This page provides a summary of how to use the Adult Social Care Policy Portal, including its main features.

Contents

Finding your way around the Portal

The Policy Portal contains a number of different sections. On the homepage there are nine tiles. Some of these are open access, but others are are for Calderdale Council staff only and you will need a password to see the content:

‘Adult Social Care Policies and Resources’ contains the main policies for Calderdale Adult Social Care.

‘Procedures and Guidance for Adult Social Care Staff’ additional procedures and guidance specifically for Adult Social Care staff in Calderdale, including Standard Operating Procedures.

‘Induction and Professional Development‘ information on induction, practice education, social work progression, supervision and workload management

‘Frequently Used Documents, Templates and Active Social Care’ templates for assessments, letters and forms and information on Active Social Care.

‘Mental Capacity Act Resources’ practice guidance and resources for staff with regard to Mental Capacity, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Court of Protection.

‘Brokerage, Direct Payments, Care Payments and Financial Assessments Pathway‘ information and resources for use by adult social care staff with regards to brokerage, direct payments and when carrying out financial assessments.

‘Occupational Therapy Resources‘ occupational therapy information, including Accessible Homes and Handypersons Service, Assistive Technology and Manual Handling.

‘Care Quality Commission’ information on the Care Quality Commission assessments of local authority adult social care.

‘Strategies and Frameworks‘ Adult Social Care and Wellbeing Directorate strategies and frameworks.

When you are in the main policies section, the tabs on the left hand side of the screen can be used to move around the Portal:

  • Using this Portal (which is this page);
  • Register with Us to receive notification when the Portal is updated.
  • Contents contains the main policies for Adult Social Care.
  • Resources links to additional practitioner resources including case law, case studies and legislation.
  • Contact contains local contact details for teams, services and partner organisations. It also has a contact form, for people to send a message, comment or suggestion about the Portal.

When you are in a webpage that has a contents list, you will notice a blue tab on the right hand side. You can click on this at anytime when you are in the chapter and it will bring up the contents list. This means you can jump around sections of the page, without having to return to the top to see the contents. It is particularly useful in longer chapters.

Accessibility Options

This portal has a number of different options to aid online reading. Using the ‘Accessibility’ drop-down menu on the left-side of the screen, you can change to green, blue or pink backgrounds, high contrast (dyslexia-friendly) purple text on a beige background, high visibility yellow text on a black background or you can return to the default setting.You can also resize the website by pressing CTRL and + together to make the site larger, you can keep pressing this to increase the zoom level. Pressing CTRL and – together makes the site smaller. This is a feature built into your web browser, known as in-browser zooming, and so depending on the browser you’re using the controls may be different.

In addition, the Portal is designed to be accessible for users of text only and screen reader software programs which allow blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer or braille display. Our content is consistently structured, including headings, which makes using the software on our site easier. Also, when viewed through screen reader software, every page has a ‘Skip to main content’ link which allows software users to go straight to the main content of that page instead of receiving the full navigation options every time. Please share this information with blind or visually impaired colleagues.

To view the content in a language other than English, use the ‘select language’ drop-down menu on the left-side of the screen and select the language you require. Translations in the Calderdale Portal are provided using Google Translate.

Google Translate is a free translation service that provides instant translations between different languages. However, Google Translate may not provide an exact translation from English to the required language. Also, it cannot translate all types of documents.

Policy Partners Project Ltd and Calderdale Council cannot therefore guarantee the accuracy of the translation. However, this service may be useful when working with people who do not have English as their first language, but please bear these points in mind when using translated information.

Using the Policy Portal on Smartphones and Tablets

The Policy Portal works well on smartphones and tablets. When used on mobile device, the website will immediately convert into a mobile friendly version, where the tabs sit behind the Menu button.

