Scottish Borders Council

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Via Teams

Contact: Iris Bishop 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Minutes:

Apologies had been received from Mrs Lucy O’Leary, Non Executive, Mr Jim Wilson, Lay member, Mr Andrew Bone, Director of Finance NHS, Mrs Gillian Woolman, Audit Scotland.

 

The Chair confirmed the meeting was quorate.

 

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members should declare any financial and non financial interests they have in the items of business for consideration, identifying the relevant agenda item and the nature of their interest

Minutes:

The Chair sought any verbal declarations of interest pertaining to items on the Agenda.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted there were none.

 

3.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 135 KB

14.06.21

20.10.21 Extra Ordinary

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Integration Joint Board Audit Committee held on 14 June 2021 were approved.

 

The minutes of the Extra Ordinary meeting of the Integration Joint Board Audit Committee held on 20 October 2021 were approved.

 

4.

MATTERS ARISING pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Action Tracker

Minutes:

4.1       Minutes 14.06.21: Item 4.2:  The Chair enquired if any progress had been made in regard to live streaming of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) meetings.  Miss Iris Bishop advised that no progress had been made in that regard.

 

 

4.2       Action 1:  Mrs Jill Stacey commented that she would undertake an induction session for Cllr Jenny Linehan and also put in place 30 minute Development sessions prior to each formal meeting.  

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the action tracker.

 

5.

Directions Policy and Procedure pdf icon PDF 424 KB

Minutes:

5.1       Mr Chris Myers provided an overview of the content of the paper and advised that the paper had been developed as a result of the provisions set out in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 and Scottish Government best practice guidelines and policy updates from both Scottish Government and COSLA. 

 

5.2       The Chair welcomed the paper and the role of the IJB Audit Committee in monitoring the implementation of the directions issued.

 

5.3       The Chair noted the mention of reviewing the Strategic Plan on an annual basis and enquired if the new Directions Policy would ensure that review was applied more rigorously than had been in the past.  Mr Myers advised there was a statutory responsibility to review the Strategic Plan annually and refresh it every 3 years.  The Strategic Implementation Plan Oversight Board had been re-launched and would focus on the process of building back the oversight of all work streams to ensure they ware delivering against their objectives as set by the Strategic Plan and the IJB and that oversight would feed into the proposed informal annual review undertaken by the Audit Committee.

 

5.4       Cllr Tom Weatherston welcomed the policy, process to review decisions and that all directions would be formally issued on a standard form.

 

5.5       The Chair suggested that whilst directions had been issued over the time of the IJB, the formalisation of the process had been lacking.  Mr Myers commented that whilst the IJB had been issuing verbal directions over time the challenge had been in terms of best practice and following the guidance issued.  Best practice was to formally document directions and issue them at the start of the financial year to set clear planning assumptions and parameters around funding and timescales of what was being asked of the organisations involved.

 

5.6       Mrs Jill Stacey commented that the role of the Audit Committee was to provide scrutiny and governance to the IJB and the monitoring of the directions by the Committee would fulfil that remit.

 

5.7       Mrs Stacey agreed to review the IJB Audit Committee Terms of Reference in comparison with the Directions Policy to identify any changes required.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the content of the report, the requirements of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 and the statutory guidance issued by the Scottish Government in January 2020 in relation to Directions.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE recommended the IJB approve the IJB Directions Policy and Procedure and IJB Directions template set out in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE requested that the IJBG make any necessary changes to the Audit Committee Terms of Reference to enable it to fulfil the functions as set out in the paper.

 

6.

IJB Strategic Commissioning Approach pdf icon PDF 343 KB

Minutes:

6.1       Mr Chris Myers provided an overview of the content of the paper.  He advised that he had considered the strategic commissioning approach and the strategic commissioning cycle and looked at it in that context.  He further commented that in terms of commissioning capacity there was a considerable amount of work to be taken forward over the next 12-18 months including: a new strategic commissioning plan; a joint needs assessment; national care service work and the strategic management of that.  He emphasised that the logic behind having a Future Strategy Group resourced by both organisations was to enable the coordination and development of a strategy to report into the Strategic Planning Group (SPG).

 

6.2       The Chair noted that page 8 of the template referred to “Lothian” and Mr Myers noted the error and advised the template would be corrected.

 

6.3       The Chair sought clarification on the functioning of the Future Strategy Group and its interface with the SPG.  Mr Myers explained that the formation of the Future Strategy Group was informed by the requirements to review the effectiveness of the commissioning plan.

 

6.4       Cllr Tom Weatherston welcomed the approach set out in the paper and commented that it was possible that the Elected Members on the IJB might change after the local elections to be held in May 2022.

 

6.5       Mrs Jill Stacey commented that purdah was around the restrictions on the code of conduct for Councillors on events associated with their role without electioneering and some Council meetings would be held through March and April with Cllrs remaining in post until the election in May.  There would then be a post-election period where the new Council administration would be formed and Council meetings would commence from late May/early June.

