To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors PA Andrews, MD Lloyd Hayes and PJ Watts.

To receive details of any Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor AJW Powers for Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes and Councillor PGH Cutter for Councillor PJ Watts.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

None.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

(There will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised.  Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

There were no suggestions from Members of the Public.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the Committee Officer.  This will help to ensure that an answer can be provided at the meeting). 

There were no questions from the public.

To provide the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee with information on the draft budget proposals and to give an opportunity for the committees to comment on the Budget report to be presented to Cabinet on 23 January 2014.

The Chief Finance Officer provided a report on the Budget for 2014/15 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  In his presentation he highlighted the following matters:

·         That there had been a zero based budgeting approach to the Adult Wellbeing budget.  The starting point had been the current spending position, and savings had been made against what was happening at the moment.

·         That whilst 2014/15 would be the focus for the budget, a three year budget had been published in order to be able to provide the organisation with confidence for forward planning. 

·         That the budget was predicated on a 1.9% increase in council tax.  This was the position adopted by the majority of councils nationally.  The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government was rumoured to be considering reducing the existing cap for the need for a council to undertake a referendum on council tax from the present 2% to 1.5%.  This would mean that a lot of councils would face the prospect of a referendum.

The Director of Adults Wellbeing reported that the budget for 2014/15 was designed to sit within the changing Health and Social Care landscape.  There were key areas for support that would focus on the affordable integration of care services and would focus on the design of pathways that would maximise the effectiveness of what was happening in the community.  Savings would be achieved by ensuring that the Council was providing effective and efficient funding for those who met the appropriate criteria.  The following points were highlighted in discussion:

·         that since September 2013, the pathway for assessments had been redesigned, and the case load of every social worker had been reviewed.  From April 2014, a new assessment process would be brought in that would significantly reduce waiting times as it would provide a single assessment of both need and resource.  The number of social workers had been a key blockage in the past, but the teams had been completely redesigned with additional leadership and training in order to help them cope with the new eligibility criteria.

In reply to a question from a Member as to what assurance could be given that the budget was accurate, the Cabinet Member (Health & Wellbeing) said that Committee Members would have seen all of the items against which savings had been delivered.  There were eleven commissioning programmes in place to deliver a renewed programme by the 1 April 2014.  This, combined with greater emphasis on eligibility of services and the next stage integration programme, would deliver more stability for the service.   

In reply to a Member’s question about whether savings from Adult Social Care were achievable in a budget which had consistently overspent, the Chief Finance Officer said that the three year financial plan would provide stability, and more management capacity was being put into Adult Wellbeing, which had been separated out from the Peoples Directorate.  There was now more capacity to deliver on savings targets.

·         That whilst there would be no public funds for those with low  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100.

Further to the interim reports at pages 297 and 309 of the agenda, please find the document ‘Budget 2014/15 Consultation: analysis of results (9th January 2014)’ attached.