PLANS are being put in place to ensure Cumberland Council is fully prepared ahead of a planned inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) next year.

Chris Jones-King, the council's director of adult social care and housing, was speaking to members of the people overview and scrutiny committee in Cumbria House in Carlisle on Friday (November 3).

A council report states that, although the date is yet to be confirmed, the CQC inspection is expected to take place in April 2024 and it will cost the local authority £20,000.

Mr Jones-King said that work was being undertaken to change from the previous "Cumbria footprint" to the new "Cumberland footprint".

He said they would probably be given six to nine weeks’ notice ahead of the inspection and added: "They will not just turn up and at least we will get a bit of notice which is helpful."

Councillor Sam Pollen (Egremont, Labour) said the main concern for him was the people who used the service and Mr Jones-King said: "We can ask people if they wouldn't mind talking to the CQC."

Cllr Pollen said he found the answer 'reassuring' and added: "It's a really important piece of work."

Mr Jones-King said that a number of actions were going to be implemented to improve performance including: completing a direct payment review; a relaunch of case audits at the beginning of this month; establishing a practice improvement framework; and improving data quality and updating case recording standards.

Councillor Chris Wills (Upperby, Lib Dems) said he felt councillors would benefit from safeguarding training and Mr Jones-King confirmed that such training was available.

He added: "We can do something with that."

Joel Rasbash, the council's strategic policy and scrutiny advisor, outlined a number of recommendations including: that members get to see any budget proposals and that they receive presentations from representatives from partner organisations.

The committee unanimously agreed with the recommendations he had suggested.