The Care Quality Commission (CQC) published a lengthy report on Friday (June 5), detailing the results of a lengthy inspection of the council’s adult social care services carried out in September 2025.

While the report praises the work ethic of front-line staff (including carers and occupational therapists), the CQC has identified numerous area of concern, including the lengthy wait for assessments and the struggle to recruit and retain the necessary staff.

The council said it was working hard to make improvements where they had been identified and would work closely with the NHS and other partners to improve outcomes for local residents.

What did the CQC report say?

Adult social care forms a significant share of Somerset Council’s budget (Image: Supplied)

The CQC report measures the council against the aims of the Care Act 2014, looking at how well its staff work with local people, how it provides support to patients, how it ensures safety in the system and how well it takes leadership on a range of issues.

The report found a number of significant shortcomings within the council’s approach to adult social care – namely:

Not ensuring social care expertise was “consistently present as a first point of contact”, with the council relying on on-call specialists despite receiving nearly 5,300 referrals per month

Not handling complaints effectively with nearly 86 per cent of complaints being upheld by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (higher than the national average of nearly 75 per cent)

Not completing deprivation of liberty safeguards (DLA) assessments in a timely fashion – with one dementia patient waiting nearly seven years for such an assessment, and “no clear plan” to deal with the backlog

The report noted that there were long waits for assessments “across all areas of provision”, with the council struggling to recruit and retain staff.

It also founded that improvements were required to “ensure all safeguarding concerns received were actioned appropriately”.

The report was not entirely negative, with the CQC praising the council working with external partners to “use data and feedback more effectively” and its decision to spend more money on “prevention support”, cutting the need for hospital stays by 35 per cent.

Chris Badger, the CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: “During our assessment of Somerset Council, we found an authority whose leaders and staff wanted to improve the quality of services, but faced challenges both financially and structurally that were affecting their ability to make a difference to people’s experiences.

“The council was still unsettled following its transition to a unitary authority in 2023, and changes to the adult social care team structure were still affecting people’s experiences of accessing care and support.

“However, there was some evidence of progress and staff were positive about the changes being made.

“Leaders and staff at the council know the areas where improvements are needed and are working to develop and embed improvements. We look forward to seeing how this work progresses to improve people’s access to care and support.”

How has the council reacted to the inspection?

Councillor Sarah Wakefield, portfolio holder for adults’ services, housing and homelessness (Image: Somerset Council)

Somerset Council said it was already taking steps to address the areas of concern which the CQC had identified.

The improvements include:

Commissioning a 24-hour self-service tool that helps carers find local support and carers’ groups quickly

Setting up an oversight group to review the timeliness of assessments and reviews, prioritising those at greatest need

Using data to track trends and target resource and supporting people using self-directed and direct payments, which is above the England average

Since the Lib Dems’ victory at the local elections in May 2022, the council’s spending on adult social care has risen significantly – with an increase of £80m between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

The CQC also noted that the council was aware of the areas needing improvement, had a good relationship with “micro-providers” in rural areas and had “positive examples of innovation”, such as the use of village agents as a point of contact.

Councillor Sarah Wakefield, portfolio holder for adults services, housing and homelessness, said: “We are disappointed by the findings of the CQC’s assessment, but we want to reassure the people who use our services, their families and carers that our focus remains on ensuring people receive safe, high-quality support.

Spending on adult social care has risen significantly in recent years (Image: Newsquest)

“Despite the overall rating, we are encouraged that the report recognises areas of good practice and the dedication of our workforce.

“We are fully committed to addressing the areas identified for improvement and are building on the progress we have already made since our assessment in September. Importantly, many of the areas identified by the CQC are already part of this work.

“Looking to the future, we are working closely with partners, including the NHS, care providers, and the voluntary and community sector, to ensure that our services are joined up and focussed on what matters most to the people we support.

“We would like to thank the many people, carers, staff and partners who contributed to the assessment.”

How have opposition figures reacted?

Councillor Lucy Trimnell (Conservative, Wincanton and Bruton) (Image: Somerset Council)

Councillor Lucy Trimnell, shadow portfolio holder for adult services, housing and homelessness, said that the outcome of the inspection was “hugely disappointing” given the significant increase in spending over the last few years.

Mrs Trimnell (one of two Conservative councillors for Wincanton and Bruton) said: “With such a significant increase in the adult social care budget, alongside annual savings of around £10m, it is difficult to understand why this additional investment has not resulted in better recruitment to key roles, stronger performance in critical service areas, and improved outcomes for Somerset residents who rely on these services.

“This will be a hugely disappointing outcome for the dedicated adult social care workforce at Somerset Council.

“Staff are working hard to support residents, yet they are being let down by an administration that has failed to translate higher spending and additional savings into better services.

“Residents will rightly ask why they are paying substantially more in council tax to fund an additional £80m for adult services, yet the service is failing to meet the standards expected by the CQC.”

Sir Ashley Fox MP (Conservative, Bridgwater) (Image: Houses of Parliament)

Sir Ashley Fox, the Conservative MP for Bridgwater, added: “This report raises serious questions about the performance and competence of the Lib Dems running Somerset Council.

“While front-line staff and carers are working hard, the Lib Dems are still not providing effective leadership despite having been in charge of the council for four years.

“The report highlights delays of up to 938 days for Care Act assessments, 1,136 days for care reviews and 850 days for carers’ assessments. It also found that carers were not always aware of their rights, respite support was not consistently offered, and contingency planning was often lacking.

“The CQC says the council is still on a ‘journey of improvement’ and cannot consistently demonstrate that its various transformation programmes are delivering better outcomes for residents.

“Taxpayers will rightly ask how this can be the case after four years of Lib Dem control where they’ve spent millions of pounds on consultants and transformation programmes.

“Residents were told that these changes would improve services, become more efficient and deliver better outcomes – yet the CQC’s conclusion is that the council still cannot clearly demonstrate that those improvements are being delivered in practice.

“After years of restructuring, transformation plans and expensive consultancy support, residents deserve more than promises of future improvement. This should be a wake-up call for the Lib Dem administration.”