WARRINGTON Borough Council is facing renewed questions over the state of its adult social care services after a Health Scrutiny Committee report revealed that hundreds of people are waiting months – and in one case, more than two years – for reviews of their care.
The figures make uncomfortable reading for a council already under intense financial pressure and whose adult social care service was previously rated “Requires Improvement” overall, with safeguarding rated “Inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission.
A full CQC re-inspection of Warrington’s adult social care services began in June 2026 and was still ongoing when the scrutiny report was prepared.
And while council officers point to improvements, the latest waiting-list figures reveal significant backlogs remain.
The report shows 420 people were waiting for a Locality “My Review”, with the longest wait standing at 545 days and the median wait at 205 days.
For Specialist “My Reviews”, 394 people were waiting, with a maximum wait of an extraordinary 823 days – more than two years and three months. The median wait was 228 days.
There were also 180 people waiting for Carer “My Reviews”, with a maximum wait of 376 days and a median of 123 days.
The figures raise fundamental questions about whether the improvements being made by the council are happening quickly enough for people who depend upon the social care system.
The CQC’s previous assessment is perhaps the most serious issue hanging over the service.
Safeguarding was rated Inadequate, prompting an improvement programme involving the council, the Local Government Association, Partners in Care and Health and the Department of Health and Social Care.
The council says it has since strengthened its safeguarding arrangements.
A new Safeguarding Adults Hub became operational in August 2026, with safeguarding concerns and vulnerable person alerts now being received and assessed centrally.
But the scrutiny report makes clear that the new system is still in its early operational phase, with impact assessment and case audits underway.
That means the council is now effectively under the spotlight to demonstrate that the changes work in practice – not simply that new structures and procedures have been introduced.
The CQC re-inspection will provide a significant test of that progress.
Perhaps the most striking figure in the entire report is the 823-day maximum wait for a Specialist My Review. A Care Act review is intended to ensure that a person’s care and support arrangements continue to meet their needs as circumstances change.
A wait stretching beyond two years inevitably raises questions about whether people could have experienced significant changes in their circumstances during that period.
The council says cases are subject to monitoring and reprioritisation where risk changes, while safeguarding concerns are intended to be triaged within 24 hours regardless of waiting-list pressures.
But the sheer size of some of the backlogs will inevitably attract scrutiny.
The report reveals another potentially significant weakness. As of August 2026, 377 staff had completed Care Act training – representing 61 per cent of those required to undertake it.
A further 56 people, or 9 per cent, were in progress. But 179 people – 29 per cent – had yet to start the training.
The council says its expectation is that 100 per cent of staff in work complete the training.
Against the background of a previous CQC finding of inadequate safeguarding, the fact that almost three in ten staff had yet to start the relevant training is likely to attract attention.
The council will need to demonstrate not only that training is eventually completed, but that it translates into consistently good practice on the ground.
A service under financial pressure
The scrutiny report also highlights the enormous financial pressures facing adult social care.
Officers say the principal challenges are being driven by increasing demand and complexity, rather than simply rising provider costs.
There is also a growing number of people aged under 65 accessing adult social care.
That comes at a time when Warrington Borough Council is attempting to close a huge financial gap and is proposing major savings across council services.
The report acknowledges that implementing the CQC improvement actions may themselves have financial implications and could require transformation funding. This creates a difficult balancing act.
The council must make substantial savings while simultaneously investing in a service that has already been judged not good enough by the independent regulator.
The workforce figures also provide food for thought. According to Skills for Care benchmarking contained within the report, turnover in Warrington’s local-authority-only adult social care workforce was 13.2 per cent, compared with 14.6 per cent nationally. But turnover in the independent sector was 31.2 per cent, substantially higher than the England figure of 24.7 per cent.
The report also identifies variation in turnover among minority groups within the workforce, with further investigation required.
A stable, experienced workforce is particularly important in social care, where continuity and knowledge of vulnerable people’s circumstances can be critical.
The report is not entirely negative.
Council officers point to improvements in safeguarding pathways, new protocols and the creation of the Safeguarding Adults Hub.
Waiting times for initial social work assessments have also improved significantly.
In August 2026, 58 people were waiting for a Social Work assessment, with a median wait of 28 days.
That compares with median waits of 49 days in April and 43 days as of 21 May.
The council also says it is monitoring people while they wait and will reprioritise cases if their circumstances or risks change.
But the Health Scrutiny Committee’s role is to ensure that such improvements are sustained and that the underlying problems are not simply moved elsewhere in the system.
The committee ultimately resolved to note the report and continue monitoring the CQC improvement programme.
But with a fresh CQC assessment underway, the stakes are high.
Warrington’s adult social care service has already been told that it needs to improve. The council now has to demonstrate that improvement.
And while there are encouraging signs – particularly around initial assessments and the new safeguarding arrangements – the 823-day maximum wait for a specialist review and hundreds of people facing lengthy delays remain deeply troubling figures.
For families relying on adult social care, these are not simply statistics on a council spreadsheet.
They represent people waiting for their circumstances to be reviewed, their needs reassessed and appropriate support confirmed.
The coming CQC assessment will ultimately provide the independent verdict on whether Warrington has genuinely turned the corner.
Commenting on the findings, Independent group leader, Cllr Stuart Mann, who sits on the committee, said: “It was encouraging to hear about the progress being made since the previous CQC inspection. There are clearly improvements in areas such as safeguarding, staff training and the way people are supported while waiting for services.
“There is still work to do. I remain particularly concerned about the number of people waiting for assessments and reviews, with some waits stretching into years. We need to keep a close eye on those figures and make sure delays don’t allow people’s needs to deteriorate to the point where they require more intensive and costly support.
“We need to see those waiting times coming down and understand what difference the changes are actually making to people’s lives.”
