In the first phase of our work, we wanted to understand the way in which the Act described how change would happen (this was the ‘Framework for Change’) and to explore what was already known about the five key principles underpinning the Act (‘Literature Review’).

The Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014 put in place a legal framework for the social services functions of local authorities and health boards in Wales. It came into effect in April 2016. These changes, in turn, were expected to be reflected in experiences of care and support by individuals, families, carers and communities, and over time, in the attainment of well-being outcomes and sustainable social services.

In this document we outlined the Framework for Change, or story about how the duties, principles and ideals, mechanisms and practices laid out in the Act were guides to certain outcomes, most notably the fulfilment of well-being for people in Wales and sustainability of services.

The literature review looked at the key principles behind the Act, and what we know about them from published work.  This document was important in providing us with an evidence-base for the results from the fieldwork phases that followed in the study.