To approve the section 75 (s75) agreement between the council and Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), effective from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

The cabinet member health and wellbeing introduced the item.

It was noted that it was a national requirement to have a section 75 agreement in place and that such agreements enabled the joint commissioning of integrated health and social care provision. The future of funding was uncertain beyond April 2020 and, as a result, the new agreement would run for 12 months only ending in March 2020. The total value of the agreement was in excess of £55m.

The agreement was a continuation of what was already in place with the only significant change being the introduction of a discharge to assess pilot scheme to deliver short-term bed based care whilst promoting the opportunity for assessment and planning to meet longer-term care needs.

The head of partnerships and integration confirmed that the council would continue to work very closely with its partners and that there had been no specific tensions or concerns with the operation of the current agreement.

Group leaders were invited to express the views of their group.

There was concern that the authorisation of the agreement would mean that officers would be able to move £55m without any further reference to cabinet. It was agreed that written clarification on this point would be provided.

It was agreed that:

a)    The section 75 (s75) agreement for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 at a total value of £55.685m between the council and Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), as at appendix one, is approved; and

b)    The director for adults and communities be authorised to take all operational decisions necessary to complete the section 75 agreement.