The Cabinet Member introduced the report and thanked the Executive Directors and officers for their work in preparing the papers.

Inflation, cost of living and a rise in demand meant that limited resources were stretched. Government funding has been noticeably reduced since 2010.  The proposals project a balanced budget including a number of reasonable savings and limited amount of investment. 

It will be necessary to make cuts to afford the same services as last year.  The Cabinet Member had written to the Chancellor to ask to reverse 13 years of cuts and to invest in the services provided.

The Executive Director, Finance and Digital, present the report which was n update on a report presented to Cabinet in June. 

The key changes included that the pay award had been agreed and settled, inflation remains high, base rate remains hight and investment income was relieving some pressures. 

The monitoring report shows and £8million overspend, but that would change.

The Autumn Statement may have an impact and the provisional local government settlement was due before Christmas, a one-year settlement (the fifth in a row) was expected.  A paper to Cabinet in January would note changes in assumptions, followed by the February Budget Cabinet and then Full Council in March.

The Executive Director, Adult Social Care noted 7 savings.

-       ASC ICPH 121, redevelopment of the JMC Day Centre and Riverside Drive Residential Home.  

-       ASC ICPH122, built a strong reablement function, an inhouse team, supporting 90% of hospital discharges.

-       Mental Health s75 agreement would end.

-       ACS ICPH124

-       ACS ICPH125Adult Social Care placements/home care.  A new provider in place since 2 October, pays the London Living Wage to the carers and a new call monitoring system meant that only time spent on a patient was charged.

-       ASC ICPH 126, integration of commissioning function to improve efficiency in purchasing.

-       ASC ICPH 127, now allowed to charge self-funders for care provided, including assessment, review, and support planning. 

In response to questions the Executive Director confirmed that

-       The reablement service is free for up 6 weeks, costs are means tested beyond that point.

-       When a referral comes from the hospital it goes into a single point of contact and the teams work together to establish a lead provider

-       Occupational therapists assess needs for patients leaving hospital.

-       The reablement team will need to grow, we are looking for an external provider to work alongside the 50 staff we have.

-       Savings on the ending of s75 agreement come from a reduction in management roles when the work returns inhouse, there will be no fewer front-line staff.

-       The restructuring is aimed to be in place by April next year, an ambitious target, but lessons learned can be taken from the other five boroughs who have already completed the work.

-       The end of s75 agreement does not mean an end to working with the trust, but allows a more efficient service, the aim is for a better service than currently offered.

-       There are no dividends from CHAS that can be used here.

-       The contract for care workers does more than the living wage, it also pays for travel time, and social care charter, all providers are signed up.  Zero hour contracts are only agreed at the employees request

-       There are no plans for redundancies linked to the integration of the commissioning function, there are some unfilled vacancies which may be held.

-       The cost to self-funders is yet to be established, one inner London borough charges £55 per week, it’s likely that we will be close to that.

The Cabinet Member expressed pride in the work completed, the ripple effect of the LLW would be good for the wider community from workers spending their money in the borough.  The savings are created from more efficient ways of working, which means services do not need to be withdrawn.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Members and Directors for their work.