Agenda item

Mr Rob McCulloch-Graham thanked Mr Paul McMenamin for his contribution in drafting the Annual Accounts. 

Mr Paul McMenamin provided an overview of the draft unaudited Annual Accounts for the period of 2019/20, highlighting the preparation in accordance with legislative practice and the requirements under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. The 2019/20 audited final accounts would be signed off by Mr David Robertson as the acting Section 95 Officer of the IJB. 

IJB accounts normally require preparation in draft by 30 June each financial year, subject to audit, following which they require approval by the IJB Audit Committee by 30 September. However the 2019/20 Annual Accounts would be an exception due to the Covid19 pandemic, meaning draft unaudited accounts would be prepared in advance of 30 September and it would be expected that their audit will be complete and a final set of accounts signed off by 31 October 2020.  Mr Asif Haseeb added that the audit process would begin form Monday 7 September 2020 and the sign off process would likely be done a virtual auditor software. Reference to the date of 30 September 2020 on pages 18, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and 32 of the unaudited accounts should be removed as that date would not be met within the revised timescales.

The unaudited accounts presented an under spend for the health and social care partnership of £3.108m against the delegated budget at 31 March 2020. Significant in year and upcoming financial pressures facing both partner bodies were highlighted, even more so as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. 

Mr Paul McMenamin advised that discussions were ongoing with the Independent Auditors with regards to presenting a carry forward position as earmarked reserves. 

The Chair was assured that the Annual Accounts would be published on the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) website, with reference and links posted on the NHS Borders website. 

Ms Sonya Lam sought clarity on the level of impact Covid19 had on the large hospital set aside during 2018/19, as noted as a key pressure on page 13. Mr Paul McMenamin advised the date would be amended to read 2019/20 and explained that the acute sector experienced around 4 weeks of pressure at the end of the 2019/20 financial year due to the scale of transitioning services across both planned and unscheduled care in response to pandemic planning.

Cllr Tom Weatherston sought assurance that drastic measures would be taken in light of a predicted overspend in the health and social care budget, when allocation of Covid19 expenses were confirmed. Mr Rob McCulloch-Graham explained that work was ongoing nationally to collate all expenditure resulting from the Covid19 pandemic and as yet Scottish Government had not indicated what costs would be met. An early indication of NHS Board allocations would be available following the quarter one financial review in September 2020. It is anticipated that local actions would be required from now to minimise the projected impact to the bottom line. 

The Chair requested a governance diagram be added to page 11. 

The Chair highlighted that the tenses within the financial outlook section required revision and clarification. 

The Chair asked that the penultimate paragraph on page 16 be replaced to read “Following the departure of Mr John Raine in March 2019, Mr John McLaren, in his capacity as an NHSB Non Executive Director was appointed to the Integration Joint Board. He was previously a Non Voting member of the IJB in his capacity as Employee Director for NHS Borders. This position was filled by a Partnership Representative.”

The Chair asked that Cllr David Parker should be referenced at IJB Chair and Mr David Robertson be referenced as acting Section 95 Officer of the IJB on page 18. 

The Chair asked members to feedback any additional comments on the management commentary and draft accounts to Mr Paul McMenamin by close of play Monday 7 September 2020.

The Scottish Borders Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board Audit Committee noted the 2019/20 Annual Accounts (unaudited).

The Scottish Borders Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board Audit Committee approved their submission to the External Auditors (Audit Scotland) for their annual audit review.