To approve the principles for the spend of additional social care funding announced in the spring budget 2017 to allow for expenditure to begin promptly within the timescales required by the grant conditions.

THAT:

(a)        the following principles be adopted to guide the allocation and prioritisation of the additional funding of £7,311,000 over three years (2017/18 to 2019/20):

•           To support market development and sustainability for social care providers in Herefordshire

•           To support short term health initiatives that demonstrate future benefit to residents, and across the health and social care system

•           To integrate services through joint pathways and not building functions and services silos

•           To utIlise a pilot approach to new initiatives to enable the evidence of benefits and learn from what works in practice 

•           To invest in systems to identify and track individuals to demonstrate the evidence of need and outcomes

•           To invest in initiatives that prevent or delay the need for formal care and prevent hospital admission

•           To invest in technology enabled care to support the care workforce challenge across the health and social care system;

(b)        the director for adults and wellbeing, following consultation with the cabinet member for health and wellbeing and the section 151 officer, be authorised to determine the detailed allocation of the funding having regard to these principles and any national conditions associated with the funding; and

(c)        in exercising the authority referenced in recommendation b above, the director for adults and wellbeing report to cabinet in the quarterly corporate performance reports, how the funding has been allocated and the outcomes achieved from its use.

The spring budget 2017 recognised that adult social care services are under significant pressure nationally; one expression of this being the increased number of patients whose discharge from hospital has been delayed while they wait for a social care placement. As a consequence, the chancellor announced an additional £2 billion for councils to spend on adult social care over the next three years (2017/18 to 2019/20). Of this, the allocation for Herefordshire is £7.3 million.

The grant conditions set jointly by the Department of Health (DH) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) state that the funding is to be paid to councils and used for the purposes of meeting adult social care needs, reducing pressure on the NHS – including supporting more people to be discharged from hospital when they are ready and stabilising the social care provider market.  It has been made clear that the funding is intended to enable councils to quickly provide stability and extra capacity in local care systems. This may include meeting the cost of pressures that go beyond the original approved budget for adult social care, or avoiding the need for planned cost savings, where these might have a negative impact on demand for NHS care.

The recommendations take account of the grant conditions and requirements to support the market as soon as possible, therefore delegated authority is sought to allow for immediate expenditure once detailed scoping has been completed in consultation with key stakeholders and partners.

The decision making for the funding could align to the revised better care fund (BCF) planning, however the funding was announced in the spring budget 2017 to help stabilise the care market and support hospital discharge.  One of the grant conditions, as located at appendix one, is that the additional funding for each year is spent in full within that financial year. Since the largest amount of funding falls within the 2017/18 year, which has already started, approval is required to allow the spend to happen quickly. In addition, the BCF guidance has been significantly delayed therefore to ensure maximum benefit is achieved from the funding early determination of its use is recommended.

The decision making authority could be reviewed annually. This is not recommended as it would add a further level of bureaucracy. The recommendations ensure timely and efficient decision making while maintaining continued transparency and accountability through the quarterly performance reporting process.