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The Chief Finance Officer submitted a report relative to the financial allocation and budgets made available to the IJB for 2020/21 by Renfrewshire Council and NHSGGC and outlining the main financial pressures on health and adult social care services.
The Scottish Government draft budget for 2020/21 had been published on 6 February 2020 and approved on 5 March 2020. Due to the unscheduled General Election on 12 December 2019, the UK Government’s spending review scheduled for November 2019 and the Scottish Government’s draft budget scheduled for 12 December 2019 had been postponed. The Scottish Government decided to publish its draft budget ahead of the UK budget, based on announcements already made by the UK Government as well as ongoing engagement with the UK Government and HM Treasury, recognising that, should the UK budget differ materially from the assumptions made, the Scottish Government budget may have to be reconsidered.
Included within the conditions of the 2020/21 budget was the continued prioritisation of financial support for social care and integration, with a further £100 million for investment in this area. The allocation of this funding would be as follows: £57.2 million to support cost and demand pressures; £25 million to support continued delivery of the real living wage; £11.6 million to support the ongoing implementation of the Carers Act; £4 million to support school mental health services; and £2.2 million to support free personal and nursing care.
The Chief Finance Officer intimated that for 2020/21, the adult social care budget offer was £72,626 million and the health budget offer was £233,543 million.
A copy of the letter dated 6 February 2020 from the Interim Director of Health Finance and Governance, Scottish Government formed Appendix 1 to the report; a copy of the letter dated 6 February 2020 from the then Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, Scottish Government formed Appendix 2 to the report; a copy of the joint letter dated 28 February 2020 from the Interim Director of Health, Finance and Governance and the Director of Community Health and Social Care, Scottish Government, providing further clarification, formed Appendix 3 to the report; a copy of the letter dated 11 March 2020 from the Director of Finance and Resources, Renfrewshire Council formed Appendix 4 to the report; and a copy of the letter from the Assistant Director of Finance, NHSGGC formed Appendix 5 to the report.
The Chief Finance Officer highlighted that the 2020/21 budget proposals had been presented on a ‘business as usual’ basis, however, ongoing and developing COVID-19 issues had impacted on this and extraordinary costs were being incurred and would continue to be incurred for the foreseeable future. For accounting purposes, those costs would be recorded separately, with the assumption that the costs would be covered by the Scottish Government.
It was proposed (i) that the delegated adult social care budget for 2020/21 be accepted; (ii) that authority be delegated to the Chief Officer, in consultation with the Chair, to accept the 2020/21 delegated health budget, subject to the expected uplift of 3% reflecting the Board’s uplift for 2020/21 including any final adjustments in relation to recurring budget adjustments at month 12 and the final budget offer including a budget for set-aside for 2020/21; (iii) that the drawdown of reserves, in order to fund any shortfall in funding for 2020/21, be approved; and (iv) that, as highlighted in section 10 of the report, the 2020/21 budget proposals assumed ‘business as usual’, however, the potential financial and economic impact of COVID-19 represented a significant additional risk to the IJB and the wider public sector going forward. This was agreed.
DECIDED:
(a) That the delegated adult social care budget for 2020/21 be accepted;
(b) That authority be delegated to the Chief Officer, in consultation with the Chair, to accept the 2020/21 delegated health budget, subject to the expected uplift of 3% reflecting the Board’s uplift for 2020/21 including any final adjustments in relation to recurring budget adjustments at month 12 and the final budget offer including a budget for set-aside for 2020/21;
(c) That the drawdown of reserves, in order to fund any shortfall in funding for 2020/21, be approved; and
(d) That it be noted that, as highlighted in section 10 of the report, the 2020/21 budget proposals assumed ‘business as usual’, however, the potential financial and economic impact of COVID-19 represented a significant additional risk to the IJB and the wider public sector going forward.