Cumberland Council: local authority assessment

The local authority had regard to its Public Sector Equality Duty (Equality Act 2010) in the way it delivered its Care Act functions; there was an equality objective and an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Policy Position which aimed to improve the experiences and outcomes for people who were more likely to receive poor care outcomes. Beyond the scope of the Equality Act (2010) protected characteristics, the local authority had also formally recognised care experience (young people who have left children’s social care services) as a protected characteristic to support these people to be protected from discrimination.

The local authority understood and sought to address inequalities which impacted on people. Cumberland presented with some unique challenges, due to the size and rurality of the area, with local authority data showing 51.7% of people classified as living in rural areas (compared to the national average of 17.1%). A partner told us it was an area of sharp contrast between wealth and deprivation across areas, with high unemployment levels in Western areas and an increasing multi-cultural population. The EDI Policy Position also outlined the ethnic minority population had increased by 44% between 2011 and 2021, but this remained low at 5.1% overall (Census, Office of National Statistics, 2021).

Staff and leaders told us of the challenges and barriers for people due to the geography of Cumberland. A senior leader told us, for example, availability of services in different areas could be a 'postcode lottery', with in-person services not being available to all. The Joint HWB strategy (2023-2028) also highlighted access to services as a barrier for people in rural areas. Millom, at the Southern tip of Cumberland, was frequently mentioned by staff and leaders as an example of a rural area at risk of being isolated from services. Millom’s geographical location and inclusion in a different Integrated Care System (ICS) to the rest of Cumberland presented challenges for staff and leaders, but there were processes to maintain them as part of strategic conversations. The local authority Market Position Statement (2025-2029) also recognised local gaps for Millom, such as nursing services and day opportunities, for example. In response to these challenges, the local authority stated they were actively demonstrating Millom was being well served, with increased homecare uptake, as well as a residential service and an extra care housing service available locally. Despite this, equitable access to local services remained a challenge for some people.

The local authority had processes to support considerations of EDI during decision making but there was opportunity to better embed this in adult social care. A combined equality impact assessment tool was used to consider how decisions impacted on communities, and this was part of the commissioning procurement process. However, a leader and staff told us there was need to further embed EDI consideration in commissioning decisions, with for example the need to better use equality impact assessments. While there was consideration of EDI during tender processes, this was an area for development to consider impact on people.

A new EDI in Adult Social Care and Housing Action Plan (2025-2028) had launched in July 2025 as a foundation to develop EDI understanding, tools and approaches. The plan was based across themes of the local authority’s equality objective: “To tackle discrimination and advance equality of opportunity within Cumberland.” This gave actions specific to the Adult Social Care and Housing directorate and demonstrated its focus on EDI across Care Act duties. This was the local authority’s first plan of its kind and in its early stages, so the impact of this approach was not yet embedded but showed a positive direction.

The local authority was developing its approach to using data to support EDI oversight, recording and analysis. For example, leaders highlighted client-level EDI data had not always been recorded effectively, but new case recording standards highlighted the importance of this for staff. The EDI in Adult Social Care and Housing Action Plan (2025-2028) also outlined the need to use data to identify any themes relating to inequality, to review the impact of services and identify work required to improve approaches to addressing inequality. While there was a broad understanding of who was accessing services, with a leader telling us about demographic trends of people accessing adult social care, improved data collection and quality was needed to support effective oversight and to plan services appropriately. The local authority continued to develop its understanding of who was accessing services to better tailor support for communities.

There was ongoing work to better understand health inequalities, with the local authority securing funding through The National Institute of Health Research to develop research in this area. A leader told us the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) would help the local authority to better understand the health issues in the area with key focus areas of poverty; access to housing; pathways to employment; mental health; drug and alcohol use; obesity and food insecurity. This research would include the use of community co-researchers with lived experience between 2025-2027 and again showed the positive direction of the local authority in developing in-depth understanding of inequalities.

The local authority understood which groups were at risk of unmet needs in Cumberland and an approach to engagement and supporting these groups effectively was still being embedded. A ‘Stakeholder Map’ highlighted a wide range of people at risk of unmet need such as asylum seekers and refugees; Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities; neurodiverse people and people with learning disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual people (LGBTQ+); isolated or socially excluded older adults and substance use and recovery communities. The document did, however, group the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic population (BAME) which could mask the needs of people of different backgrounds under this banner. Despite this, the document demonstrated broad oversight of different seldom-heard groups locally.

There was a need to better engage with some seldom-heard communities, with the local authority taking steps to address this. A senior leader told us, for example, they recognised the need to improve engagement with ethnic minority communities. As part of the EDI Adult Social Care and Housing Action Plan, and as outlined in the Stakeholder Map, the local authority was developing approaches for engagement with groups. While this was currently more high-level, it gave an overview of plans to both engage and reduce inequalities for a range of communities.

The local authority had examples of engagement with communities across Cumberland to help better understand inequalities and barriers, but evidence of impact of these approaches were not yet embedded. For example, in a localised approach, there were community panels across Cumberland to gather local peoples’ voice for their distinct areas. A senior leader told us this was supporting the development of local neighbourhood plans and to break down barriers for seldom-heard groups. The local authority also worked with the VCSE to understand and work with communities. For example, Healthwatch had been commissioned to engage with communities through ‘neighbourhood cafes’ and complete projects such as ’Ageing Well in Cumberland’ (April 2025), which engaged with over 600 people across 15 towns. The Ageing Well project highlighted the inequalities older communities faced across Cumberland with clear themes and recommendations for the local authority to consider. The wider impact of this work was still embedding.

