Agenda item

To consider a report which provides an update on the current forecast outturn for the financial year 2025/26.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the current forecast outturn for the financial year 2025/26.

Members were updated that at the end of the finance review (FR) 2, the Council was forecasting an adverse variance of £2.345 million which was an improvement from FR1 of £360,000. However, this position is after the application of £25.261m of Exceptional Financial Support for the Adults and Health Committee, the forecast was for a £77,000 overspend, which was a deterioration of £372,000 since FR1. For the Adults and Health Committee, the worst-case financial scenario would be a £6.2 million overspend if mitigations linked to savings, grants and vacancies could not be delivered, and if there was a large increase in returning self-funders. There continued to be significant risks to the adult’s forecasts as detailed within the report which were linked to challenging NHS pressures and an increase in the level of returning self-funders.

Members were updated that the Social Care Ombudsman’s report noted a nationwide increase in complaints in connection with charging; the number of complaints which Cheshire East Council received in connection with charging was lower than the national average, and most complaints related to the level of public knowledge regarding charging. It was noted that the Council’s “Prevent, Reduce, Enable” strategy was still in its formation, and as such, the council would not achieve the full level of savings in year one, however, there were mitigations in place to recover these savings elsewhere, and the savings for Prevent, Reduce, Enable would be recovered over the full four year scope of the MTFS.

It was noted that the Council changed its Adults Social Care charging policy from April 2024, following a formal consultation. The charging policy was largely driven by national policy and there were statutory instruments to instruct local authorities how it could be implemented. It was noted that Cheshire East Council was due to consult on their charging policy prior to COVID, which delayed the process, however, this was conducted in 2023, at which point the additional 25% buffer was removed and the council now adopted the national policy which included the minimum income guarantee.

Members noted that the council had not miscalculated the amount of income it was anticipating in relation to adult social care, but it was often the case that people did not engage with the local authority until later in the social care process. The council had to implement charges as a national policy, and if customers did not engage with the council as soon as they required care to determine any contributions, the council would invoice users for the full cost of the service, which often triggered individuals to provide up to date information on income, which then resulted in reductions in the amount which they would pay towards their social care.

Members were updated that Cheshire East had many “self-funders” – over 50%, but there had been a recent uptick in the number of people who had run out of funds and were therefore coming to Cheshire East for support. It was noted that care fees had increased dramatically over the last three years, so people’s capital and assets were not supporting them for as long. It was noted that users and care homes were encouraged to advise the local authority of this, but they were not contractually obliged. It was noted that the council would revise their methodology on calculating these figures.

It was noted that the council had a statutory obligation to provide social care, and it could not turn users away if they are entitled to it; which made it increasingly difficult to apply a predicted figure to the amount which the council would spend on this. The council would continue to deliver budgets and control expenditure as best it could.

Members thanks officers for their work on the reports and budget monitoring; with the Adults and Health Committee’s predicted overspend to be only 0.45% of its budget.

RESOLVED:

That the Adults and Health Committee:

1. Note the overall Council’s Financial position as described within the Executive Summary – Council Financial Position.

2. Scrutinise the latest revenue forecast for Adults and Health Directorate, review progress on the delivery of the MTFS approved budget policy change items (Table 3), the RAG ratings and to understand the actions to be taken to address any adverse variances from the approved budget.

3. Note the overall in-year forecast capital spending for Adults and Health Directorate of £0.132m against a revised MTFS budget of £0.468m in Tables 4 and 5.

4. Note the available reserves position as per Table 6.