1.1 Explain the impact of national and local strategies and priorities on resource planning and management, including: • financial resources • physical resources • human resources

This guide will help you answer 1.1 Explain the impact of national and local strategies and priorities on resource planning and management, including: • financial resources • physical resources • human resources.

Impact of National and Local Strategies on Financial Resource Planning

National and local strategies set the direction for all adult care services in the UK. These strategies often start with government policies, white papers and regulatory frameworks. They include broad aims, legislative requirements and service priorities.

Financial resource planning is deeply affected by these strategies. Funding for adult social care often comes from central government, local authorities and sometimes NHS budgets. National priorities such as integration of health and social care, personalisation of services or public health outcomes influence how much funding is available and how it is distributed.

Examples of Influences

• Rising Demand: National strategies respond to trends like an ageing population or a focus on supporting people to live at home longer. This increases demand for funding in certain areas, such as home care.
• Austerity Policies: Local strategies reflect government spending constraints. This can cause tighter budgets and force providers to do more with less.
• Funded Priorities: Sometimes, the government will direct funding to specific issues, such as dementia care or workforce development. This limits how funds can be used.

When planning financial resources, managers must consider:

• Government priorities and ring-fenced funding grants
• Local authority commissioning strategies, which may focus on outcomes or value for money
• The need for contingency planning in response to shifting national priorities or economic circumstances
• Regulatory requirements, for example, CQC’s inspection criteria for ‘well-led’ services

All financial decisions must align with strategic priorities. This may affect investment in new services, upgrades to facilities or recruitment. For example, a local priority to reduce hospital admissions may require investment in reablement teams or rapid response staff.

Budget Management

Effective resource planning involves:

• Setting budgets based on likely income from local authorities or other funders
• Regular monitoring against budgets, looking for overspends or underspends in areas that link to set priorities
• Being able to adjust spending to reflect changes in national or local direction, such as a new drive to support people with learning disabilities
• Ensuring spending is accountable and transparent, in line with both national and local expectations

National and local strategies also affect how funding is obtained. Grant applications, tendering for contracts and partnership funding often require alignment with published priorities. Commissioners want to see that services support the government’s strategic aims.

Managers in adult care need to develop financial plans that are responsive. They must show planned use of resources will meet current and future national and local expectations, as well as demonstrating value for public money.

Impact of Strategies on Physical Resource Planning

Physical resources mean the spaces, buildings, vehicles, equipment and materials used to provide care. National and local strategies can reshape how these are managed, improved or replaced.

Key Influences

• CQC Standards: The Care Quality Commission sets out requirements for premises, safety and infection control in line with national policies. Inspections often lead to action plans that affect physical resource spending.
• Modernisation: National strategies may call for increased use of assistive technology to promote independence. This could mean investment in digital alarms, monitoring systems and adaptive equipment.
• Inclusion and Accessibility: National and local equality strategies require services to be accessible to all. This can affect building modifications, provision of accessible transport or adapted communal spaces.
• Sustainability: The NHS and local councils have carbon reduction strategies. Care homes and day services may be asked to reduce energy use or invest in greener vehicles and heating systems.

Local strategies often map the type and quality of physical resources available in their area. They may highlight gaps, such as a shortage of supported living places or accessible community facilities. Managers then need to consider these findings in their own planning.

Practice Impacts

• Carrying out audits to check compliance with required standards, such as fire safety or infection prevention
• Planning upgrades or renovations in line with service development plans
• Allocating budgets for maintenance, adaptation and replacement of worn-out equipment
• Ensuring that any expansion or change of use meets both government and local expectations about safety and inclusion

Physical resource planning is not only about buildings. It covers IT equipment—especially with the growth of digital care records. National strategies push for better data sharing and integration, so managers may need to invest in better computers, secure networks or staff training in new systems.

Impact on Human Resource Planning

Human resources (HR) means the staffing of a service, including recruitment, retention, development and support of the workforce. Staffing is a major area where national and local strategies have direct impact.

