Agenda item

The Commission will receive a report which presents the spending position of the Adult Social Care Department as at the end of July 2014 (Period 4).  Members are recommended to consider the Adult Social Care budget position as presented within the report and make any observations it sees fit.

The Director of Finance provided an update on the Revenue Budget Monitoring Report, Period 4, 2014/15 for Adult Social Care.

The Director drew members’ attention to Section 4 of the report which stated that the early forecast for Adult Social Care indicated that there would be an overspend of £2.6m but latest predictions showed that this overspend was likely to be £3.7m. The Director added that she would be reviewing the reserves, but it would not be possible to address the overspend purely from the reserves. She also commented that there was a corporate contingency fund, but this was not done by department.

Members acknowledged that much of the overspend were one off costs which would rectify as the projects progressed, but other pressures, particularly the increasing demand for services, needed addressing. The Chair sought assurances from Councillor Patel, Assistant City Mayor, Adult Social Care as to what would be affected

The Strategic Director, Adult Social Care explained that she had only been in post for a few days, but she would be spending time reviewing the situation and anticipated that a plan of action would be drawn up by Christmas time. She would be looking at all areas of Adult Social Care to try to reduce spending.

The Chair sought assurances from the Councillor Patel, Assistant City Mayor, Adult Social Care, that the vulnerable would be protected. The Assistant City Mayor responded that the council’s priorities would be with those people who were the most vulnerable.

Members requested details as to the council’s statutory duty and what would happen to those people who would no longer receive social care support. They also asked that Equality Impact Assessments were completed to ensure that the council were catering for those in need, should budget cuts be made.

The Strategic Director responded that they would be looking at different ways of working, but the ultimate goal would be to protect the most vulnerable.

The Director of Finance added that the team were already looking at what could be done to slow down demand for the service. However, some of the costs could not have been foreseen.

The Chair expressed concern that this presented a very considerable challenge and that the problem of the increased demand for the Adult Social Care was not going to go away. Members questioned whether more money could be invested and assurances were sought that realistic sums of money were being put aside to meet the demands of the service.

The Chair sought an assurance from Assistant City Mayor Patel that the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission would be kept informed of future developments. Assistant City Mayor Patel responded that she wanted to have an opportunity to look at what was being put forward, but there would also be an opportunity for the commission to see it as well. However, action needed to be taken promptly.

The Chair acknowledged Assistant City Mayor Patel’s assurance that the commission would have an opportunity to give their comments on the proposals concerning the forecasted overspend on the Adult Social Care budget. It was proposed that a special meeting of the commission would be convened if necessary to consider the proposals when the information was available.

RESOLVED:

that a special meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission be arranged if necessary to consider the proposals concerning the forecasted overspend on the Adult Social Care budget.