Agenda item

Report FSD22023

The Committee considered a report providing the budget monitoring position for 2021/22 for the Adult Care and Health Portfolio, based on activity up to the end of December 2021.

The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing advised that there had been some issues with the migration of data from CareFirst to LiquidLogic, as well as the creation of Business Object reports, which meant the data could not be relied on for budget monitoring purposes. Care package projections had therefore been based on data from CareFirst as at 20^th October 2021, which added some uncertainty. The current position was a projected underspend of £113k on the controllable budget, which was a reduction from the figure quoted in the quarter 2 report.

The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing advised that £1m of COVID grant funding from the un-ringfenced Contain Outbreak Management Fund had been legitimately allocated to offset much of the pressures identified. It was noted that in November 2021, the South East London CCG confirmed they had allocated one-off financial support to the six local authorities to help maintain a robust social care offer over the remainder of the financial year. From this funding, £920k was being used to help offset some of the additional care packages and other pressures during the pandemic, with Assessment and Care Management, Learning Disabilities and Mental Health all having an increased spend. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing advised that the full year effect going into 2022/23 was £6.4m, with £4.5m included for growth and additional pressures.

A Member enquired as to why the £1m COVID grant funding was reported separately and not incorporated into the overall figures. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing said that was to highlight the underlying pressures and ensure that they were not masked. Another Member noted that the grants received would not necessarily be sustained for future years – this indicated that the Portfolio would be running at an overspend and should be a consideration for next year’s budget. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing said that this was linked to the full year effect – the draft budget had been based on figures from quarter 2, but pressures had since increased. It was noted that additional grant funding would be received, but it was not guaranteed that it would cover all the pressures identified. The Director of Adult Social Care highlighted that during the pandemic the directorate had been required to operate differently, including discharging people from hospital more quickly – the grants received had reflected the need to change in order to protect the NHS. It was hoped that they would soon return to a more natural practice and that these demands would begin to reduce.

A Co-opted Member highlighted the general increase in financial burdens and enquired why there had been an increase in the re-assessments of client contributions. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing said he believed that these re-assessments were likely to have been made at the request of the clients, and as the projected underspend had reduced these contributions were likely to have been reviewed downwards.

A Member noted the reference made to the savings from the Shared Lives service being revised down to £200k. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing advised that these savings were not expected to be made specifically within the Shared Lives service and reflected the savings being made from other schemes in progress.

A Member noted the transport credit of £235k due to the reduction in day care services during the pandemic and enquired if these savings were likely to continue. The Head of Finance for Adults, Health and Housing said that the use of transport may increase and therefore this underspend may be a “one off”. The Director of Adult Social Care noted that they were seeing fewer clients choosing to return to traditional day service and therefore there may be less reliance on transport going forward.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

i.)  Note the projected underspend of £113k on controllable expenditure based on information as at December 2021; and,

ii.)  Agree the release of amounts carried forward to 2022/23 as set out in section 3.7 of the report.