Adding Shortcuts to the Portal

You can easily access the Portal by installing a shortcut on your mobile device:

  • on desktop / laptops: go to the homepage of the Policy Portal website in your internet browser, then bookmark it using your browser’s bookmark feature. Open your browser’s list of bookmarked websites and drag the Policy Portal bookmark onto the desktop of your device.
  • on smartphones / tablets: go to the homepage of the Policy Portal website in your internet browser, and do the following:
    • On Android devices – click the three dots, and select ‘add to home screen‘.
    • On iOS / Apple – click the share icon Apple share icon, scroll down the page and select ‘add to home screen‘

Resources

The Resources section contains a number of links and documents to supplement the information in the Portal. It includes

  • Briefings – written by the Policy Partners to reflect current issues or recently released research reports;
  • Care and Support Statutory Guidance – links to the Care and Support Statutory Guidance;
  • Case Law and LGSCO Reports – information about case law and key reports in relation to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigations into complaints against local authorities;
  • Case Studies – contains case studies from the Care and Support Statutory Guidance;
  • Easy Reads – links to easy read information for people with care and support needs;
  • ePractice – quizzes which you can complete to test your understanding of key policies;
  • Glossary – definitions and key terms used throughout the policies;
  • Legislation – links to relevant legislation;
  • National Guidance – links to national guidance, particularly from ADASS, LGA and SCIE;
  • Organisations – links to websites for relevant national organisations;
  • Provider Resources – links to guidance and other information and national organisations who provide services and support to provider services;
  • Quick Reads and Audios – summary versions of chapters, in audio and text formats.
  • Safeguarding Adults Review Reports and Inquiry Reports – links to significant SARs and reports from major inquiries.

ePractice

Some key chapters in this Portal have ePractice questions at the end, which help you test your understanding of the subject and provide evidence for your continuing professional development. You can see all ePractice chapters on this page.

At the top of the questions are some fields about who you are (name and email address). It also asks for your manager’s email address, but the email that goes to them will not tell them anything about your results, or a pass / fail status, only that you have recently completed the questions.

The questions are straightforward to answer. Some will only allow for a single choice of answer, for example true or false, and others have checkboxes which allow you to tick as many as you feel apply.

Once you reach the end just click on the blue’ Submit’ button to send in your answers. All questions must be answered before you can do this. You will automatically be taken to a detailed results page, showing you how you did and explaining the answers further. You’ll also receive a copy of those results via email, as well as a certificate of completion should you pass.

Reading Confirmation

This form enables Adult Social Care staff to confirm they have read specific chapters in this Portal. This can be useful for newly employed staff as part of their induction, for supervision, CPD and for team discussions for example.

Quick Reads and Audio Summaries

Some chapters have summaries (Quick Reads) and Audios which provide key information for staff who do not need to know the full detail of the chapter. They can be found at the top of the relevant chapter. A full list can be found in Quick Reads and Audios, in Resources.

Amendments

September 2026

Section Details
Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) Policy The Disabled Facilities Grant Policy was reviewed and added to the Policy Portal. It details the local housing interventions in place to assist people with adaptations in their homes using Disabled Facilities Grant funding, where they meet the eligibility criteria described in the Policy. The key priorities are to meet the assessed eligible needs of older people, disabled people or families with disabled children, to emphasise prevention strategies, and assist with hospital discharge.
Appeals Process The Appeals Process Policy contains advice and guidance to help ensure that appeals are dealt with fairly, efficiently, effectively and within an open and transparent process.

The accompany Appeals Procedure has been added into Procedures and Guidance ( staff only, log in required).
Financial Assessment Pathway (staff only, log in required) Additional Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA) guidance has been added.
Accessible Homes Agency – Major Adaptations (staff only, log in required) Disabled Adaptations Criteria and the Adapting your Home’ Disabled Facilities Grant booklet have been added.
Templates (staff only, log in required) New and updated template documents have been added, including: Community Matron Referral Form; Bladder & Bowel Service (Adults & Children) Community Staff Referral Form; Out of Hours Service Request; NHS Continuing Healthcare Checklist; Contracts Reporting Form; Direct Payment – Exceptional Expenditure Agreement; Lifeline and Footprint Referral Form; Occupational Therapy Service & Accessible Homes Team First Contact Referral Form; Pre-Placement Processing Checks Request Form; Safeguarding Adults -Raising a Concern Form; Moving and Handling Assessment and Advice Referral Form; Support and Independence Team Referral: CRT DIET; Support and Independence Team Referral: CRT DIET General Clinic; Support and Independence Team Referral: HEN – Home Enteral Nutrition; Support and Independence Team Referral: Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy; Support and Independence Team Referral: Speech & Language (SALT); Telecare referral form; Carer’s Conversation (Carer’s Assessment form, editable version); Carer’s Support Plan (editable version) and Carer’s Review (editable version).

