Agenda item

The Director of Finance submits a report setting out the City Mayor’s proposed budget for 2019/20 to 2021/22.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to pass any comments to the Overview Select Committee as part of its consideration of the report before it is presented to the Council meeting on 20 February 2019.

The Director of Finance submitted a report that set out the City Mayor’s proposed budget for 2019/20 to 2021/22. The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission was asked to pass any comments to the Overview Select Committee as part its consideration of the report prior to it being presented to Council on 20 February 2019.

The Strategic Director, Social Care and Education referred to the Adult Social Care element of the budget and said that there were continued growth pressures in Adult Social Care in Leicester and across England as a whole.  The pressures arose from an increase in people’s needs and frailty, but pressures also arose in adult mental health where people suffered disproportionately more in Leicester compared to nationally.

Members heard that the Green Paper, which will set out additional funding for Adult Social Care had been delayed five times and had still not been released. There was no certainty as to what would happen in approximately 13 months’ time, when the current allocation of additional funding for Adult Social Care ran out. Members expressed very strong concerns at the extremely difficult situation and the pressure the service faced because of the delay in the Green Paper and the uncertainty about future funding.

The Strategic Director explained that Spending Review Four was underway and the service had already delivered some of the required savings, but savings and efficiencies would not solve the problem after 2020 if the Government did not allocate additional funding to Adult Social Care.

During the ensuing discussion, comments and queries were raised which included the following:

·      The Chair stated that the largest proportion of council money was allocated to the City Council’s essential Adult Social Care services. The general budget strategy of the Council meant that the  service in Leicester had been supported more than many other Adult Social Care services elsewhere in the country.  The Chair added that the continuous austerity the country was experiencing made the decisions around budgeting especially difficult.

·      It was noted with some concern that the current round of Better Care Funding was due to end after 2019/2020 and an officer explained that they were waiting to hear more about the fund in the Green Paper. The Strategic Director commented that the Association of Adult Social Care Directors had consistently applied pressure to the Government to release the information regarding Adult Social Care funding. He thought it unlikely that the Better Care Fund would not be replaced with something else, but they did not know what and had no indication of when the announcement would be coming.

·      The Assistant City Mayor for Adult Social Care stated that there was a lot of talk about elderly people, but approximately one third of the budget was spent on people with mental health issues or learning disabilities. Adult Social Care provided a good service, but in respect of people with learning disabilities, there were parts of the service she would like to deliver differently and for which more resources were needed.

·      The Assistant City Mayor also stated that while she understood that the NHS wanted to discharge people from hospital quicker, this led to considerable implications for Adult Social Care. Additionally, neither the University Hospitals of Leicester or the Leicestershire Partnership Trust had good inspection reports, and this also impacted on the local authority.

·      Mr Micheal Smith, Healthwatch stated that the concerns about the Green Paper and funding for Adult Social Care was an issue that Healthwatch both in Leicestershire and around the country could also take up.

The Chair drew the discussion to a close and proposed that Members note the report and write a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care along with the three M.P.s for Leicester, to highlight the seriousness of the situation regarding funding for Adult Social Care and the lack of clarity of monetary allocation beyond 2019/20. 

AGREED:

1)    that the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission note the General Fund Revenue Budget 2019/20 to 2021 /22 report; and

2)    that a letter be written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the three M.P.s for Leicester to highlight the seriousness of the situation regarding funding for Adult Social Care and the lack of clarity of monetary allocation beyond 2019 /20.