Issue - meetings

To provide the Executive Members with an overview of progress on Service Plans agreed in January 2006. This report covers service plans for social services and corporate services. The report also highlights a projected overspend based on the first quarter monitoring and updates the Executive Member on action being taken to reduce expenditure.

 (i)        That the progress made in delivering Adult Social Services and Corporate Services plans be noted;

(ii)        That the projected overspend on Adult Social Services and the measures taken and planned to reduce this be noted.

Members received a report which provided them with an overview of progress on Service Plans agreed in January 2006.  The report covered service plans for Social Services and Corporate Services. The report also highlighted a projected overspend based on the first quarter monitoring and updated Members on action being taken to reduce expenditure.

The report advised that after approval of savings and growth and other approvals including insurance and recharge adjustments, the approved budget was £31.7m. This review indicated an overspend of £1,702k to the approved budget before actions were taken to bring the overspend down, an increase of 5.4%. If the actions being taken were achieved, the overspend could reduce to £651k, an increase of 2.1% to budget. Caution should be exercised in relation to the figures for the running costs of the new home care service. Further savings could be considered to reduce the projected overspend of £651k. However, these would all involve either some reduction in service level, increased rationing of care packages or options to increase income. These would be discussed with the Executive Member and further options brought back to the October meeting.

As part of the budget process Members agreed growth items of £305k.  In order to balance the Council’s overall budget, savings of £552k were also agreed. £49k worth of growth and £65k of savings had slipped due to delays in reproviding Windsor House as an Elderly Mentally Infirm (EMI) complex and retendering of the Community Support contract respectively.

With regards to Older People and Physical and Sensory Impairment, Members noted that the delivery of services to carers had improved significantly with the introduction of the flexible services, with 36 carers receiving a service in the first quarter, and requested that information be circulated indicating what proportion of carers this figure represented.  It was reported that implementing fair access to care according to the agreed threshold and guaranteed standards had continued and was near completion.  Members noted that services had been withdrawn where they did not warrant provision under the guaranteed standards and requested that information be circulated indicating how many customers had been affected by this.

Members requested that future reports use a clearer format for the scorecards of performance outcomes and measures attached as annexes.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Adult Social Services be advised:

(i)         That the progress made in delivering Adult Social Services and Corporate Services plans be noted;

(ii)        That the projected overspend on Adult Social Services and the measures taken and planned to reduce this be noted.

Decision of the Executive Member for Adult Social Services

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASONS:(i) To assure that the objectives for Adult Social Services are being delivered in line with the agreed service plans;

(ii) To ensure that robust plans are in place to bring expenditure on Adult Social Services much closer to the approved budget.