Herefordshire Council has started revealing details on how it plans to save money in its adult social care expenditure.

This week the Council has announced that it is considering proposals to change the price it pays to providers for older people's residential and nursing home care which, if approved, would save the Council £467,000 a year.

The proposal, which would come into effect from January 1st 2014, would see the current price bandings simplified to just two: one for residential care and one for nursing care.

A Council review has found that nursing care for older people in Herefordshire costs an average of £572 a week, whereas the average rate for 15 similar authorities is £429.

Helen Coombes, assistant director at Herefordshire Council, said: "There is a significant discrepancy between what is paid across a number of authorities and what is paid in Herefordshire. Working with local providers, we have come up with what we believe is a fair rate for everyone.

"The prices we are proposing are still more generous than other authorities and allow full cost recovery and a five per cent profit (BUPA works on a four per cent profit)."

This latest proposal follows last week's announcement that the Council plans to change adult social care provision to "a better, more personalised" service.

Herefordshire Council's struggle to fund adult social care in the county will now provide the opportunity for social care teams to profit from the services the Council can no longer afford. Councillor Graham Powell, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, has openly welcomed pitches from enterprising staff on how they could run their own businesses to take over services.

Councillor Powell said: "We are particularly interested in hearing from some of our staff who may wish to use this opportunity to become sole traders or set up small businesses in order to offer some of the activities people might be interested in purchasing."

From September, the Council will be looking for other providers to run a range of services including adult placement schemes, sheltered accommodation, and reablement services.

Herefordshire Council says that the idea behind this move was to provide better integration between social care and health, supporting people and helping them live healthier lives at home for longer. In addition, Council staff who have been seconded to the Wye Valley NHS Trust since 2011 providing services, including social work, will now be recalled.

The council will be gathering views through a mixture of online surveys, meetings with affected services, users, carers and staff over the next few weeks. The consultation was published on the council's website on Friday, June 7th and will run until July 19th.

When the Council's cabinet meets, on June 20th, they will also be asked to agree to the development of a new quality contract, as well as to consider proposals to alter the prices paid to providers.

For more stories in full please see this week's Ross Gazette.