August 2026

Section Details
Calderdale Council Charging Policies The Charging Policy for Care Home Services for Adults and the Charging Policy for Community Based Services for Adults have been reviewed and updated.
Templates (Staff only, password required) The following have been added:

The SHARE (Supported Housing and Respite Emergency) Referral Form.

SPA (Single Point of Access) Referral Form – South West Yorkshire Teaching Foundation NHS Trust, for referrals to mental health services.

Community Matron referral form.
Procedures and Guidance (Staff only, password required) The Purchase Card Expenditure Request Form has been added.

July 2026

Section Details
Templates (Staff only, password required) The Section 117 Address Check form has been added. The form should be completed with the person you are working with/ their carers and is needed for all enquiries.

June 2026

Sections Details
Continuity of Care Policy This policy has been reviewed and updated as required.
Assessment and Eligibility Policy This policy has been reviewed and updated as required.
Mental Capacity and Best Interests

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Deprivation of Liberty: Court of Protection Procedure

 Following the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 of Schedule 10 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998, references to the ‘acid test’ have been removed, and replaced with detail from the latest judgment.

Further updates will be made as and when revised guidance is issued.

May 2026

Section Details
Direct Payments Policy for Adults The Direct Payments Policy and the Direct Payments Information Booklet for Calderdale residents have been reviewed and updated.
Continuing Healthcare (NHS) The updated NHS Continuing Healthcare Consent form has been added. Section 4, Consent, has also been updated to reflect revised DHSC guidance on giving consent for information on care and treatment to be shared with a third party.
Debt Recovery Policy for Adults This policy outlines the process for collecting Adult Social Care debts and the approach the council will take.
Financial Assessment Pathway (staff only, password required) Information and documents relevant to the Financial Assessment process have been reviewed and updated to reflect the start of the new financial year.
Caseload Management Policy and Weighting Tool (staff only, password required) This new policy outlines the process used to ensure the safe and effective management of caseloads.
Written Recordings and Why Language Matters (staff only, password required) A practice messages from the Principal Social Worker has been added to emphasise the importance of the language we use in social care. By choosing words that respect, include, and uplift, we can make sure the language of care and support reflects people living good lives.
Equality, Diversity and Human Rights This chapter has been amended to note that the Mental Health Act 2025 has extended the remit of the Human Rights Act 1998 to private care providers when providing care and treatment in hospital to patients (including informal patients) and aftercare under section 117 of the 1983 Act.

A link to the Human rights easy read postcards (British Institute of Human Rights) has also been added. These are a useful tool when discussing human rights with adults who have care and support needs, their families and carers.
Modern Slavery Section 3, Identifying victims, has been updated to include a link to the Modern Slavery Self Identification Tool (Human Trafficking Foundation).

The tool can be used by practitioners to help victims explain their experiences and self-identify what is happening to them. The resource uses images and text and is available in a range of different languages.
Mental Health Act 1983 A new Section 3.9 Supervised Discharge/ Conditional Discharge Subject to Deprivation of Liberty Conditions has been added, to reflect a change made by Mental Health Act 2025.

