Shared Lives Consultation

What the service does

Shared Lives is a community-based Adult Social Care service. Approved carers share their home and family life with adults who need care and support.

The service aims to help people be more independent, improve their wellbeing, and feel included in their community.

As of June 2026, the service supports 25 people in long-term placements, 32 short-break arrangements, and 17 people receiving daytime support.

Most people using the service are adults with learning disabilities. Many placements last a long time, with an average length of around seven years. This can help people build stable, long-term relationships and routines.

The service includes long-term care and support in carers’ homes, short breaks and respite care for people and families, day support focused on life skills and access to the community, and careful matching between carers and people using the service, to help build stable long-term relationships.

The service is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and is currently rated ‘Good’. The most recent published inspection was in 2018, and the most recent review was in July 2023. An inspection took place in June 2026 and the outcome is pending.

Background to the proposals

In November 2025, Bristol City Council ran a survey to ask people using the Shared Lives service, their families and Shared Lives carers for feedback.

People told us the following things work well:

• the service supports strong long-term relationships between people and their carers
• the service is a positive alternative to residential or institutional care

People also suggested the following improvements:

• a wider range of activities to help people become more independent
• more availability of Shared Lives carers
• clearer information about affordability and cost

Shared Lives has operated since 2014. The service has not grown as much as expected because it can be difficult to recruit Shared Lives carers. Some Adult Social Care teams are less familiar with the service than others, and the service has limited staff and infrastructure.

Growing the service would require more Shared Lives carers and more people being referred to the service.

The council will spend around £250,000 in tax year 2026 to 27 on the service.

The average cost of a Shared Lives placement for long-term care is £645 per week and £26.48 per day for day time support. 

Shared Lives placements cost much less than residential care or supported living options. Research conducted by Shared Lives Plus found that Shared Lives can save between £12,000 and £26,000 per person per year compared with supported living and residential care.

The service can reduce the need for more expensive forms of care, such as residential care or supported living.

Evidence suggests that people using Shared Lives often experience positive outcomes.

The options in in this consultation have been developed based on available evidence.