives carer is providing day care services that are not part of a wider package of care, include these costs in ‘other long-term care’.

If the services are part of a wider package, such as a supported accommodation arrangement, record under that relevant heading instead.

Community: homecare

Community: homecare refers to homecare or domiciliary care provided in an individual’s own home, normally of a personal nature, to enable an individual to continue with their daily life (such as help with eating or drinking, toileting, washing or bathing, dressing, oral care or the care of skin, hair and nails). It may also include ‘prompting’ and supervision of an individual’s self-care.

Extra care

Record extra care under ‘community: home care’ in FR001 LTS.

For ASCFR purposes, extra care is treated as long-term support where it is provided with the intention of maintaining an individual’s quality of life on an ongoing basis. This support must be:

• allocated following an assessment of eligibility
• set out in a care or support plan
• subject to regular review

You must exclude short-term or time-limited episodes of care, including reablement or other temporary support.

Community: supported living

Supported living is a package of care covering a range of services that support people to live as independently as possible in the community. Unlike with supported accommodation, service users are responsible for their own tenancies, own their home or are living with family or friends. They receive an agreed level of care and support tailored to their individual needs. Service users’ support needs may vary, ranging from those who are very able and receive support for a few hours a week to those who require support 24 hours a day.

Distinguishing between home care, supported accommodation and supported living

Table 2 below summarises how to distinguish whether a care provider falls under home care, supported accommodation or supported living.

Table 2: differentiating between homecare, supported living and supported accommodation

Support setting	Is the care part of a wider supported living model?	Is the accommodation part of the care model?	Example
Home care	No	No	A person living in their own ordinary home receives personal care visits 3 times a day from a home‑care agency. They may also use equipment, community alarms or telecare, but their accommodation is not part of the care model.
Supported living	Yes	No	A person lives in their own flat and receives a structured supported living package that includes personal care, help with daily routines and support with budgeting, cooking, maintaining a tenancy and community access.
Supported accommodation	No	Yes	A person lives in a staffed shared home where support is built into the accommodation. There are on‑site or shift‑based support workers, communal facilities and daily supervision. The person only receives this support because they live in this specific scheme.

Community: other long-term care

Include any long-term support that cannot accurately be included in the above categories such as:

• day care provision
• meals

Fairer charging income

Fairer charging income is the money collected from individuals who contribute towards the cost of their non‑residential adult social care. This includes charges for services such as homecare, day services and community-based support. Charges are based on a financial assessment that considers an individual’s ability to contribute.

Short-term support

Short-term support in adult social care encompasses all time‑limited care intended to maintain or improve a person’s independence, and to delay, reduce or prevent the need for ongoing long‑term support.

Report costs according to age:

• adults (18 to 64)
• older people (65 and over)

Note that it is possible for a client to have concurrent short-term and long-term support. For example, an existing (ongoing) long-term support client could benefit from short-term support because of a change in their situation or circumstances (such as a stay in hospital as an emergency).

Allocate the costs of support for such clients separately, according to the underlying intentions behind each form of support. This means that costs of the client’s short-term support are included in the short-term measure and any costs of ongoing long-term support are included in the long-term measure.

Short-term support to maximise independence

In line with SeRCOP, ST-Max includes all episodes of support provided that are intended to be time-limited and to maximise the independence of the individual and reduce or eliminate their need for ongoing support. At the end of the support, a review or assessment for ongoing care will take place to determine what will follow.

Such an assessment or review will need to have taken place several weeks after the start of the episode. This does not mean that the actual service has ceased, but that the following apply:

• a review has been held
• the support need has been assessed or reviewed
• a decision to continue or not has been made
• a sequel can be clearly identified

ST-Max includes reablement services.

Exclude the following:

• any episodes of respite care that may also be time limited. This support is usually provided as part of a longer-term support package for a client, commissioned only because of the existence of a carer who needs support and considered a carers’ service
• emergency support (not to maximise independence but a crisis support service) - include in ‘other short-term support’
• assistive equipment and technology

Other short-term support

Other short-term support includes time-limited services that are not intended primarily to maximise independence, but that are provided to meet an immediate or temporary need. This category captures support that is reactive, emergency or carer-focused, rather than aimed at reducing ongoing care requirements.

