council provides. The social care team will work closely with other parts of the council and its partners, in particular with the NHS, to support the wider determinants of health and wellbeing. The council is committed to increase social connection in the borough, giving everyone as much choice and power in their lives as possible – so that people can live happier and healthier lives and get more of what they need from each other. The renewed focus on power and choice should create a more responsive care system, reflect the unique needs of the borough's communities, and improve the experience of users and carers going forward.
As of Q2 2025/26, there were 17 admissions into permanent residential and nursing care for residents aged between 18 and 64 years old, slightly above the target of 14. Similarly, the rate of admissions was 6.7 per 100,000 population, slightly exceeding the target of 6.1. Placement activity for working age adults has been noted as an area of growing demand and cost, with admissions to residential and nursing care homes for service users rising across England. To address this challenge, complex cases remain in scope for review through the service transformation programme and strengthened review panels.
In the second quarter of the year, 9.4% of adult social care service users were receiving direct payments (DPs), below the target of 12.4%. Residents eligible for the direct payments scheme receive money from the council to help pay for their care needs, allowing more control and flexibility to personalise their support. Following extensive training and rebranding of promotional materials, levels of awareness amongst residents about the DP scheme in the borough have increased, resulting in a growing number of referrals. 337 people who use adult social care services were in receipt of direct payments as of Q2 2025/26, an increase from 324 in Q1 2025/26. The council aims to increase the take up numbers during 2025/26 and has developed a comprehensive action plan with additional resources and capacity within the Ealing Direct Team to respond to the growing demand. It is projected that 400 DPs could be delivered by March 2026. Phase 1 of the DP programme is complete and the target for carers has been exceeded, with over 200 one-off carer DPs offered to date. The service is also exploring ways to broaden its DP offer to support social inclusion and extend the community-based support.
In Q2 2025/26, 83.6% of adult safeguarding enquiries (s42 enquiries) were concluded with the identified risk of abuse or neglect removed or reduced. Whilst the target of 90% has not yet been reached, the service has seen a steady month on month improvement in performance from 80.3% in Q1, following a focused review underpinned by the new safeguarding pathway. It is expected that the target is reached by the year end.
Demand in relation to Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan needs assessments continues to rise in line with regional and national trends, leading to backlog pressures across the service. The council has also faced challenges due to national shortages of educational psychologists and delays in receiving health information from NHS partners. Additional targeted investment has been mobilised to address the backlog which has led to improved timeliness of EHC plans being issued. In Q2, 43% of EHC plans were issued within 20 weeks, a significant improvement on Q1 performance (32%), although below the target of 46%. With multiple