Guidance

Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund Grant Determination 2023 to 2024

Updated 4 April 2023

Applies to England

Adult Social Care Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund Grant Determination (2023-24): No 31/6646

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety (“the Minister”), in exercise of the powers conferred by section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, makes the following determination: 

Citation

1. This determination may be cited as the Adult Social Care Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund Grant Determination (2023-24): No 31/6646.

Purpose of the grant

2. The purpose of the grant is to provide support to local authorities in England towards expenditure lawfully incurred or to be incurred by them. It is intended to enable local authorities to make tangible improvements to adult social care, in particular to increase social care capacity through reducing social care waiting times, increasing fee rates, and increasing workforce capacity and retention.

Determination  

3. The Minister determines as the authorities to which grant is to be paid and the amount of grant to be paid, the authorities and amounts which are set out in Annex A.

4. The grant will be paid in monthly instalments.

Grant conditions  

5. Pursuant to section 31(4) of the Local Government Act 2003, the Minister determines that the grant will be paid subject to the conditions specified in Annex B.

Treasury consent

6. Before making this determination in relation to local authorities in England, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State obtained the consent of the Treasury.

Signed by authority of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety.

Lucy Pedrick, Deputy Director
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
April 2023

Annex A: Adult Social Care Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund allocations to local authorities 2023-24