Examples of other short-term support include:

• crisis or emergency support: short-term services provided in response to an urgent or unforeseen event (for example, a sudden health deterioration or housing emergency) that do not have independence maximisation as the primary goal
• other temporary interventions: any short-term services provided to meet a temporary need that cannot reasonably be classified under short-term support to maximise independence
• education placements (such as educational residential colleges)

Respite care

The allocation of costs relating to respite care will depend on the nature of the care being provided as follows:

• if the primary purpose of the respite provision is to give the carer a break, allocate the costs in ‘support for carers’
• if the respite is part of an ongoing care package for the client, then it will be recorded against the appropriate PSR and long-term residential care
• if the respite is a one-off or short-term intervention intended to function as a reablement service, then it will be recorded under ‘short-term support to maximise independence’

Staff costs

Include most staff costs in the gross expenditure for each relevant service category, for example:

• long-term residential care
• home care
• short-term support

This includes all direct employment costs such as salaries, employer National Insurance contributions, pensions and other benefits for staff delivering these services.

Record staff costs associated with management, administration, or support functions (for example, HR, finance or payroll administration) under SSMSS. Apportion these costs to service categories in SSMSS as appropriate.

Agency staff

Include agency staff in the same place as equivalent directly employed staff, depending on the role they are fulfilling as follows:

• if they are frontline care or social work delivery and effectively part of the local authority’s internal team, then include with staff costs as above
• If the council is buying in a service (for example, a block-purchased social work service from an NHS trust or third-party provider), then record this as provision by others under the appropriate service line

Apprentice costs

Include employment costs for apprentices delivering adult social care services in their relevant service category (such as long-term support) alongside other staff costs.

Include costs associated with the Apprenticeship Levy in SSMSS costs and apportion in line with the guidance provided.

Redundancy costs

Record redundancy costs for social care staff under social care activities unless a central fund has been set aside due to service restructures. In that case, the costs:

• form part of corporate overheads
• are recharged in the usual way
• should be included in the SSMSS column

However, for social care activities that cannot be linked to a specific service, do not include costs for redundancies - record these as infrastructure.

Social work support (including social work admin support teams)

Include in the non-SALT totals sheet under ‘social care activities’.

Non-SALT categories

Non‑SALT includes spending on adult social care services and functions that support care but that are not directly providing short‑term or long‑term care. This spending is split into 5 main categories including:

1. Social support (and its subcategories).
2. Assistive equipment and technology.
3. Social care activities.
4. Information and early intervention.
5. Commissioning and service delivery.

None of these categories need to be reported by age group, PSR or support setting.

See the full definitions and important inclusions and exclusions for each of these categories below.

Social support

This section includes service areas that do not require unit cost information. These are:

• support for substance misuse
• asylum seeker support
• support to carers
• support for social isolation or other

Support for substance misuse

This covers services to all adults where the primary reason for their care is related to ‘social support: substance misuse support’. Include services or interventions for clients with conditions defined by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as intoxication by, or regular excessive consumption of, and/or dependence on psychoactive substances.

It includes problematic use of both legal and illegal drugs (including alcohol when used in combination with other substances).

Asylum seeker support

This covers services or interventions for registered asylum seekers. It includes:

• supported access to health, housing or education services
• language and/or interpreter support
• providing advice and information
• access to legal advice

Support to carers

This covers services to adults and younger carers of adults where the PSR for their care is related to ‘social support: support for carer’. Include services or interventions to support an individual in their role of caring for another person. This is then split further into:

• direct payments - when support is given by issuing monetary payments directly to clients who have been assessed as needing certain services (for example, when a grant payment is issued to support a carer). Include the value of direct payments made to support all carers regardless of the PSR of the adult they are caring for
• other support for carer - include any other services attributable to supporting carers

Include costs of respite care if the primary purpose of the respite provision is to give the carer a break.

