Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Chair intimated that this meeting of the IJB would be recorded and that the recording would be available to watch on both the Council and HSCP websites.


Prior to the start of the meeting, the Chair advised that Christine Laverty, Chief Officer, would be taking up the post of Chief Officer of Edinburgh IJB in the new year. On behalf of the IJB, the Chair congratulated Christine on this appointment.

 

Colin Neill (Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board); John Boylan (Trade Union Representative for Council); and Amanda Walton (Trade Union Representative for Health Board).

 

The Minute of the meeting of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) held on 25 September 2024 and the Minute of the special meeting of the IJB held on 22 November 2024 were submitted.

DECIDED: That the Minutes be approved.

 

The rolling action log for the IJB was submitted.

DECIDED: That the updates to the rolling action log be noted.

The Chief Officer submitted a report providing an update on key developments and operational activity since the last meeting of the IJB on 25 September 2024 and additional policy developments which would be built into future workplans, strategies and action plans.

The report intimated that the contents reflected an ongoing period of change and challenge, particularly within the financial circumstances faced by the IJB.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the range of key HSCP updates, as detailed in sections 4 to 8 of the report, be noted; and

(b) That the national policy updates, as detailed in sections 9 to 11 of the report, be noted.

The Chief Finance Officer submitted a report relative to the revenue budget position at 31 October 2024 and the projected year end position for the year ending 31 March 2025. 

The report advised that pay negotiations for local government were still ongoing, however Council Leaders had taken the decision to implement the current offer. The final impact on the overall budget position for 2024/25 was not clear as the local government pay award had not yet been paid. The Head of Finance & Procurement, Renfrewshire Council had confirmed that Renfrewshire Council would pass through to the IJB its relevant share of the funding from the Scottish Government. The report further advised that the pay award for NHS employees had been agreed but it was not yet clear what the final impact on the overall budget position for 2024/25 would be as the funding had not yet been passed through to the IJB to meet the increased costs.

DECIDED:

(a) That the in-year position at 31 October 2024 be noted;

(b) That the projected year-end position for 2024/25 be noted; 

(c) That the in-year management action in place to reduce 2024/25 projected spend be noted;

(d) That the impact on the reduction in the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes funding on each of the programmes, as detailed in section 7.1 of the report, be noted;

(e) That the proposed funding arrangements to deliver the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes programmes in 2024/25, as detailed in section 7.1 of the report, be approved; 

(f) That it be noted that an action plan to reduce Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework programmes for 2025/26 would be brought back to the IJB for approval to ensure spend was contained within the financial envelope now provided; and 

(g) That the admin resource of 14.48 FTE and associated budget transfer of c£521k, pending pay award, to the Specialist Children’s Services (SCS) hosted by East Dunbartonshire IJB from 1 January 2025, as detailed in section 10 of the report, be approved.

The Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement submitted a report providing an update on performance benchmarking analysis against national indicators and highlighting work underway locally to improve outcomes and performance. 

The report intimated that the indicators presented for analysis were the core set of 20 measures the Scottish Government used to assess performance for all Health & Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and were different to the 2024/25 Renfrewshire IJB Performance Scorecard which concentrated on locally agreed performance measures. The report focussed on a comparison with the HSCP’s family group and the other HSCPs within the NHSGGC area.

The report advised that the overall performance for Renfrewshire was fairly static with little changes from the previous year. There were some areas where the performance was the highest amongst the comparator group and some areas for improvement, the details of which were outlined in the report.

The report noted that the IJB was facing unprecedented financial challenges and uncertainties during 2024/25 and beyond with capacity pressures evident across the HSCP and, as a result, maintenance of performance was expected to prove challenging.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the report and supporting appendices be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that the interpretation of the nationally set indicators was limited given the data that was used for most of the indicators remained affected by the COVID pandemic and there were also issues with data completion and inconsistency in publication.

There was submitted a report by the Head of Health & Social Care relative to the joint inspection of adult support and protection arrangements in the Renfrewshire partnership, being carried out by the Care Inspectorate, which commenced on 2 December 2024.

The report outlined the preparation underway, the key dates for the joint inspection and the local governance arrangements.

DECIDED:

(a) That the information relating to the forthcoming joint inspection of adult support and protection in Renfrewshire be noted;

(b) That it be noted that a Core Working Group was in place to oversee inspection preparation; and

(c) That it be agreed that regular updates would be provided to the IJB on inspection progress.

The Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement submitted a report relative to the Renfrewshire Local Child Poverty Action Report 2023/24, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 required each local authority and associated health board to jointly prepare and publish a Local Child Poverty Action Report after the end of each reporting year. The report required to describe measures taken during the reporting year that reduced child poverty or improved outcomes for children living in poverty together with planned and proposed future actions.

The report highlighted work being undertaken across Renfrewshire by the HSCP and its partners, statutory and third sector, to support families and respond to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the Local Child Poverty Action Report 2023/24, as appended to the report, be noted; and

(b) That the Local Child Poverty Action Report 2023/24 be approved.

The Strategic Lead & Improvement Manager submitted a report relative to Renfrewshire HSCP’s Winter Plan 2024/25. 

The report intimated that each year, the HSCP proactively developed plans to ensure the resilience of critical services over the winter period. It was recognised that pressures which were usually more likely to be prevalent in winter were now being identified and managed throughout the year and that the winter planning process continued to reflect and build on year-round business continuity activity.

The report noted that the HSCP’s winter planning for 2024/25 focussed on identifying supplementary actions to support service provision during this period. A summary of the 2024/25 Winter Plan was appended to the report. 

