Issue - meetings

To pre-scrutinise proposals by the Adults Health and Care Department to meet the anticipated budget gap by April 2023, prior to consideration by the Executive Member for Adult Services and Public Health. (for onward submission to Cabinet and Council, as part of the process for setting the overall budget)

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults Health and Care and Director of Corporate Operations regarding the detailed savings proposals for the Adults Health and Care Department that had been developed as part of the Savings Programme to 2023 (SP2023) Programme.

It was reported that the last government spending review was for one year, making forward planning difficult. Forecasting indicated that government funding would not fully meet the financial pressures the County Council faced, therefore there would be a funding gap in April 2023 and the Council would need to make savings of £80 million to balance the budget. This was in addition to £45 million in savings from previous transformation programmes that were yet to be delivered.

It was noted that the savings requirement for the Adults Health and Care Department under this SP23 savings programme was £40.6 million, alongside £29 million still to be delivered from previous programmes. It was highlighted that SP23 would not include savings from public health, as this budget was ringfenced.

It was indicated that the Department was proposing to achieve the savings by a continuation of methods used under previous transformation programmes. There were a number of risks to delivery. An overarching ‘balancing the budget’ consultation had been undertaken in the summer of 2021 and further consultation would be undertaken on the detail of two proposals relating to social inclusion services and demand management grants.

Members asked questions and commented on the proposals. The Chairman put the recommendation to the vote and it was carried.

RESOLVED:

The Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee considered the detailed savings proposals and:

Support the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Adult Services and Public Health in section 2 of the report. (To approve the submission of the proposed savings options for Adult’s Health and Care contained in the report and Appendix 1 to the Cabinet.)