Exclude any costs associated with:

• undertaking carers’ assessments or providing professional support to carers. Include these in ‘social care activities’
• the provision of advice, information, guidance, and low-level support for the benefit of carers (identified as such, rather than as residents). Include these in the ‘information and early intervention’ measure

Support for social isolation

This includes support provided with the intention of reducing the social isolation of individuals, such as sitting and befriending services.

Assistive equipment and technology

This section includes the cost of telecare service contracts as well as equipment and adaptations, attributable to all adults regardless of their PSR. Include:

• all items of equipment or adaptations funded by the local authority with the intention of helping an individual in their daily living, including to have a greater sense of reassurance
• the cost of telecare service contracts
• the cost of maintenance contracts and safety inspections

Social care activities

Social care activities include the overall expenditure associated with the assessment and care management process that facilitates help for people in daily living. This includes promoting individuals’ independence and quality of life. Comparing the costs of short-term interventions, long-term care and low-level prevention, locally and nationally, helps indicate the costs of arranging and delivering support.

The cost of social care activities includes any revenue expenditure associated with social work practice, in relation to supporting individuals through a care or risk management process, such as: 

• assessment
• review
• care management
• safeguarding

Note that expenditure on social care activities will be reported at an aggregated level and not split between categories such as those described above.

Assessment and review

Assessment refers to the frontline assessment of clients, including initial allocation or intake functions, while review refers to the frontline reviews of clients.

Expenditure on both assessments and reviews include any activities associated with frameworks for understanding individuals’ needs. This includes (but is not solely restricted to) local authority-funded expenditure on:

• assessments or reviews associated with individuals’ needs for short-term support
• statutory assessments and review frameworks associated with ongoing long-term support of individuals through a community care assessment
• statutory assessments and review frameworks associated with other processes such as those associated with an appropriate mental health practitioner or the National Assistance Act 1948
• carers’ assessments or reviews
• expenditure associated with functions of local authority-funded professionals such as occupational therapists that undertake social care activities
• expenditure associated with individuals who are either paying for their own care, but the local authority incurs cost in the process (for example an individual who is assessed but found not to be eligible for care)

Care management

This includes the costs of providing care management activities such as:

• detailed planning of support to meet eligible client needs
• arranging and guiding access to services after an assessment or review
• ongoing professional support

Exclude costs associated with more general signposting and screening functions in this section. Instead record these in ‘information and early intervention’.

Care navigation or brokerage activities

Include expenditure on care navigation or brokerage in the social care activities measure only when it supports care management following a formal assessment or review of need.

If the brokerage is low level - for example, signposting to services such as gardening support or handyperson repairs - and does not follow a formal assessment or review, exclude from social care activities and record instead under ‘information and early intervention’.

Safeguarding

Include all aspects of frontline safeguarding activity, from raising initial concerns to investigations and developing safeguarding plans to minimise risk.

Exclude expenditure already captured in commissioning and service delivery.

Also exclude professional support, whether low-level preventative, short or longer term. Instead, include these as appropriate in:

• long-term support
• short-term support
• assistive equipment and technology

Include expenditure associated with frontline safeguarding activities, including activities associated with guardianship and deprivation of liberty in the social care activities measure. This includes expenditure associated with support provided to other agencies in the safeguarding process, but excludes expenditure incurred by other agencies in this process.

Record expenditure on adult social care safeguarding, administration, and frontline management, including guardianship and Deprivation of Liberty, in social care activities and exclude from commissioning and service delivery.

Information and early intervention

Information and early intervention is any expenditure on any service or support for which there is no test of eligibility and no requirement for review. The expenditure for this measure relates to the following items:

Information and advice

Expenditure on advice and publication teams, leaflets and advertising, websites and other information channels.

Annual subscriptions for web software (or similar)

Expenditure on subscriptions for web software that provides information regarding social care services.

Screening and signposting

Investment in, for example, contact centres and advice services.