There was ongoing need to ensure people had equitable outcomes when accessing local authority services. For example, people with learning disabilities were experiencing some of the longest waits for annual reviews and this showed inequitable outcomes for these people. Action was being taken to reduce long waits for reviews for people with learning disabilities and an update from the local authority confirmed the longest waiting outstanding reviews had been completed by the end of July 2025.

The local authority was supporting the needs of asylum seekers and refugees. The local authority had recently passed a motion to join the ‘Cities of Sanctuary’ network and work toward the local authority sanctuary award. This involved increasing the voice of these communities, working with relevant community organisations, improving community cohesion, improving their health outcomes and reducing discrimination to accessing services. A senior leader also told us there were processes to support referrals into health, social care and housing services to support people with their needs. A partner also told us there had been positive work with the local authority to set up mental health services for this community. In a positive example provided by the local authority, a refugee with a physical disability was supported in a trauma-informed and personalised way by staff, overcoming language and cultural barriers to access better healthcare, housing and support for social inclusion. The local authority continued to strengthen its support for these groups to help reduce inequalities.

The local authority supported staff with a range of training around EDI to help to reduce inequalities for people accessing services. The training offer included a mix of face-to-face and online training and included specific areas such as EDI; cultural awareness; dementia awareness; sensory awareness; disability inclusion; trans and non-binary inclusion in practice; learning disabilities framework tier 1 and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Staff gave examples of supporting people from seldom-heard groups, from a mix of backgrounds, such as from rural, or socially isolated areas. Some staff teams also gave examples of where they supported people from ethnic minority backgrounds. In an example, a person from an eastern European background was supported to access community groups to help them develop links with a local community. In another example, a person’s personal care preferences were considered and met based on their cultural background. This supported people to achieve positive outcomes with reduced barriers to their care and support.

The local authority had inclusion and accessibility arrangements in place so that people could engage with the local authority in ways that worked for them, but this could be inconsistent.

There were interpreter services available to staff over the phone, through video call or in-person. There was mixed feedback on interpreter availability. For example, a senior leader and a partner felt there needed to be better interpretation resources to support asylum seekers and refugees. Staff teams told us they could usually get interpreters, but this may be over a call rather than in person. There were also occasions where staff used other staff members as interpreters for people. This was not considered best practice, but staff felt this was the best approach in some specific circumstances. Another staff team told us provision of interpreter services were increasing to support staff to access local interpreters, but this was a continued area of development.

In response to feedback about lack of interpretation resources to support asylum seekers and refugees, the local authority highlighted interpreter resource was available through its commissioned partner and its Global Resettlement Service (GRS) for these people.

Feedback on availability of British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation was also mixed. A partner told us people with hearing impairment had told them of their struggles in accessing BSL interpretation. A leader told us BSL interpreters were available to people but there could be challenge in access as there were only 3 interpreters currently used in the West of Cumberland. They told us there was ongoing co-production work with the deaf and hard of hearing community to look at this resource. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Adult Social Care and Housing Action Plan 2025-2028 also included a planned ‘deep dive’ focus on the deaf community.

The local authority had systems to make information more accessible for people, but this was an area for development. For example, easy read material was not consistently available for people to support them to understand processes and documentation. A staff team told us they would mostly source their own easy read information to support people they were working with. A partner also raised easy read versions of assessments and support plans had not been made available to people. There were, however, systems to support people who were visually impaired, such as through larger print documentation or braille. This was not always consistently applied, with a person telling us, for example, they had not received a copy of their assessment in larger font despite it being identified as an accessibility need on their assessment. There was opportunity to better support accessibility to information and processes.

The local authority supported staff with inclusive practice. For example, they provided an inclusive language guide which helped staff to create a welcoming environment for people, with a focus on people’s protected characteristics. A recent local authority thematic audit for April and May 2025 highlighted people’s specific communication needs were being considered as part of assessments.

There was opportunity for the local authority to ensure their approach to supporting autistic people was inclusive. A partner told us local authority systems did not always recognise the needs and challenges of autistic people. For example, they told us staff did not always understand autism when it was present without a dual diagnosis with a learning disability and this could be a barrier to accessing services and meant assessments were not always appropriately tailored to them. A staff team also told us they felt they would benefit from further training to support their understanding. In response to this, the local authority told us staff were being supported with level 1 and 2 training around autism. They also told us there was a range of resources, practice tools and guidance to support staff. This included a LeDeR (Learning from Lives and Deaths –People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People) workshop around supporting autistic people.

People with visual impairments were supported to be included and access information and service. The local authority had an in-house ROVI (Rehabilitation Officer for Visual Impairment) service. ROVIs provided a range of services for people including equipment and adaptations, specialist orientation, braille training and mobility training to allow people to access communities and public transport. They also provided training for OTs and social workers. A leader told us the service had an amazing impact for people and supported prevention. The service had strong links with the VCSE sector. In an example provided by a staff team, a person had been supported with long-cane training by the service, which supported them to improve their confidence and go back to work. The ROVI service supported people to maximise their independence and raise the profile of supporting people with visual impairments.

There was ongoing work to improve accessibility of website information. A leader told us the website was being reviewed to support compliance with accessible information standards. There had also been input from the ROVI service to support accessibility of information, with improvements ongoing.