DECIDED: 

(a) That it be noted that the ongoing review and enhancement of service business continuity plans continued to strengthen the level of preparedness for all potential scenarios throughout the year;

(b) That the content of Renfrewshire HSCP’s Winter Plan 2024/25 be noted; and 

(c) That it be noted that the Winter Plan would remain a live document to respond to changing circumstances throughout the winter period.

The Chief Social Work Officer submitted a report relative to his 2023/24 Annual Report. 

The report advised that the annual reports of all Chief Social Work Officers were submitted to the office of the Chief Social Work Advisor at the Scottish Government in order that a national overview report could be produced. The annual report from the Renfrewshire Chief Social Work Officer provided a summary of the activities relating to the Chief Social Work Officer during 2023/24 and was attached as an appendix to the report. 

DECIDED: 

(a) That the key activities outlined in the Chief Social Work Officer’s Annual Report be noted; 

(b) That the commitment of social work staff in the consistent delivery of quality frontline services be acknowledged; 

(c) That it be noted that the report was presented to the meeting of Renfrewshire Council held on 26 September 2024; 

(d) That it be noted that the report had been submitted to the Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor at the Scottish Government; and 

(e) That it be agreed that the next annual report from the Chief Social Work Officer would be presented in Autumn 2025

The Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement submitted a report relative to the IJB’s annual report on compliance with climate change duties for 2023/24, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that the Scottish Government required all IJBs to prepare an annual report on compliance with climate change duties. A draft report had been submitted to the Sustainable Network Scotland by the deadline date of 30 November 2024 and this report sought approval from the IJB for finalisation of the Public Bodies Climate Change Duties Annual Compliance Report.

DECIDED: That the content of the compliance with the climate change report 2023/24, which formed the appendix to the report, be approved.  

The Chair of the IJB Audit, Risk & Scrutiny Committee provided a verbal update on the business conducted at the meeting of the Committee held on 15 November 2024.

DECIDED: That the verbal update be noted.

Under reference to item 7 of the Minute of the meeting of the IJB held on 25 September 2024, the Strategic Lead & Improvement Manager submitted a report providing an update on the findings of the engagement carried out so far in relation to the Sustainable Futures programme.

The report advised that the HSCP was currently developing a more detailed report on the feedback received through the engagement carried out to date which would be published on the HSCP website. 

DECIDED:

(a) That the summary findings from the engagement carried out to date, as detailed in sections 4 to 8 of the report, be noted; and 

(b) That it be noted that the HSCP would publish an analysis of the engagement findings on its website, as detailed in section 10 of the report.

Under reference to item 7 of the Minute of the meeting of the IJB held on 25 September 2024, the Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement submitted a report providing an update on the work undertaken to progress the Sustainable Futures programme focussing on the savings ideas which had been identified to date to contribute towards the agreed target of 10% savings against the IJB’s influenceable budget.

The report intimated that the savings outlined were for the IJB’s consideration and agreement for (i) immediate approval of several savings, the implementation and monitoring of which would be undertaken by the HSCP’s senior management team though existing operational governance arrangements; (ii) progression of a number of savings ideas for further engagement, analysis and impact assessment; and (iii) ongoing consideration of the impact of moving to critical only eligibility should related proposals be required in future. 

The report advised that the savings ideas identified could be delivered over the next three financial years and accounted for the 10% target agreed by the IJB in September. The report noted that delivering this target would be exceptionally challenging and would require very difficult decisions. The financial report considered earlier in the meeting set out a range of management actions which would be taken to reduce the projected overspend in this financial year which was currently expected to be approximately £7.58 million prior to any drawn down from reserves. 

Councillor McMillan proposed:
 
Replace 2: 3 with Note the savings proposed, agree that these proposals are put on hold until such time as the Scottish Government's budget process is concluded 

And add that the proposed savings are sent to the Scottish Government finance and health secretaries for their information.

Officers will also write to emphasise that these possible savings are as a result of the financial situation Renfrewshire IJB is in.

Furthermore we ask that more money is found to protect these services that vulnerable people and their families depend on.

As he failed to find a seconder, Councillor McMillan requested that his dissent be recorded in the Minute.

On behalf of the carers, Mark Halliwell advised that the carers appreciated the work that had gone into it but they did not support this paper.

DECIDED:

(a) That the contents of the report be noted;

(b) That the current 10% savings target identified against influenceable spend and the exceptions to this, as set out in section 5 of the report, be noted;

(c) That the savings set out in section 7 of the report be approved and that it be noted that the senior management team would manage the implementation and monitoring of these through existing operational governance arrangements within the HSCP;

(d) That it be agreed that the other savings ideas identified in section 8 of the report be further developed and, where appropriate, engaged on with a view to bringing back more detailed impact assessments, including engagement feedback, to the IJB at future meetings for consideration;

(e) That reflective of the IJB’s financial position, it be agreed that the HSCP continue to review the current eligibility criteria policy, and the impact of moving to critical eligibility only, as described in section 8 of the report, and that the HSCP would, where appropriate or necessary, bring forward specific proposals to a future IJB meeting;

(f) That it be agreed that officers explore the appropriate use of Renfrewshire Council’s VR/VER policy to support the delivery of a number of saving ideas presented and use reserves to cover the non-recurring element of any packages agreed, as detailed in section 10 of the report; and

(g) That the next steps and associated risks and challenges for progressing savings, as set out in section 11 of the report, be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the IJB would be held at 10.00 am on 24 January 2025 and that this be a hybrid meeting in the Council Chamber, Renfrewshire Council, Renfrewshire House, Paisley.