Decision details

The Committee received a report on the current forecast outturn for the financial year 2024/25 based on income, expenditure and known commitments as at the end of August 2024, which also identified actions being taken to address adverse variances to urgently address the financial sustainability, from Nikki Wood-Hill, Lead Finance Business Partner.

The Committee were updated that, despite making further savings, it was unlikely that the forecast outturn for Adults would reduce significantly from £20.7m. Interventions which had been made had brought the projections down from £28m to £20.7m and the figures were being recalculated on a weekly basis.

It was noted that activity had largely stabilised, and had been steady for a number of years. As a result of the work which “front door” services had undertaken, the number of people receiving a social service from Cheshire East Council had not increased in the way in which would have been predicted. However, it was noted that, since the covid-19 pandemic the service had seen increases to prices as a result of a national increase to wages, inflation, and a general demand for workforce.

The service was proactively investing in services such as Falls Prevention and in the primary care and voluntary sector, to enable people to stay at home for as long as possible and reduce the likelihood of people being hospitalised and requiring longer term care.

The Committee were updated that Cheshire East Council were being rigorous on price increases from providers and as a result were starting to receive notice of ending placements from providers, but were actively working to find new placements for those who had been given notice. Cheshire East Council could not meet price increases which providers were seeking and would not fund price increases where providers could not evidence as a transparent justification, or which didn’t run ahead of costs.

The Committee were updated that no additional requests for exceptional financial support had been made, and that the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), who had undertaken a review of Cheshire East Council as part of due diligence for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), had provided feedback on the Adults element which was positive - everything they could think of Cheshire East Council were already doing, and they acknowledged that the issues it faced were largely national factors.

It was noted that Cheshire East Council could assist individuals with negotiations with providers for those who self-funded their care, and would offer advice on the most appropriate facility.

RESOLVED: (Unanimously)

That the Adults and Health Committee:

1. Review the factors leading to a forecast adverse Net Revenue financial pressure of £20.1m against a revised budget of £395.4m (5.1%). To scrutinise the contents of Annex 1, Section 2 and review progress on the delivery of the MTFS approved budget policy change items, the RAG ratings and latest forecasts, and to understand the actions to be taken to address any adverse variances from the approved budget.

2. Review the in-year forecast capital spending of £157.7m against an approved MTFS budget of £215.8m, due to slippage that has been re-profiled into future years.

3. Note the available reserves position as per Annex 1, Section 5.

4. Approve the Supplementary Revenue Estimate Request for Allocation of Additional Grant Funding over £500,000 up to £1,000,000 as per Annex 1, Section 3, Table 2.