Agenda item

(a)       That the information provided in the report be accepted; and 

(b)       That the Committee reports back to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee and to Cabinet.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced the report to review and scrutinise key variances in revenue expenditure.  He provided background information and advised that the report provided an explanation of the current budget position, the influences in relation to overspend by service area, and the planned actions to manage the overspend through possible budget realignment to meet known service pressure and other measures.  The Chief Officer gave an overview of the financial monitoring within the following three areas of adult services, as detailed in the report.

            Mental Health/residential care placements

                        Councillor Dave Mackie queried the cost of a mental health placements and the figures within 1.05 of the report.  Officers explained that the cost of mental health placements would fluctuate  depending on the level of support required and included a range of placements both short and longer term.  Officers referred to the success with rehabilitating individuals, resulting in reduced costs for packages.  Officers also explained that joint funded placements with the Health service could be complex.    Work was done on a recovery model to support individuals to less restrictive and supervised independence. The Service Manager, Disabilities,  reiterated the success of working with people to enable them to make progress. The Chief Officer advised that the budget was insufficient to meet current service demands and to address the variances in the mental  health budget consideration was being given to a budget realignment.  He added that due to the growing demands on the service and the complex needs one placement could significantly impact the budget.

                        In response to a question from  Councillor Hilary McGuill regarding crisis situations and whether Health took ownership, the Senior Manager Integrated Services and Lead Adults confirmed that feedback was that Health and Social Services both acted as quickly as possible.   

                        The Chief Officer referred to areas of corresponding underspends and said that the department would seek to align this matter.

            Councillor  Carol Ellis expressed her concerns regarding the further budget savings identified of £0.450m at Stage 1 and 0.982 at Stage 2. 

The Committee recognised that the  implications of pressures on Health was also an important factor, with placements being funded jointly between Health and Social Services.   In addition there was an  increase in the numbers eligible for support as a result of the Social Services and Well-being Wales Act.  Councillor Carol Ellis commented  that the Mental Health/residential care placements could put the Council in a similar position to the one with  Out of County Placements a few years ago.

The Committee  accepted the budget position  as a result of the above explanations.

            Resources and Regulated Services

                        Councillor Dave Mackie commented on the overspend which he felt was not significant and said that due to the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act there had been an increase in the number of people who were eligible for support.  He also commented on the delay in the transfer of the day and work opportunities service in moving to an Alternative Delivery Model which was also a contributing factor to the overall budget pressure.  He said that the current figure of 1.62% seemed a reasonable variance considering the size of the budget. 

                        Councillor Carol Ellis reiterated that the impact of the Social Services and Well Being (Wales) Act should be recognised as a significant factor as there were statutory requirements bot no additional funding. 

Safeguarding Unit

                        The Chief Officer referred to the increase in the number of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which had resulted in an annual overspend.  He said that the DoLS service were also extending their workload to encompass Community DoLS and that whilst demand  continued to  rise the service had taken action to streamline processes and reduce headcount.  Projected overspends were being addressed by way of budget pressure submissions and he advised that a budget pressure of £100k had been put forward for 2018/19 which was subject to approval as part of the budget considerations.  

Councillor Carol Ellis expressed concern that there was no additional funding for the increase in provision of the DoLS service which was a statutory requirement.

Councillor Dave Mackie commented that the Service had recognised the need for  additional funding at an early stage and had raised the issue with Cabinet although it had been difficult to estimate accurately how much funding would be required at that time. 

                        Referring to the Child Protection Register and pre-birth conferences, the Senior Manager, Children and Workforce advised that funding had been secured from the Welsh Government to work with and support  women who had repeat pregnancies which then resulted in the child being placed for  adoption within the County.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the information provided in the report be accepted; and 

(b)       That the Committee reports back to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee and to Cabinet.