CQC rates Milton Keynes City Council’s adult social care provision as good

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated Milton Keynes City Council as good, in how well they are meeting their responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014).

CQC has a new duty under the Act to assess how local authorities work with their communities and partners to meet their responsibilities. This includes promoting the wellbeing and independence of working age disabled adults, older people, and their unpaid carers to reduce their need for formal support where appropriate. Where support is needed it should provide people with choice and control of how their care needs are met.

CQC looked at nine areas spread across four themes to assess how well the authority is meeting their responsibilities in order to create their good rating. CQC has given each of these nine areas a score out of four with one being the evidence shows significant shortfalls, and four showing an exceptional standard.

1.    assessing people’s needs: 2

2.    supporting people to lead healthier lives: 3

3.    equity in experience and outcomes: 3

4.    care provision, integration and continuity of care: 3

5.    partnership and communities: 4

6.    safe pathways, systems and transitions: 3

7.    safeguarding: 3

8.    governance, management and sustainability: 3

9.    learning, improvement and innovation: 4

Chris Badger, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said:

“At this assessment, we found people using adult social care services in Milton Keynes generally had positive experiences. Most people told us they felt safe, respected, and listened to. We saw staff treated people with compassion and commitment, and people shared examples of workers going the extra mile to provide both practical and emotional support.

“The local authority demonstrated strong and effective partnership working that had a clear and positive impact on people’s lives. Working with the integrated care board, the local authority helped people leave hospital when they were ready to, by making sure they had the equipment and support to return home safely. Partners consistently described their relationships with the local authority as productive and responsive.

“People valued timely support that helped prevent or delay the need for formal care, such as support to attend health appointments and stay connected to their communities. People also told us direct payments as empowering, enabling them and their carers to tailor support to meet their individual needs.  

“Milton Keynes worked closely with people using services, providing an inclusive space where their lived experience helped shape how services developed. Those involved told us they felt empowered and proud their contributions led to improvements, including a 10% increase in direct payment uptake and more person-centred assessments.

“Although the local authority’s approach to assessment was person-centred and focused on what people could do, as opposed to what they couldn’t, people’s experiences of their assessment journey were mixed. Some people told us they had concerns about communication when staff changed. The local authority recognises these issues and is taking action to reduce waiting times and improve the consistency of people’s experiences.

“Overall, Milton Keynes should be really pleased with the many positive findings in our report and their good rating. They’ve already told us how they’re planning to build on this further with improvement plans and we look forward to returning to see how their plans mature.”

The assessment team found:

1. CQC saw a strong culture of continuous learning and improvement across adult social care. Staff had access to a wide range of learning opportunities and leaders encouraged professional development.
2. The local authority maintained a stable and reliable homecare market. There were no waiting times for homecare, with 21 providers in the market and supported living placements often arranged within hours.
3. People gave positive feedback about the newly commissioned carers service and dedicated smartphone app, telling CQC they found advice and 24-hour information easy to access in one place.
4. The local authority provided a wide range of accessible communication support, including British Sign Language interpretation, multilingual services, easy-read and braille materials, and a website translation tool covering more than 100 languages to meet people’s diverse communication needs.
5. The local authority’s collaborative work with health, housing and voluntary sector partners reduced hospital stays of 15 days or less by 15%.
6. Safeguarding systems were well embedded. The local authority held over 1,000 risk management meetings with partners in the past year, and in 96.9% of safeguarding enquiries people’s desired outcomes were fully or partially achieved.

However, the assessment team also found:

1. A 44% increase in safeguarding referrals over the past year has led to longer wait times for some enquiries, though additional staff have been recruited to manage demand.
2. There were delays for some assessments and reviews. In September 2025, 170 people in the working-age adult team were waiting for a review. The local authority had introduced a waiting well policy to ensure urgent needs are addressed promptly.