Section 3.8 Nearest relative, has been updated to include a link to the website, Resources for Nearest Relatives – Improving support for Nearest Relatives under the Mental Health Act

A note has also been added to reflect that the Mental Health Act 2025 has extended the remit of the Human Rights Act 1998 to private care providers when providing care and treatment in hospital to patients (including informal patients) and aftercare under section 117 of the 1983 Act.
Relationship between the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Mental Health Act 1983 Section 5.2.1 Conditional discharge has been updated to reflected the revised section 42 Mental Health Act 1983 (amended by section 35 Mental Health Act 2025), under which restricted patients can be subject to conditions which amount to a deprivation of their liberty when discharged.
Section 117 Aftercare Section 3.2 Care planning, has been updated to reflect section 42 Mental Health Act 1983 (amended by section 35 Mental Health Act 2025), which permits restricted patients to be subjected to conditions which amount to a deprivation of their liberty when discharged.

A note has also been added to reflect that the Mental Health Act 2025 has extended the remit of the Human Rights Act 1998 to private care providers when providing care and treatment under section 117 of the 1983 Act.
The Whole Family Approach This chapter has been reviewed and updated throughout to reflect the updated LGA Guidance ‘The Care Act and whole family approaches’.
Working with Adults Living with Dementia A new Section 9, Missing Episodes, has been added. It contains information on how technology can be used to help keep adults safe, and the Herbert Protocol which is a national scheme that provides the police and other emergency services with essential information if an adult with dementia goes missing.
Working with Adults Living with Frailty  This chapter has been reviewed / generally refreshed and information added on how the NHS is identifying frailty using the electronic frailty index (eFI). Learning from a recently published National Audit Office report on support for people living with frailty has also been added. See Section 1.1 Impact of frailty and 1.2 Identifying frailty.
Templates (staff only, password required) Updated versions of the Financial abuse and exploitation referral form (WYFEAT) and the MEAM Multi -Disciplinary Meeting Referral Form have been added.
NEW Health and Care Passports This new chapter gives an overview of health and care passports which are used to share information with health and social care staff so they can provide adults with the right care and treatment. This includes any reasonable adjustments the adult requires, and how to communicate effectively with them to ensure their views are heard.

April 2026

Section Details
Procedures and Guidance (staff only, password required) Updated guidance on how to request an ambulance has been added. See Ambulance Transport.

The document containing contacts for housing services and providers in Housing and Adult Social Care – Duty to Cooperate has been updated.

Overview information on the work of the Financial Abuse and Exploitation Team (WYFEAT) has also been added, as well as link to the WYFEAT referral form.
Templates (staff only, password required) Updated versions of the  Ambulance booking form and the Financial abuse and exploitation referral form (WYFEAT) have been added.

January 2026

Section Details
Procedures and Guidance (staff only, password required) The following guidance has been added:

Agreement for Access to SHARE Crisis Beds

Professional Curiosity Practice Guidance; and

Carers Personal Budget Guidance
Calderdale Council Charging Policies The Charging Policy for Care Home Services for Adults and the  Charging Policy for Community Based Services for Adults have both been reviewed and updated.

Search

On the home screen, type in the word or phrase you are looking for in the ‘Search’ facility and press ‘Enter’ It will bring up a list of all the chapters where it appears. Click on the one you want. The word / phrase will be highlighted in the chapter.

To help the the search results reflect what you are looking for, you can add inverted commas (also known as speech marks) to the word or term you are looking for, for example “safeguarding” or “adult safeguarding”.

If you want to search for specific text within a chapter or a pdf document, you can also press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘f’ together. A box will appear in the top right of your screen. Type in the word / phrase you want to find and press ‘Enter’. The number of times it appears in the chapter will be displayed next to your word. Use the up and down arrows next to it to find all the references.

Register with Us

We recommend you ‘Register with Us‘. This enables us to notify you when the Portal is updated. You will only receive email notifications from us in relation to Portal updates and your information will not be shared with any third parties.

Print

This resource has been designed to be used online. If you print a chapter, for example to take to a meeting, please note it is valid for 72 hours only from the date it was printed.

Please remember that the resource can be also accessed on smartphones and tablets (see Using the Portal on Smartphones and Tablets).

Copyright

The chapter content in this resource can be accessed, downloaded and printed unchanged, on a temporary basis. Any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in part or in whole in any manner or format without the prior written permission of Policy Partners Project Ltd.

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