Market statement – day opportunities

Day opportunities support adults with needs or disabilities, such as learning disabilities, autism, mental health, physical and sensory issues, or older people during the day to help with learning new skills, becoming ready for work, being part of the community and increasing independence and confidence – as well as enabling a break for unpaid carers. People can access these services themselves, by using a direct payment, or organised by adult social care.

The term ‘day opportunities’ may mean different things to each person. For some, a building-based day centre setting can meet their needs, but for others there are a different options such as training, education and employment, lunch clubs, or a taking part in activities online. Having different options makes the offer more personal for people.

Key components and principles

We worked with local people and carers previously to agree key components and principles that are important which should apply to day opportunities in our area. 

Components:

• meet individual outcomes for social interaction and physical and mental stimulation
• meet carer outcomes for respite and peace of mind
• meet care and support needs

Principles: 

• promote and maintain independence in a personalised way, flexible and responsive
• promote learning in a stimulating and supportive environment
• deliver greater integration and partnership with local communities
• maximise the accessibility/inclusivity of community facilities

Current market status

There are currently 39 external providers of day opportunities. Eight of these are in Central Bedfordshire, and 31 in other areas but support people who live in Central Bedfordshire. These providers offer services for a range of needs including people with acquired brain injury, learning disabilities, dementia, and complex needs. We also provide our own day centres and online day activities.   

We have four day centres for older people:

• Beehive Day Centre – Silsoe (previously Ampthill Day Centre) 
• Leighton Buzzard Day Centre 
• Biggleswade Day Centre 
• Houghton Regis Day Centre 

As well as day centres, there are other more informal day activities available in the local community like social opportunities, walks, lunch clubs, and other leisure activities. Some activities focus on particular outcomes, such as employment or learning a skill. Being able to offer different options for people with different needs of levels of support relies on the provider organisation. Our offer is a mix of services that are regularly based in one single building, and services that are offered out in the community. However, at the moment there is limited options for supporting people to progress based on the outcomes a person is trying to achieve – for example if someone is going to the same day centre there is often no plan or opportunity for them to work towards moving to something else. 

Market data and insight

The following information is based on spend for Day Opportunities in 2023/24 for Central Bedfordshire: 

• external providers – £4 million (not all are building-based services)
• Direct Payments for day opportunities – £509,279.98

These figures do not include in-house and online day services, informal day opportunities or self-funders. 

In 2023, we did a review to help us write this summary. This included talking to people who use day services and professionals involved in this area. It told us that there is:

• a need for more opportunities that focus on progression such as employment opportunities, volunteering, learning opportunities or accessing general community activities in the local area with someone to support them
• a need to reduce travel time for attendees by making sure there is options in the local community
• more information needed on what we could offer as day opportunities for people with mental health needs
• more provision needed for meeting complex needs such as Dementia, profound and multiple learning disability, people with physical access needs and challenging behaviours
• a need for more choice for older people, with some preferring a move away from the typical day centre offer

Market risks

As the population continues to age, this could put more pressure on health and social care services.

There may be opportunities created by the use of new technology which can reduce the number of people who need a more formal day offer setting.

The increases to cost of living will have an impact on providers being able to keep their services open, with payment of the National Living Wage, rising prices of food, fuel and utilities.

The current model has lots of good points but can be unclear for people trying to find options that work for them. Many options are generic for everyone who attends or uses the offer, and do not have enough flexibility to think about individual outcomes and preferences. For example we could have more options that are available by the hour, specific sessions, or offer education term-time options.

There is a risk that unless we fix the gaps and, people may not reach their full potential and services may lack innovation and creativity. 

Current area of focus

We do not currently have a framework or approved provider list for our different providers of day opportunities in place but we will look at what is best suited for this market and are scoping options for the future. Updates will be added to this market summary.

Making the best use of resources, such as money and staff, at a time when there are financial challenges in public sector services, is really important to make sure we can offer the best possible services now and in the future.

We recognise that the best outcomes for individuals can often come from having lots of choice for people, with an offer that is in a good location for them, is varied, and flexible enough to suit their needs.

Based on the review and feedback collected in 2023/24, the market would benefit from further provision in the following areas: 

• mental health: we want to work with local providers to offer more day opportunities for mental health, in different suitable formats
• complex needs: we have some services that support people with complex needs but we need more for people with dementia, profound and multiple learning disabilities, and accessible places
• locations: having day opportunities in places that people can easily get to, and more options for accessing activities in the community with support which means they can be local to each person. We want to help people make use of what is already in their community
• progression opportunities: people told us they want more day opportunities that can offer things like skills development, employment readiness support, training and volunteering opportunities
• support for smaller organisations that are reporting as under-subscribed

Commissioning intentions

We want to keep offering good quality day opportunities and support that is engaging, develops people’s skills, and helps residents to feel connected with peers and their local communities. To add to the specialist or targeted provision we have talked about above, we want to make sure that the services that the general public can access are disability confident, accessible and inclusive for everyone. The Commissioning Team will work with external providers to shape future day opportunity activities and to connect residents to existing opportunities available in the community to make it possible for them to use these to achieve their outcomes.

As part of our work we are aiming to put in place a model to give more structure and stability to the day opportunities market, ensure best value, and encourage a varied offer. We will continue to update this information as we progress.

For more detail or a discussion about any of the above information please contact: strategic.commissioning@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.