Welcome to the Bury Adults Policies, Procedures and Practice Portal. This page explains how to use the site and its main features.

Contents

Finding your Way Around the Portal

The Policy Portal contains a number of different sections. On the homepage there are eight tiles:

Procedures – contains the main policies, procedures and practice guidance for Adult Social Care staff.

Professionals Working Area – this area links to additional practice information and tools for Bury. Staff with a bury.gov.uk email address will need to register to access this section.

Early Help – which contains links to information to help reduce or delay the need for care and support.

Assessment and Support Planning – resources which explain how the council assesses need and supports individuals in achieving their outcomes.

Paying for Your Care / Commissioning – information and financial assessments and charging.

Safeguarding – shortcuts to information on safeguarding adults and children living in Bury.

Legislation and National Guidance – which has links to relevant information for Adult Social Care staff.

When you are in the main procedures the tabs on the left hand side of the screen can be used to move around the Portal (please note on a smartphone or tablet, the tabs are found in a lined box which appears on the top right corner of the screen).  The tabs are:

  • Using the Policy Portal is this page;
  • Register with Us to receive notification when the Portal is updated.
  • CQC information about the assessment framework and local authority assurance.
  • Contents contains the main policies, procedures and practice guidance for Adult Social Care staff.
  • 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 this portal website by pressing CTRL and + together to make it 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 this portal 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 on the Bury APPP 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 Bury Council cannot therefore guarantee the accuracy of the translation and are not responsible for the content. 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 APPP Portal on Smartphones and Tablets

This portal works well on smartphones and tablets by typing in the weblink in the internet address bar. When used on a smartphone, the portal will immediately convert into a mobile friendly version, where the tabs sit behind the Menu button. If it does not work straightaway, tap on the refresh circle in the address bar.

If your phone or tablet has a reader option (it may be an ‘R’ or say ‘Reader’ in the address bar, you may have to install it), tap on it and it will convert the text into a more easy to read version for phones or tablets.

Adding Shortcuts to the Policy Portal

You can easily access the APPP by installing a shortcut on your device, which will directly open up your internet browser to the APPP portal. You can do so using the following methods:

  • on desktop / laptops: go to the homepage of the APPP 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 APPP bookmark onto the desktop of your device.
  • on smartphones / tablets : go to the homepage of the APPP 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 chapters. It includes

  • Briefings – written by the Policy Partners Project and our associates 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 – populated by 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.
  • Glossary – definitions and key terms used;
  • 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.

CQC Quality Statements

At the top of relevant chapters, we have added Quality Statements from the CQC Assessment Framework for local authorities.

The local authority commitments are included to help staff understand the service the CQC expects a ‘good’ local authority to provide. Written as ‘we statements’ they set out the commitments that local authorities should live up to in order to deliver truly person-centred care and support.

Statements about what people expect are taken from Making it Real which was developed with adults who have lived experience of adult social care, to capture what good, person-centred care looks like to them. These statements are included to help staff understand what a good experience of care looks and feels like from the perspective of an adult who is in contact with the local authority.

ePractice

Some key chapters in the Portal have ePractice questions at the end, which are designed to you test your understanding of the subject and provide evidence for your continuing professional development (CPD).

A full list of ePractice chapters is listed in the Resources section of the Portal.

You be asked to provide some basic information (name and email address). You will also be asked 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.

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.

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.

Reading Confirmation

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

Chapter Feedback

You can provide feedback on whether you found this site useful by using the ‘was this helpful’ tool at the bottom of each page.  If you found the content useful, select the ‘yes / thumbs up’ image, or if it was not helpful, you can select ‘no / thumbs down’. You will be given the option to provide additional feedback / comment. Any feedback you provide is anonymous.

Amendments

October 2026

Section Detail
Direct Payments Policy This policy has been reviewed and updated as required. Information on Bury Council’s strengths-based approach has been added throughout.
Carers Direct Payments Policy This policy has been reviewed and updated as required. Information on Bury Council’s strengths-based approach has been added throughout.

September 2026

Section Detail
Safeguarding Section in Professionals Working Area (Staff only, log in required) The MAPPA flowchart, which outlines the Adult Social Care process for receiving, screening and responding to MAPPA meeting invitations received to [email protected]. It provides a clear framework for identifying the most appropriate representative to attend, and establishing who will be the ongoing point of contact for MAPPA-related communication, has been added.
Our Strategies / Frameworks in Professionals Working Area (Staff only, log in required) The Bury Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy 2026 has been added.

July 2026

Section Detail
Protection of Property, Personal Belongings and Pet Management This policy sets out how the Council will carry out it’s duty, under Section 47 of the Care Act 2014, to take reasonable steps to prevent or mitigate the loss of, or damage to, a person’s moveable property when they are being cared for away from home and cannot protect it themselves, or when they have passed away and a public health funeral is being arranged.
Housing, Professionals Working Area (staff only, log in required) The following have been added:

Housing Pathways Flowchart

Living Options Group – Terms of Reference

Living Options Group – Referral Form

June 2026

Section Detail
Hospital Discharge and Community Support The Bury Hospital – Approved Discharge Pathways have been added.
Deprivation of Liberty 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, see Section 3, Identifying Deprivation of Liberty.

Section 14, Patients Receiving Life Sustaining Treatment has also been updated.

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

April 2026

Section Detail
Equality, Diversity and Human Rights A link to the Human Rights Easy Read Postcards (British Institute of Human Rights) has been added in Section 5.2 Relevant information. The postcards can be used to help adults with care and support needs (and their families and carers) understand what human rights are and why they are important.
Health and Care Passports  This new chapter provides 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.
Modern Slavery Section 3, Identifying Victims, has been updated to include the Modern Slavery Self Identification Tool (Human Trafficking Foundation).

Practitioners can use the tool with victims to help them explain their experiences and self-identify what is happening to them. It uses images and text and is available in a range of different languages.

March 2026

Section Detail
Safeguarding Section in Professionals Working Area (Staff only, log in required) The following new documents have been added:

MAPPA Process Adult Social Care and MAPPA One Minute Guide.

MARAC Process Adult Social Care and Greater Manchester MARAC Information Sharing Agreement and Operating Protocol.

PiPoT Process – Bury Council Employees and Bury Council PiPoT Risk Assessment Template.

January 2026

Change Detail
Coroners’ Process for Adult Social Care (added into Legal Gateway / Court Work staff only / log in required) This information has been written to ensure that any coroners’ requests and/or processes are handled in a standardised and robust manner. This will not only support the running of services, but also ensure that families and loved ones have quicker and more robust outcomes from our interactions during this difficult time.
Safeguarding Pathway and Process (added into Safeguarding staff only / log in required) The pathway document explains how safeguarding concerns and enquiries are processed on our systems with Bury Council.

October 2025

Change Detail
Shared Lives This new content provides information on about Shared Lives in Bury, including, how shared lives carers are assessed and recruited, and what is contained in Shared Lives Agreements.

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. Select the the one you want. The word / phrase will remain highlighted in the chapter.

To make sure the search results more accurately 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, on the contents or in 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 that your APPP portal has been updated. By submitting this information, you will only receive email notifications from us in relation to APPP updates and your information will not be given to any third parties.

Print

This portal 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. There may be occasions when it is updated urgently as a result of a Safeguarding Adults Review or inspection recommendation, so it is important to be sure that you are using the most recent copy. This is why we recommend that if you have to print a chapter, you no longer refer to it after that time.

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

Copyright

The chapter content in this portal 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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