Prevention and low-level support

Non-attributable costs for drop-in centres, supported lunch clubs, falls prevention and low-level brokerage services. An example could be supporting access to fully costed services such as gardening or shopping.

HIV preventative costs 

Record low level prevention costs under ‘information and early intervention’. All other HIV-related costs will be coded in the relevant PSR. For example, if some clients require support with daily living, then assign this as ‘physical support’.

Independent advocacy

This covers the costs of supporting advocacy and associated functions.

The definition excludes:

• expenditure associated with frontline access of clients to assessment or care management processes
• independent advocacy for safeguarding purposes - this is included in ‘social care activities’
• expenditure associated with the resulting care, support and daily living solutions themselves, whether short or longer term, which are accounted for in the FR001 LTS and FR002 STS sheets
• expenditure associated with assistive equipment and technology (captured in ‘assistive equipment and technology’)
• commissioning and service delivery as part of expenditure associated with commissioning or infrastructure

Note: only include the elements of actual or estimated spend in relation to information and early intervention in the items described above if they relate to the provision of adult social care services.

For example, if screening and signposting is provided through a local authority’s contact centre that takes requests for all local authority functions, include only the (actual or estimated) component part of the spend that relates to adult social care screening or signposting in the ASCFR.

Note on administration and public information costs

Record administrative and other non-frontline activities (that is, not involving direct contact with residents) linked to information and early intervention under ‘commissioning and service delivery’ rather than ‘information and early intervention’.

Exclude leaflets and websites, as well as the (actual or estimated) expenditure on related communications or publication teams. Include all of these in ‘information and early intervention’.

Commissioning and service delivery

This provides an understanding of the overall expenditure associated with commissioning and infrastructure costs across local authorities.

The definition of commissioning and service delivery attempts to capture any expenditure on functions that support the delivery of adult social care. This includes:

• commissioning
• infrastructure (such as information technology (IT) systems)
• proportionate SSMSS costs as per the SSMSS section above

Include expenditure on all aspects of administration of:

• long-term support
• short-term support
• social support
• assistive equipment and technology
• delayed discharge

Also include the costs of commissioning, finance or administrative staff costs that support adult social care delivery, but that are not attributable frontline services. These should be included in the relevant category, for example long-term support.

Exclude expenditure on:

• public information about adult social care. This includes leaflets, websites and the (actual or estimated) expenditure on related communications or publication teams as part of information and advice. Therefore, exclude this expenditure from ‘commissioning and service delivery’ and include in ‘information and early intervention’ instead
• adult social care safeguarding administrative and frontline management, including guardianship and Deprivation of Liberty. Therefore, exclude this expenditure from ‘commissioning and service delivery’ and include in social care activities instead

Commissioning or commissioning-related items

Expenditure on items such as:

• strategic business direction (including needs analysis, policy or strategic development)
• business planning (including business development, performance, and budget planning and monitoring)
• commissioning and decommissioning functions
• commissioning, procurement and management (including market management, contract procurement and provider monitoring)
• communications and personal protective equipment (PPE)
• governance and support (including admin, finance, IT and information management, legal, non-front line quality assurance, audit and risk management)
• responding to complaints and complaints management
• delayed transfers of care (‘bed blocking’) fines
• local authority-funded registration and inspection fees paid to the Care Quality Commission that relate to the delivery of adult social care

Infrastructure

This includes:

• building and premises management
• IT

Exclude any capital expenditure such as on buildings or major capital projects - this should not be included in the ASCFR.

Other notable exclusions

Death in the community and funeral costs

In some cases, the local authority assumes responsibility for costs relating to funeral expenses due to a lack of next of kin. Although related, these are outside of the scope of the ASCFR. Exclude this expenditure from the collection.

Pet boarding costs or similar

This covers costs incurred by local authorities while supporting clients that are temporarily or permanently unable to care for their pets. Although these costs are related to social care provision, they are outside the scope of the ASCFR. Exclude this expenditure from the collection.