Workforce Strategies

Both national and local plans have long highlighted the challenge of recruiting and keeping skilled staff in adult care. There is often a focus on:

• Expanding the workforce to meet growing demand
• Improving pay, conditions and career development
• Training and professionalisation, including the Care Certificate and higher qualifications
• Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment and retention

One key national framework is the Skills for Care workforce development plan. Local authorities and integrated care partnerships may also have their own strategies and targets for workforce growth or development.

Impact on Managers

Managers must plan HR resources in such a way that the service can deliver what national and local authorities expect. This means:

• Matching staffing levels to service user needs, using safe staffing guidelines, dependency tools and commissioning contracts
• Investing in staff training to meet skills gaps highlighted in government strategies, such as dementia awareness or managing complex behaviours
• Creating recruitment and retention plans that reflect not just pay, but job design, workload and ongoing support—linking to national wellbeing priorities
• Embedding equality and diversity best practice to meet both legal and policy requirements
• Being aware of new roles and career pathways, for example, nursing associates or social prescribing link workers, that arise from national policy direction

Staff must understand and apply these priorities. Regular briefings, supervision and training keep everyone up to date. This requires time and budget, which must be built into workforce plans.

Practice in Action

To meet the national focus on personalised care, managers may need to recruit staff with specific skills or personal attributes. They could:

• Develop roles like care coordinators or wellbeing workers
• Hire bilingual staff, where local priorities call for support to minority groups
• Upskill existing staff through targeted training and development programmes
• Use succession planning to prepare future leaders in line with strategic goals

HR plans must also prepare for change. Resilience is important; if a local strategy shifts funding from residential to home care, for example, teams may need to be restructured or redeployed.

Strategic Directions and Everyday Management

Resource management draws on a combination of national vision, local context and service user need. Managers must balance these influences.

Coordination

Managers coordinate all three types of resource:

• Finances: Aligning spending with priority areas, responding to funding changes and meeting reporting requirements
• Physical assets: Ensuring all environments are safe, modern and suited to the preferred service model
• Staff: Having the right people, with the right skills, values and support systems to deliver top-quality care

Resource planning and management are ongoing processes. Effective managers use data and evidence to back their decisions. They involve staff, listen to feedback and work with commissioners and other partners. This supports continuous improvement and responsiveness to emerging priorities, such as a new drive for digital inclusion or tackling loneliness.

Working within Legal and Regulatory Frameworks

Resource planning must fit within a legal framework shaped by national and local strategies. National laws, such as the Care Act 2014 and Equality Act 2010, underpin how resources are used. Local strategies often interpret these laws for their own context.

Managers need to know:

• How funding rules affect what they can spend money on
• What minimum standards apply to premises and equipment
• How many staff with what qualifications and experience are required per shift
• What reporting or compliance requirements they need to meet

Staying compliant avoids sanctions and maintains good relationships with funders.

Examples of Recent Strategies and Priorities

To make this clearer, examples help:

• The People at the Heart of Care White Paper placed new emphasis on personalisation and support for home-based care, including more flexible approaches to commissioning and funding.
• The NHS Long Term Plan encouraged closer work between local health and social care services. This required more joint posts, new training and better integrated digital records.
• The Local Authority Market Position Statement might highlight high needs among adults with learning disabilities in a particular area. Managers might be asked to expand specialist teams or invest in bespoke community housing.
• Sustainability targets led some local authorities to require services to reduce paper, lower energy use and invest in electric vehicles for community care support.

The Need for Flexibility and Forward Planning

Managers who plan resources must be proactive and responsive. Priorities often change. Unexpected events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can trigger national and local emergency strategies. These may force quick reallocation of funds, major IT upgrades or emergency recruitment.

Forward planning means keeping in regular contact with commissioners, using scenario planning and having reserves or contingency options. This makes it easier to manage risks and seize new opportunities tied to future strategies.

Final Thoughts

National and local strategies and priorities shape all aspects of resource planning and management in adult care. Effective leadership requires careful attention to these strategies when planning:

• Financial resources, by aligning spending with priorities and funding available
• Physical resources, by maintaining safe and modern environments suited to service aims
• Human resources, by developing a workforce that can deliver according to current and future needs

Managers must keep up to date, communicate changes to their teams and involve staff and people who use services in ongoing improvement. Strong leadership, regular monitoring, and clear alignment with national and local direction are the keys to safe, high-quality, responsive care.