The Overview and Scrutiny Specialist introduced the purpose
of the item and invited the Corporate Director for Wellbeing and the Director
of Public Health to present to the Committee.
The Corporate Director for Wellbeing’s presentation
highlighted the following:
- Wellbeing
Directorate – Overview
- Total
wellbeing budget 2024/25 – including a breakdown of gross expenditure
- Where
the money is spent: 2024-25
BCP ASC/Commissioning Gross expenditure
- Budget
narrative
- 2024/25
projected outturn
- Wellbeing
MTFP – pressures
- Wellbeing
MTFP – one off and transformation savings
- Wellbeing
– ASC Transformation (Fulfilled Lives Programme): Investment per scheme, £
and % of total programme
- Wellbeing
– ASC Transformation (Fulfilled Lives Programme): Programme Investment and
Savings Schedule.
The Director of Adult Social Care highlighted the £5.1
million virement to Children’s Services and explained that the budget had been
set using assumptions on levels of care which, due to changes in circumstances,
may no longer be required.
The Committee discussed the presentations, including:
- The
Chair highlighted the slides detailed how the £3.5 million savings were
going to be achieved.
- Following
a query, clarification was given over the different ways the pie charts
cut the budget
- In
response to a query about consideration given to bringing services back in
house as part of the transformation programme, the reasons why this had
not been considered was provided including the large number of providers
ASC commissioned. The Committee was
advised that consideration had been given to how best to maximise the
potential of the services commissioned, to ensure efficient services at
the best value and ensuring there was no gaps within the provision.
- The
Committee was reassured that Adult Social Care were a major player in the
local market, who also commissioned on behalf of health partners and could
use its influence as a positive.
- In
response to concerns regarding the virement to Children’s Services, the
Committee was advised that the anticipated budget for some complex cases
was not required and in order to balance budgets
where possible, the virement was processed.
- In
response to queries regarding waiting times within the service including
for reviews and assessments, the Director of Adult Social Care suggested
this could be a good area to focus on within the deep dive working group.
- In
response to a query regarding the £10 million variance detailed, the
Committee was given the reasons for that which included an increase in
income generated, transferring users or sharing costs with health partners
and changes in circumstances. It
was noted that there was a breakdown of the variance which could be shared
with the Committee.
The Director of Public Health’s presentation highlighted the
following:
- 24/25 Public
Health arrangements
- 24/25
forecast
- Transition
to 25/26 new arrangements
- 25/26
budget proposals
- Implications
of agreements to date
- Risks,
issues and uncertainties.
The Committee discussed the presentations, including:
- In
response to a query regarding the cost and impact on residents of
splitting the Public Health function, the Committee was advised that there
would still be a lot of collaboration between the Directors of Public
Health and their teams and that the split could enable the authorities to
commission more targeted support to its population increasing
responsiveness and flexibility. How
each of the authorities would manage the cost of splitting the role was
detailed.
- In
response to a query regarding the activities and outcomes of the Live Well
Dorset programme, the Committee was advised that it had managed to reach
those living in the most deprived areas of BCP and that access could
potentially be provided to the dashboard for the Committee to see the
output. ACTION.
- In
response to a query regarding the contracts currently retained in Dorset,
the Committee was provided with details of the mix of contracts including
those provided through a quality framework agreement. It was advised that there were some very
complex contracts which would require time to retender as opposed to some
of the smaller contracts which could be completed in a shorter
timescale. It was noted that each
contract would be considered and where appropriate, pan Dorset contracts
would continue.
- In
response to a query regarding the potential of redundancies, the Committee
was advised that an HR process was currently being finalised and it would
not be appropriate to discuss this at this time.
- A
Committee Member requested the positives of the separation of the Public
Health function be reported back to Committee at an appropriate time. ADD TO WORK PLAN.