Local authority*	Allocations to local authorities 2023-24 from the £162m portion	Allocations to local authorities 2023-24 from the £400m portion	Allocations to local authorities 2023-24
Barking and Dagenham	£616,316	£1,521,769	£2,138,085
Barnet	£977,055	£2,412,482	£3,389,537
Barnsley	£835,921	£2,064,002	£2,899,922
Bath and North East Somerset	£492,583	£1,216,255	£1,708,838
Bedford	£419,048	£1,034,687	£1,453,735
Bexley	£626,653	£1,547,291	£2,173,944
Birmingham	£3,780,199	£9,333,826	£13,114,025
Blackburn with Darwen	£515,981	£1,274,027	£1,790,009
Blackpool	£609,987	£1,506,141	£2,116,128
Bolton	£938,319	£2,316,837	£3,255,157
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	£1,181,178	£2,916,490	£4,097,669
Bracknell Forest	£244,239	£603,060	£847,299
Bradford	£1,550,616	£3,828,682	£5,379,299
Brent	£906,550	£2,238,395	£3,144,944
Brighton and Hove	£829,346	£2,047,767	£2,877,112
Bristol	£1,369,147	£3,380,610	£4,749,757
Bromley	£803,557	£1,984,092	£2,787,649
Buckinghamshire Council	£1,128,140	£2,785,531	£3,913,671
Bury	£551,280	£1,361,185	£1,912,465
Calderdale	£621,416	£1,534,361	£2,155,778
Cambridgeshire	£1,568,738	£3,873,427	£5,442,166
Camden	£867,889	£2,142,937	£3,010,826
Central Bedfordshire	£584,531	£1,443,287	£2,027,818
Cheshire East	£979,180	£2,417,729	£3,396,910
Cheshire West and Chester	£990,373	£2,445,365	£3,435,738
City of London	£32,934	£81,318	£114,251
Cornwall	£1,885,534	£4,655,640	£6,541,174
Coventry	£1,046,967	£2,585,103	£3,632,070
Croydon	£945,904	£2,335,565	£3,281,469
Cumberland**	£1,034,121	£2,272,142	£3,306,263
Darlington	£338,291	£835,286	£1,173,577
Derby	£775,284	£1,914,282	£2,689,566
Derbyshire	£2,448,432	£6,045,510	£8,493,941
Devon	£2,413,484	£5,959,221	£8,372,705
Doncaster	£1,019,169	£2,516,466	£3,535,635
Dorset Council	£1,152,060	£2,844,591	£3,996,651
Dudley	£1,054,094	£2,602,701	£3,656,795
Durham	£1,905,104	£4,703,959	£6,609,063
Ealing	£956,859	£2,362,614	£3,319,473
East Riding of Yorkshire	£976,029	£2,409,947	£3,385,976
East Sussex	£1,745,314	£4,309,418	£6,054,732
Enfield	£876,579	£2,164,393	£3,040,971
Essex	£3,995,659	£9,865,824	£13,861,482
Gateshead	£764,967	£1,888,808	£2,653,775
Gloucestershire	£1,707,739	£4,216,641	£5,924,380
Greenwich	£897,937	£2,217,128	£3,115,065
Hackney	£948,377	£2,341,672	£3,290,049
Halton	£431,414	£1,065,220	£1,496,634
Hammersmith and Fulham	£619,907	£1,530,635	£2,150,542
Hampshire	£3,209,285	£7,924,161	£11,133,447
Haringey	£775,037	£1,913,670	£2,688,707
Harrow	£654,634	£1,616,381	£2,271,015
Hartlepool	£338,258	£835,206	£1,173,464
Havering	£678,836	£1,676,138	£2,354,975
Herefordshire	£594,414	£1,467,689	£2,062,103
Hertfordshire	£2,790,730	£6,890,692	£9,681,422
Hillingdon	£702,748	£1,735,179	£2,437,927
Hounslow	£674,556	£1,665,570	£2,340,125
Isle of Wight	£517,330	£1,277,359	£1,794,689
Isles of Scilly	£8,546	£21,102	£29,648
Islington	£867,975	£2,143,148	£3,011,123
Kensington and Chelsea	£585,094	£1,444,676	£2,029,770
Kent	£4,160,993	£10,274,057	£14,435,050
Kingston upon Hull	£980,737	£2,421,572	£3,402,308
Kingston upon Thames	£386,896	£955,298	£1,342,194
Kirklees	£1,255,420	£3,099,802	£4,355,222
Knowsley	£659,513	£1,628,426	£2,287,939
Lambeth	£1,018,518	£2,514,860	£3,533,379
Lancashire	£3,724,752	£9,196,920	£12,921,672
Leeds	£2,234,742	£5,517,882	£7,752,625
Leicester	£1,062,273	£2,622,897	£3,685,171
Leicestershire	£1,629,617	£4,023,746	£5,653,363
Lewisham	£923,320	£2,279,803	£3,203,124
Lincolnshire	£2,273,366	£5,613,250	£7,886,616
Liverpool	£1,996,048	£4,928,513	£6,924,560
Luton	£531,984	£1,313,541	£1,845,525
Manchester	£1,799,584	£4,443,416	£6,243,000
Medway	£673,563	£1,663,119	£2,336,682
Merton	£504,839	£1,246,516	£1,751,356
Middlesbrough	£511,608	£1,263,229	£1,774,837
Milton Keynes	£612,953	£1,513,463	£2,126,416
Newcastle upon Tyne	£1,013,061	£2,501,385	£3,514,445
Newham	£991,179	£2,447,355	£3,438,534
Norfolk	£2,820,608	£6,964,463	£9,785,071
North East Lincolnshire	£526,304	£1,299,517	£1,825,821
North Lincolnshire	£513,620	£1,268,198	£1,781,819
North Northamptonshire	£851,913	£2,103,488	£2,955,401
North Somerset	£623,663	£1,539,909	£2,163,572
North Tyneside	£695,977	£1,718,461	£2,414,438
North Yorkshire**	£1,635,931	£4,039,335	£5,675,265
Northumberland	£1,026,980	£2,535,754	£3,562,734
Nottingham	£1,046,269	£2,583,380	£3,629,648
Nottinghamshire	£2,380,772	£5,878,450	£8,259,223
Oldham	£757,589	£1,870,591	£2,628,180
Oxfordshire	£1,546,799	£3,819,258	£5,366,057
Peterborough	£535,721	£1,322,769	£1,858,490
Plymouth	£866,771	£2,140,174	£3,006,945
Portsmouth	£601,032	£1,484,029	£2,085,060
Reading	£384,414	£949,170	£1,333,584
Redbridge	£753,284	£1,859,960	£2,613,244
Redcar and Cleveland	£486,152	£1,200,375	£1,686,527
Richmond upon Thames	£446,068	£1,101,403	£1,547,472
Rochdale	£748,142	£1,847,264	£2,595,406
Rotherham	£908,069	£2,242,145	£3,150,214
Rutland	£91,611	£226,200	£317,812
Salford	£889,426	£2,196,113	£3,085,539
Sandwell	£1,247,351	£3,079,880	£4,327,231
Sefton	£1,029,298	£2,541,475	£3,570,773
Sheffield	£1,826,053	£4,508,772	£6,334,825
Shropshire	£940,831	£2,323,039	£3,263,870
Slough	£347,931	£859,088	£1,207,019
Solihull	£587,490	£1,450,594	£ 2,038,084
Somerset**	£1,685,858	£4,162,612	£5,848,470
South Gloucestershire	£631,156	£1,558,409	£2,189,565
South Tyneside	£617,801	£1,525,434	£2,143,235
Southampton	£748,836	£1,848,977	£2,597,812
Southend-on-Sea	£556,200	£1,373,334	£1,929,534
Southwark	£1,060,187	£2,617,746	£3,677,933
St. Helens	£649,928	£1,604,759	£2,254,687
Staffordshire	£2,390,826	£5,903,274	£8,294,100
Stockport	£866,170	£2,138,692	£3,004,863
Stockton-on-Tees	£570,536	£1,408,731	£1,979,267
Stoke-on-Trent	£899,030	£2,219,826	£3,118,856
Suffolk	£2,201,444	£5,435,665	£7,637,110
Sunderland	£1,058,250	£2,612,963	£3,671,212
Surrey	£2,696,380	£6,657,729	£9,354,109
Sutton	£497,666	£1,228,804	£1,726,470
Swindon	£519,247	£1,282,092	£1,801,340
Tameside	£778,974	£1,923,394	£2,702,368
Telford and Wrekin	£522,646	£1,290,484	£1,813,130
Thurrock	£441,588	£1,090,340	£1,531,928
Torbay	£559,291	£1,380,966	£1,940,258
Tower Hamlets	£988,851	£2,441,608	£3,430,459
Trafford	£638,351	£1,576,174	£2,214,525
Wakefield	£1,112,991	£2,748,126	£3,861,117
Walsall	£966,482	£2,386,375	£3,352,856
Waltham Forest	£734,867	£1,814,487	£2,549,354
Wandsworth	£875,783	£2,162,427	£3,038,209
Warrington	£556,023	£1,372,896	£1,928,918
Warwickshire	£1,508,344	£3,724,307	£5,232,651
West Berkshire	£338,106	£834,829	£1,172,935
Westmorland and Furness**	£658,253	£1,906,561	£2,564,815
West Northamptonshire	£982,135	£2,425,025	£3,407,160
West Sussex	£2,229,830	£5,505,753	£7,735,583
Westminster	£893,132	£2,205,265	£3,098,398
Wigan	£1,074,750	£2,653,705	£3,728,455
Wiltshire	£1,230,568	£3,038,440	£4,269,008
Windsor and Maidenhead	£321,609	£794,095	£1,115,704
Wirral	£1,215,250	£3,000,617	£4,215,866
Wokingham	£271,073	£669,315	£940,388
Wolverhampton	£929,122	£2,294,129	£3,223,251
Worcestershire	£1,609,622	£3,974,375	£5,583,997
York	£493,965	£1,219,668	£1,713,633
England			£562,000,000

