To consider and make any recommendations to the Cabinet on Budget Monitoring for Quarter 2 2022 - 2023. 

The Board to receive briefings from Officers on the projected overspend/issues in respect of the following areas:

·         Adult Social Care and Housing

·         Children’s Services

·         Customer Relationship Management System

·         Business Improvement Team

·         Corporate Services and Executive

·         Place Operations/Commissioned

The Board received an update on areas which were showing as projecting an overspend or issues of concern in respect of the following areas during their previous consideration of Quarter 1 budget monitoring 2022/2023:

Business Improvement Team and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System:

Members noted the submitted paper and the Divisional Director of Corporate Services, Matt Fairclough-Kay, responded to the following questions:

·                     the timeline and changes for the business improvement and the CRM;

·                     the change in focus from income generation and savings to cost savings and better value for money;

·                     how and when customer feedback would be sought to enable this to be used to help shape changes to services and particularly the CRM;

·                     when would the Liquid Logic implementation conclude; and

·                     what progress was being made on the future ways of working and review of the Town Hall.

Children’s Services:

Members noted the submitted paper and the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Councillor Law, and the Director of Children’s Services, Nancy Meehan, responded to the following questions:

·                     what progress had been made regarding the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) Written Statement of Action;

·                     what progress had been made regarding the Family Hubs;

·                     the impact of the additional hotel which the Home Office have placed asylum seekers, with higher than average numbers claiming to be under 18 years old and the work associated with this;

·                     the increase in the number of placements out of area and the lack of regulated placements requiring some young people to be placed in more expensive unregulated provision; and

·                     home to school transport and what was being done to help support families to get their children to school whilst trying to reduce costs on school transport.

Members praised the reduction in the use of agency social workers but were very concerned in respect of the impact the additional asylum seekers who were claiming to be under 18 years old was having on staff and resources within the Council, but acknowledged the action being taken by senior officers and Councillors to work with partners and lobby the Government for appropriate funding and to raise awareness of the impact this was having on a small Unitary Council.

Place operations/commissioned:

The Director of Place, Kevin Mowat, and the Divisional Director for Economy, Environment and Infrastructure, Alan Denby, responded to the following questions:

·                     the Council was good at securing grant funding how does it ensure that we spend the money within the deadline;

·                     the budget for capital projects was reviewed quarterly but does not include the actual date started and anticipated completion, how could the data used to report capital projects be improved;

·                     does the Council/TDA have sufficient capacity to deliver the capital projects and what was the impact of not delivering schemes e.g. costs transferred to revenue putting additional pressures on the revenue budget; and

·                     the pedestrianisation of Torbay Road, Paignton was portrayed as a temporary trial but some of the businesses do not support the proposal, could the scheme be amended or changed.

Adult Social Care and Housing:

The Chief Executive, Anne-Marie Bond provided a verbal update on a request from the Integrated Care Organisation (ICO) and Integrated Care System (ICS) for additional moneys in year.  The Council had a series of meetings with the ICO and ICS and rather than a cash injection, we have agreed to work together to review pathways within adult social care and how they can be reconfigured to drive out efficiencies and also to look at decision-making with the ICO to look at the scheme of delegation and who makes decisions to bring in more involvement from Torbay Council.  This had resulted in no additional financial exposure within the current financial year.

Members requested the Director of Adults and Community Services, Jo Williams, to provide a written briefing to all Councillors regarding the proposals with the ICO/ICS.

Members asked questions on the following:

·                     how many people were being cared for in their own homes and how was this care monitored;

·                     the Council pays a fixed fee for the delivery of social care through the integrated adult social care and health service which is based on benchmarking information; and

·                     if someone living in their own home needs to go into residential care and they sell their home to fund their placement, who pays if the money from the sale runs out.

Resolved (unanimously):

That the Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board be recommended to review domiciliary care and how this is delivered and monitored.

(Note:  during the discussion on Torbay Road Councillor Loxton declared a pecuniary interest and withdrew from the meeting, he returned once that scheme had been discussed.)