Adult Social Care Market Position Statement

Introduction

Welcome to Somerset Council’s Market Position Statement (2025-26) which supports our 2023-26 Adult Social Care Strategy and Commissioning Strategy.

We have many things for be thankful for in Somerset: our skilled and dedicated workforce, excellent partners in the NHS and voluntary organisations and a strong sense of community in all corners of our county. We are very grateful for this chance to thank them and acknowledge how much we value them.

The Statement helps us to meet our legal duty to sustain and shape our local care market and provides a summary of the current Social Care Market in Somerset for 2025/26. The content of our MPS provides an overview of Adult Social Care’s current commissioning intentions, market pressures and ambition that support existing strategic objectives for Somerset Council.

Within the Market Position Statement there are several different markets that deliver different services or support to adults across Somerset, and we acknowledge that each market has varying levels of complexities; including locality pressures, market demand, capacity, quality, and stability.

The Market Position Statement has been written to support care and support providers that either currently support, or who are interested in opportunities to support, Somerset residents. This includes information and analysis on:

• How we see Somerset changing, our ambitions in responding to that change, and what changes mean for people relying on local care and support services as well as for our care market;
• What services and support are available, any gaps, and how services should be delivered, to help both current and prospective providers;
• Our commissioning intentions to support and guide local care providers to shape and develop their services to meet local need and demand, setting out future needs and opportunities for providers.

The content of the Market Position Statement will be updated every 6-12 months, dependant on any significant changes. The date on which each section has been updated is shown at the bottom of the page.

What is an Market Position Statement?

The purpose of a Market Position Statement (MPS) is to outline what services are currently delivered within a local authority area, and to signal to the care and support market and partners, including voluntary, community and faith organisations, current and future development opportunities.

Market Position Statements were introduced as part of Local Authority market shaping duties under The Care Act (2014) and are a starting point for market engagement and facilitation.

We are publishing our MPS through this microsite as it is our intention to update individual sections on a regular basis going forwards. We hope that care and support providers will find this helpful, but will always welcome feedback – including requests for additional information – and this can be sent to commissioningteammailbox@somerset.gov.uk

In addition to our MPS as a requirement of the Procurement Act 2025 Somerset Council will be publishing information about current and future public contract opportunities. This document will cover all contract opportunities, not just those within Adults Social Care, and once available we will add a link to this page.