*Funding paid to local authorities with responsibility for adult social care only

**On 1 April 2023 the following unitary authorities will be established:

• Cumberland, comprising the areas of Allerdale, Carlisle, Copeland and part of Cumbria County Council.

• Westmorland and Furness, comprising the areas of Barrow-in-Furness, Eden, South Lakeland and part of Cumbria County Council.

• North Yorkshire, comprising the areas of Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby.

• Somerset, comprising the areas of Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset and Somerset West and Taunton.

Annex B: Grant conditions

In this Annex:

• “the Department” means the Department of Health and Social Care
• “fee rate” means the rate determined and paid by a local authority to providers for care and support services.
• “grant” means the amounts set out in Annex A for each recipient authority
• “recipient authority” means the relevant local authority as listed on Annex A to this determination
• “Market Sustainability Plan” means a written assessment of the current rates the local authority pays for care, the impact this is having on the market and the potential future risks in the local market. The plan will also need to outline mitigating actions for managing these risks and developing a more sustainable market. For the purpose of the grant, recipient authorities will be required to submit an update to the Market Sustainability Plans that they submitted as part of the Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund in March 2023. The update will include a capacity plan.
• “Minister” means the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety

This grant determination is supported by the Market Sustainability and Improvement guidance that sets out further detail on the grant and recipient authorities responsibilities in administering it.

Use of the grant

1. The first condition is that the recipient authority must allocate its full grant allocation on adult social care, as part of a substantial increase in planned adult social care spending.

a. The maintained £162 million element of the grant must be used to continue to support the progress local authorities and providers have already made in 2022-23 on increasing fee rates to move towards paying a fair cost of care.

b. The additional £400 million element of the grant must be used on adult social care, in accordance with condition 2 below.

2. The second condition is that the £400 million element of the grant must be used to make improvements in at least one of the Target Areas. The Target Areas are the priority areas, as specified by the Department, to improve through use of the grant. The Department will monitor these areas through specified performance metrics in order to assess levels of improvement. The Target Areas are:

• Increasing fee rates paid to adult social care providers in local areas
• Increasing adult social care workforce capacity and retention
• Reducing adult social care waiting times

a. Further information on each of the Target Areas is provided in the supporting Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund guidance.

b. In accordance with condition 3 below the recipient authority must provide evidence of improvement in at least one of the Target Areas by reporting on performance metrics which are set out in the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund guidance provided by the Department. The Target Areas chosen by the recipient authority should support the most pressing needs in their local area. The recipient authority must confirm in their Initial Report which of the Target Areas it will be aiming to improve alongside planned spend on each.

c. In addition to this, recipient authorities should provide assurance that other target areas have not worsened and as such, recipient authorities must report on all the performance metrics as set out in the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund guidance provided by the Department.

d. The Department will provide guidance, templates and wider, ongoing support to help authorities meet the grant conditions and achieve the purpose of the funding as set out in paragraph 2 of the grant determination.