 

6.6       The Chair enquired about the workforce arrangements in terms of additional personnel.  Mr Myers advised that the workforce arrangements were not yet clarified.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE considered the paper and recommended that the IJB approve the following recommendations:

 

·           That the work of the SIP Oversight Board is realigned to the Audit Committee rather than directly reporting to the IJB

 

·           That a ‘Future Strategy Group’ is developed that reports into the Strategic Planning Group to develop Directions and to manage the work associated with the delivery of the new Strategic Developments over the next 12-14 months

 

·           That the IJB endorse the approach of undertaking a comprehensive Joint Needs Assessment to inform the Strategic Commissioning Plan that will be concluded towards the end of 2022/23 to support the development of a 3 year Strategic Commissioning Plan for 2023-26

 

·           That the Audit Committee oversee a rapid review of the Terms of Reference and a self-assessment of the IJB Committees to ensure that the IJB and these Committees are able to continue to effectively function in the context of the significant level of work required, in line with the IJB’s duties outlined in the Act.

 

7.

Progress on Implementation of Internal Audit Recommendations pdf icon PDF 168 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7.1       Mrs Jill Stacey provided an overview of the content of the report. 

 

7.2       Cllr Tom Weatherston enquired about progress in regard to appointing a new Chief Financial Officer.  Mr Chris Myers advised that the job description had been amended slightly and the post would be advertised jointly across both the Council and the NHS recruitment systems.  He highlighted that the salary point for the post was different for each organisation.  Both organisations were supportive of moving forward with the recruitment and advertising was expected to be early in the New Year via both recruitment systems with added advertising on social media and other professional networks.

 

7.3       Mr Myers advised the Committee that there was an expectation that the national timescale for the submission of integration workforce plans was like to be pushed back to the summer of 2022.  The local interim integration workforce plan had been submitted in April 2021 to Scottish Government and their feedback was awaited.  He further highlighted that a national health and social care workforce plan was being developed which was expected to refer to the national plan when published and the local interim workforce plan would align to that accordingly.

 

7.4       Mrs Stacey commented that in terms of national timelines there were monthly meetings going forward and updates would be provided as part of the internal audit follow up process.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the current status of progress made by Management in implementing Internal Audit recommendations to improve internal controls and governance, and mitigate risks.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreedto the revised due dates of 31 March 2022 for the two overdue Internal Audit recommendations requested by the new IJB Chief Officer.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted that Internal Audit will continue to monitor for completion the outstanding recommendations and will provide update reports to this Committee.

 

8.

Progress Update on Delivery of Internal Audit Annual Plan 2021/22 for Scottish Borders Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board pdf icon PDF 168 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

8.1       Mrs Jill Stacey provided an overview on the content of the paper. 

 

8.2       Mr Chris Myers commented that the contracts and commissioning audit had been deferred for the third quarter.  He further advised that Jen Holland had been appointed as SBC Director of Strategic Commissioning and Partnership.  Her role encompassed CGI, Partnerships and Live Borders as well as other commissioning elements.  He also commented that Jen Holland was an integral part of the health and social care team and the procurement angle and partnership part of her role were very aligned and connected to the approach being taken forward for the IJB.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the progress made in the first six months of the year to deliver the approved Scottish Borders Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board Internal Audit Annual Plan 2021/22 (Appendix 1).

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE considered the list of Internal Audit reports by partners’ Internal Auditors presented to their respective Audit Committees that are relevant to SBIJB for assurance purposes (Appendix 2), consider the assurances contained therein, and provide any commentary thereon.

 

9.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

9.1       Cllr Tom Weatherston commented that he was frequently challenged by the public to involve them more in IJB decision making and enquired how that might be facilitated.

 

9.2       The Chair commented that the NHS were undertaking work on public engagement in relation to the IJB and the strategic commissioning plan and she recognised that it was a challenge to reach out to less engaged groups.

 

9.3       Mr Chris Myers recognised that it was hard to engage with some groups and work needed to be taken forward in partnership with people to develop a plan for people.  He suggested for the IJB it was about developing the role of the SPG to ensure it was a good reflection of public expectation and if a paper was submitted to the SPG and was not supported by the SPG due to a short fall in public engagement it would not be submitted to the IJB.  He referred to the commissioning approach process paper which he suggested should assist in terms of public engagement recognising that there was further work to be done on public engagement especially with hard to reach groups.  He also suggested the work streams would begin to be challenged on public engagement as well.

 

9.4       The Chair assured the Committee that Mrs Lucy O’Leary, the current chair of the SPG, had a strong background in public engagement and was clear that the representatives on the SPGC would provide the views of the groups that they represented and not their own personal agendas.

 

The SCOTTISH BORDERS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the discussion.

 

10.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

Monday 14 March 2022, 2.00pm to 4pm, via Microsoft Teams

Monday 13 June 2022

Monday 12 September 2022

Monday 12 December 2022

 

All 2022 meeting dates are subject to approval by the IJB on 15.12.21

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that the next meeting of the IJB Audit Committee would be held on Monday 14 March 2022 at 2.00pm via Microsoft Teams subject to approval of the 2022 meeting schedule by the IJB on 15 December 2021.

 

 

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