To receive a verbal update on adult social care budget outturn.

The committee received a verbal update on the Adult Social Care budget outturn item.

The principal points of the subsequent discussion are summarised below:

1. The Cabinet Member Adults, Health and Wellbeing noted that the quarter three reports, which had been considered by Cabinet and Scrutiny Management Board, showed a forecast overspend of £5.9 million across the Community Wellbeing directorate. It was noted that £2.8 million of this would be allocated from the budget resilience reserve, leaving a projected overspend of £3.1 million.

2. It was identified that the cause of the overspend is increased demand in adult social care, both in terms of the number of people requiring support and the complexity of their care needs. The committee heard that there were approximately 185 households in temporary accommodation and that this represented a significant cost pressure.

3. It was reported that year-end close-down processes for 2025/26 are in process now and that early indications suggested the overspend position was likely to remain broadly in line with that reported at quarter three, although the final outturn position would not be available until after quarter four reporting in mid-May.

4. The Cabinet Member Adults, Health and Wellbeing also noted that Community Wellbeing had a savings target of £3.9 million for 2025/26 and that early indications have suggested this target would be achieved, subject to final confirmation. It was also noted that some measures being introduced to deliver savings in 2026/27 were already contributing towards savings in 2025/26.

5. In response to the budget pressures experienced during 2025/26, significant work was said to be underway to strengthen the adult social care front door so that people contacting the service could be signposted more effectively, including where their needs did not meet adult social care criteria.

6. The committee heard that further work was also being undertaken around prevention and the transformation of care commissioning, including reducing reliance on spot purchasing at short notice.

7. A suggestion was also raised that technology enabled care should be promoted more actively, including through displays in community hospital reception areas, in order to help residents and families understand what support might be available to keep people safe at home for longer.

8. The Director of Public Health noted that demand for adult social care is returning towards pre-Covid levels and that the complexity of care needs had also increased, requiring a range of responses including prevention, cost control, income generation and efficiencies.

9. In relation to prevention, the Director of Public Health added that this included both upstream public health activity, such as health checks and identifying hypertension early, and work at the adult social care front door to address lower-level needs before they escalated.

10. It was added that there was potential for a neighbourhood health approach to support closer working across services, although this work remained at an early stage.

11. The Chairperson identified a number of outstanding questions for future consideration, including the final outturn compared with the approved budget, the size of any overspend in cash and percentage terms, comparisons with the previous year, the point at which the overspend became clear, and whether any one-off items, reserve movements or accounting changes had affected the final position.