Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alex Norris

Candida Brudenell

None

Minutes of the last meeting held on 8 September 2015 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2015 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Joint report of the Director of Finance and the Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Darren Revill, Finance Analyst, presented the joint report of the Director of Finance and the Corporate Director for Children and Adults, summarising the second quarter Better Care Fund (BCF) Monitoring Report  and updating the Commissioning Sub-Committee on the pay for performance element of the fund.

There is a forecasted underspend in 2015/16 of £2.348 million. Applying the agreed approach to meet any pay for performance shortfall from underspends within the pooled fund, this figure is reduced to £1.834 million.

RESOLVED to

(1)  note the cash flow position of the BCF Pooled Fund as at Quarter 2 of 2015/16:

(2)  note the forecast position of the BCF Pooled Budget as at Quarter 2 of 2015/16 as an underspend of £1.834 million;

(3)  note the updated position in relation to the Pay for Performance element of the fund:

Report of the Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Antony Dixon, Strategic Commissioning Manager, presented the report of the Corporate Director for Children and Adults, updating the Sub-Committee on proposals for utilisation of the Better Care Fund (BCF) underspend which will support the delivery of BCF metrics, support further integration of Health and Social Care provision in the city and improve outcomes for vulnerable older citizens and those with long-term conditions.

Antony highlighted the following:

(a)  a substantial in-year underspend of the BCF pooled budget against agreed funding has been identified, predominantly due to delay in implementing seven day service provision;

(b)  eight proposals have been made in order to ensure continued delivery against BCF metrics and improve citizen outcomes. These are all short-term measures that require funding in-year;

(c)  the first proposal is for a contingency fund to mitigate against any failure to deliver pay for performance targets. As guidance in relation to future pay for performance elements of the BCF is not yet available, if there is no future pay for performance element of the BCF this will be released back into the underspend;

The following answers were given in response to questions from the Sub-Committee:

(d)  the minimum wage uplift will raise the hourly rate of Care at Home Framework providers earlier than the original intention of April 2016. This will assist in recruiting new workers in an increasingly competitive area;

(e)  the proposals for reducing unnecessary delays were clarified. This is a proposal to apply mental health principles to the care of physical health patients, in particular post-operative period to reduce length of stay. The Sub-Committee felt that the language used for this was subjective and could be improved;

(f)  the outcomes from the pilots will be reported back at different times depending on their timescales;

(g)  the full contract value of the proposal for Care at Home Framework 24 Hour Pick Up is £201,541, however the estimated cost to the pooled fund is £85,153.

RESOLVED to

(1)  approve proposals for utilisation of 2015/16 BCF underspend and approve spend to the value of £1,013,906 as detailed below:

(2)  approve dispensation from section 5.1.1 of the council’s contract procedure rules in accordance with section 3.29 of the council’s financial regulations in relation to the award of contracts for 24 hour Care at Home urgent pick up pilots to Nottingham City Council Care Bureau;

(3)  approve dispensation from section 5.1.1 of the council’s contract procedure rules in accordance with section 3.29 of the council’s financial regulations in relation to the extension of a contract for the Community Navigator pilot to Bestwood Directions;

(4)  approve carry forward of BCF underspend to meet the cost of these proposals, currently estimated at £537,000.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item in accordance with section 110a(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item in accordance with section 100a(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on a basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The sub-committee noted the information in the exempt appendices.