Self-funded clients

A self-funded client is an individual who pays the full direct cost of the services they receive and chooses not to accept support planning or care management offered by the local authority (for example, regular reviews). In these cases, the local authority does not incur ongoing support costs and has no role in arranging or reviewing care. As such, self-funded clients should be excluded entirely from the ASCFR.

Welfare provision schemes

Local welfare provision schemes are included in the MHCLG protective, central and other services revenue outturn (RO6) and are therefore excluded from the ASCFR.

Annex A - SSMSS apportioning

See below for an example of SSMSS cost apportionment.

The example covers a regional care manager who is employed to oversee all long-term care provision for people aged over 65 in a local authority. The cost of this is £50,000. Because the manager covers all long-term care, their cost cannot be directly attributed to a service line. As such, it is apportioned across all service lines covering long-term care for those aged 65 and over.

To calculate the percentages to use when apportioning, the expenditure per service line is divided by the total expenditure for all service lines being used (£86,400 or the sum of all of column A), and multiplied by 100 to provide a percentage.

For ‘physical support - nursing’ below:

The percentages calculated in column B are then multiplied by the entire SSMSS cost (£50,000) to give the apportioned cost to include in the service line (column C). This would be 6.9% of £50,000, which is £3,472.22.

As such, this should then be added to the service line costs reported in columns C, D or E (as appropriate), and reported separately in column S.

In the table below, N/A stands for ‘not applicable’.

Table 3: worked example for SSMSS apportioning

FR001B	Support setting	Expenditure (A)	Percentage of total expenditure on LTS for people aged 65 and over (B)	Apportion of SSMSS cost (C)
Physical support	Nursing	£6,000	6.9%	£3,472.22
Physical support	Residential	£37,000	42.8%	£21,412.04
Physical support	Supported accommodation	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Physical support	Community: direct payments	£700	0.8%	£405.09
Physical support	Community: home care	£17,000	19.7%	£9,837.96
Physical support	Community: supported living	£100	0.1%	£57.87
Physical support	Community: other long-term care	£1,400	1.6%	£810.19
Physical support	Fairer charging income	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sensory support	Nursing	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Sensory support	Residential	£200	0.2%	£115.74
Sensory support	Supported accommodation	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Sensory support	Community: direct payments	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Sensory support	Community: home care	£100	0.1%	£57.87
Sensory support	Community: supported living	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Sensory support	Community: other long-term care	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Sensory support	Fairer charging income	N/A	N/A	N/A
Support with memory and cognition	Nursing	£1,700	2.0%	£983.80
Support with memory and cognition	Residential	£7,900	9.1%	£4,571.76
Support with memory and cognition	Supported accommodation	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Support with memory and cognition	Community: direct payments	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Support with memory and cognition	Community: home care	£600	0.7%	£347.22
Support with memory and cognition	Community: supported living	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Support with memory and cognition	Community: other long-term care	£200	0.2%	£115.74
Support with memory and cognition	Fairer charging income	N/A	N/A	N/A
Learning disability support	Nursing	£200	0.2%	£115.74
Learning disability support	Residential	£800	0.9%	£462.96
Learning disability support	Supported accommodation	£100	0.1%	£57.87
Learning disability support	Community: direct payments	£200	0.2%	£115.74
Learning disability support	Community: home care	£300	0.3%	£173.61
Learning disability support	Community: supported living	£1,800	2.1%	£1,041.67
Learning disability support	Community: other long-term care	£100	0.1%	£57.87
Learning disability support	Fairer charging income	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mental health support	Nursing	£2,700	3.1%	£1,562.50
Mental health support	Residential	£6,200	7.2%	£3,587.96
Mental health support	Supported accommodation	£0	0.0%	£0.00
Mental health support	Community: direct payments	£100	0.1%	£57.87
Mental health support	Community: home care	£700	0.8%	£405.09
Mental health support	Community: supported living	£200	0.2%	£115.74
Mental health support	Community: other long-term care	£100	0.1%	£57.87
Mental health support	Fairer charging income	N/A	N/A	N/A
All	Grand total	£86,400	100.0%	£50,000.00