Issue - meetings

Report CS18112

The Committee considered a report setting out the draft Care Services Portfolio Budget for 2018/19, which incorporated future cost pressures and initial draft saving options to be reported to the Council’s Executive on 10^th January 2018.  Members were requested to provide their comments on the proposed savings and identify any further action to be taken to reduce cost pressures facing the Local Authority over the next four years.

The Head of Education, Care and Health Services Finance advised Members that a number of pressures would continue to impact the Care Services Portfolio budget for 2018/19.  This included further increases to the National Living Wage from April 2018, escalating demand for temporary accommodation and homelessness services and the impact of recent welfare reform changes.  There continued to be significant pressure in the area of Adult Social Care for which the Government had agreed further non-recurring Improved Better Care Funding of £4.463M in 2018/19, £3.363M in 2019/20 and £1.677M in 2020/21 to be utilised in agreement with the Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group.  The Government had previously agreed that the Local Authority could apply an annual Social Care Council Tax Precept at 3% for 2018/19, subject to a maximum of 6% being applied across the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 and this could be used to offset the additional costs of the National Living Wage.

A Member highlighted concerns around how continued growth pressures in key areas such as Adult Social Care and Housing would make it more difficult to address the significant budget gap within the Local Authority budget in future years.  The Head of Education, Care and Health Services Finance confirmed that work was ongoing to manage the Care Services Portfolio budget for future years, including service transformation work with key partners and that areas of growth pressure could be offset using contingency funds where appropriate.  Another Member noted that there were both demographic and structural factors impacting the growth in demand for Care Services, including an ageing population and the impact of national changes to benefits entitlement and the National Living Wage.

RESOLVED that:

1)  The financial forecast for 2018/19 to 2021/22 be noted;

2)  Members’ comments on the initial draft Care Services Portfolio budget 2018/19 as a basis for setting the 2018/19 budget be noted; and,

3)  Members’ comments on the initial draft Care Services Portfolio budget 2018/19 be provided to the meeting of the Council’s Executive on 7^th February 2018.