3. The third condition is that recipient authorities must provide:

a. An Initial Report by 11:59pm on 24 May 2023 which must include:

i. Confirmation that the recipient authority’s share of the grant has been allocated in full to adult social care;

ii. Confirmation that the recipient authority’s share of the continued £162 million component of the fund has been used to maintain fee uplifts originally made as part of the 2022-23 Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund;

iii. Confirmation of which of the three Target Areas the authority will be aiming to improve alongside planned spend on each; and

iv. Reporting of all the required performance metrics specified in the guidance.

b. A Final Report by 11:59pm on 22 May 2024 which must include:

i. Confirmation that the grant has been spent in full on adult social care;

ii. Confirmation that the recipient authority’s share of the continued £162 million component of the fund has been used to maintain fee uplifts;

iii. A completed ‘Spend Return’ section of the Final Report template; and

iv. A record of all the performance metrics specified in the guidance.

c. Recipient authorities should make use of any templates provided by the Department.

4. The fourth condition is that recipient authorities must provide an update to their Market Sustainability Plan by 11:59pm on 30 June 2023, which involves providing a capacity plan. The exact data that the authority must input into the plan is set out in the supporting guidance.

5. Final templates for the Initial Report, Final Report and updated Market Sustainability Plan will be provided by the Department in due course. Final reports must be approved by the recipient authority’s chief executive or s151 officer. To assist the recipient authority with the additional cost of completing the returns, it may use up to a limit of, and must not exceed, the highest value of either:

• £10,000 of their overall grant allocation, or,
• 0.3% of their overall grant allocation

6. The contact details for submitting the returns at conditions 3 and 4 are: MSIFCorrespondence@dhsc.gov.uk. The Department reserves the right to provide for a later date for submission, update the means by which returns are submitted, and may provide alternative methods for submission in future, including a web-based system for greater efficiency.

7. Where a recipient authority identifies Target Areas where the performance metrics do not indicate any improvement, Officials from the Department may engage with the recipient authority to understand what additional support may be required to meet the grant conditions or to explain why the performance metrics indicate no improvement. This may include asking the recipient authority to provide more performance data, repeat exercises, or work with a neighbouring recipient authority with a similar market to ascertain the reason for any failure to improve.

8. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care may at any time require a further external validation to be carried out by an appropriately qualified independent accountant or auditor, on the use of the grant.

Payment arrangements

9. The grant funding set out in Annex A will be paid in monthly instalments. The Minister reserves the right to alter the timing or amount of grants payments.

10. Funding from the grant must be spent within the designated financial year. If any funding from the grant is not spent within the designated financial year, the Minister may require repayment of the grant monies paid, as may be determined by the Minister and notified in writing to the recipient authority.

Financial management 

11. A recipient authority must maintain a sound system of internal financial controls.

12. If a recipient authority has any grounds for suspecting financial irregularity in the use of any grant paid under this funding agreement, it must notify the Department immediately, explain what steps are being taken to investigate the suspicion and keep the Department informed about the progress of the investigation. For these purposes “financial irregularity” includes fraud or other impropriety, mismanagement, and the use of grant for purposes other than those for which it was provided.

Breach of conditions and withholding future funding

13. If the recipient authority fails to comply with any of these conditions, or if any overpayment is made under this grant, or any amount is paid in error, or any unspent funding is not returned, the Minister may reduce, suspend or withhold grant payments or require the repayment of the whole or any part of the grant monies paid, as may be determined by the Minister and notified in writing to the recipient authority. Such sum as has been notified will immediately become repayable to the Minister who may offset the sum against any future amount due to the recipient authority from central government.

14. The list below contains examples of a breach of the grant conditions:

a. Inappropriate use of funding, or no evidence of funding having been spent on the specified purpose.

b. Failure to submit one or more of the documents as specified in paragraphs 3-4, and/or submission of incomplete documents, and/or documents that are not submitted by the deadline.

c. No improvements in any of the target areas. In this case, as set out in Condition 2 above, the Department will take steps to provide authorities with the opportunity to explain how they have used the funding and any additional context before considering further measures.

d. An updated Market Sustainability Plan that does not include a full capacity plan as required by the relevant template.