Issue - meetings

Report FSD23045

The Committee considered a report which provided details of the final outturn position for the Adult Care and Health Portfolio for 2022/23.

The final outturn for the “controllable” element of the Adult Care and Health budget in 2022/23 was a net underspend of £156k compared to the last reported figure of a net underspend of £57k which was based on activity at the end of December 2022. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing advised that there had been pressures on the budget throughout the year, however these had been managed by utilising available grant monies and keeping controls on expenditure.

A Member noted that there was a Public Health in-year underspend of £910k in 2022/23. The balance of the Public Health reserve now stood at £2,874k, which remained ring-fenced forPublic Health activities, and this should not keep accumulating. The Director of Public Health said this had been impacted by two different elements. The first of these related to non-essential services that had been stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic, which accounted for around half of this underspend. This included the Health Checks undertaken by GPs which only resumed last year and had created a knock-on effect to other services. The was a similar situation with sexual health services, which was a national issue. The Director of Public Health noted that additional funding had been received this year, but could not be used immediately and therefore the full year effect would not have been seen. The other issue had related to the Public Health grant being announced in April/May of the current year – by this time the budget had already been set and they could not predict what the uplift would be. Members were informed that there were plans to reduce the underspend and a number of services had been commissioned late last year.

The Director of Adult Social Care expressed her thanks to the Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing for the report provided.

RESOLVED that:

i.)  the net underspend of £156k on controllable expenditure at the end of 2022/23 be noted; and,

ii.)  the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Health be recommended to endorse the 2022/23 final outturn position for the Adult Care and Health Portfolio.