Agenda item

Mr Paul McMenamin gave an overview of the follow on report to that provided to the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board on 30 March to provide assurance over resources.  He confirmed that the report outlined in full the process of due diligence followed in order to provide assurance over the sufficiency of resources delegated for 2016/17.

Mr John Raine sought assistance in understanding the comparison in outturn budgets.  He referred to the Scottish Borders Council due diligence summary and noted the 2015/16 projected outturn was £48m which he assumed was due diligence savings historically, however the baseline budget was £46m and he wished to understand how those figures were reconciled.  He further queried why the “social care fund not delegated by SBC” figure was included in the statement. 

Mr McMenamin clarified that the social care fund including expenditure plans was for the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board to determine the use of.  The net bottom line contained considerable investment within the social care budget as well as planned efficiency savings.  In previous reports to SBC there had been a trend of flat financial settlement and for 2016/17 there would be a reduction of funding overall.  He explained that SBC had put forward savings in social care areas and a programme of efficiencies and had identified £2.663m of savings across SBC planned for next year.  There was also £1.4m worth of investment and pressures so there was a net reduction in the social care budget when compared to previous years and that was demonstrable by the pressures on council funding.  He confirmed that there were plans in place to deliver those efficiencies.  

Mr Raine accepted that the net figure took account of the efficiency savings and he again questioned why the “social care fund not delegated by SBC” featured on the spreadsheet.  Mr McMenamin agreed that the figure had been included in the total planned expenditure figure and was subsequently shown separately.  He reiterated that a proportion (50%) of that social care fund would be used to address the cost of the living wage and increased charging thresholds and increased demand for services given demographic pressures.  He further commented that the £46m baseline budget would increase considerably and he anticipated seeing a budget in excess of historical budgets in the next financial year.

Mr David Davidson sought clarification that on the basis of the explanation provided the £46m net figure included £2.3m of the social care funding, with the remaining £2.7m set aside for the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board to determine its use, which meant the next figure would be as low as £46m but would be increased by £2.7m being the remaining social care fund balance.  Mr McMenamin confirmed the assumption was correct.

Mrs Carol Gillie emphasised to the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board that it was a complex matter and she suggested a simpler presentation of the level of investment and savings be produced for the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board.

Cllr John Mitchell queried if the £4.7m savings to be allocated to the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board was a proportional share of the efficiency target that NHS Borders expected to achieve.  Mr McMenamin confirmed that the proportion delegated to the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board was £4.239m. 

Cllr Mitchell enquired if there was a breakdown of how that figure was determined during the period that budgets were aligned between the partners.  Mr McMenamin confirmed that a breakdown was available and had been used as part of the due diligence process. 

Cllr Mitchell requested to see the breakdown month on month.  Mr McMenamin confirmed that it would be included in the monthly financial monitoring report.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted the due diligence process undertaken to provide assurance over the 2016/17 delegated budget.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted the concluded position that based on all known factors at the time of setting budgets for the areas delegated, that there were no identified recurring pressures of a significant nature that had not been addressed as part of the 2016/17 or prior financial planning processes.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted that a report on the options for direction of £5.267m health and social care funding by the partnership would be made to the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board in June 2016.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted that a full Schedule of Payments between the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board and its partners would be reported on conclusion of all financial activity prior to the production of annual statutory accounts at the end of 2016/17.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted the proposed budgetary control reporting basis for 2016/17.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD agreed to receive an abridged version of the level of investment and savings for the functions delegated to it by SBC and NHS Borders.