Decision details

Councillor A Morton, seconded by Councillor Green had given notice of the following motion:-

Motion

The Council:

1.     Notes the Budget decisions made at March meeting of Argyll & Bute Health and Social Care Partnership’s Integrated Joint Board meeting, which result in a need for further savings in excess of £2million to be identified

2.     Notes that the 2017/18 overspend by the H&SCP, as reported in January, amounts to £2.9million with loan support now required from both the Council and NHS Highland. This is in the context of a national reported overspend of circa £67million with 23 partnerships across Scotland forecasting an overspend

3.     Acknowledges the support and protection given by the Council to social work services - while the budget for social work services has increased overall by 1.08% since 2014/15, there has been a 4.27% overall reduction in the budget for all other council services

4.     Notes that Argyll & Bute H&SCP faces significant challenges, including:

a.     a shrinking and aging population which increases demand while creating difficulties in the recruitment and retention of staff;

b.     delivery across a huge geographic area, including 23 inhabited islands;

c.      a substantial proportion of their budget that is outwith their direct control (such as GP contracts, and recharges from other health boards);

d.     maintaining core local hospital, acute and GP out of hours services delivered in multiple rural hospitals with unique recruitment challenges and cost burdens

5.     Agrees that the Council Leader should write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport:

a.     regarding the impact of current finances on the delivery of local services

b.     highlighting the unique position the challenges detailed above create for the H&SCP

c.      recognising that the budget pressures being faced by the H&SCP right now are preventing the timescales needed for community-driven transformation, and welcoming the commitment from the Cabinet Secretary to provide support for the H&SCP

d.     acknowledging that the Council and NHS Highland currently face their own financial pressures and are not in a position to provide additional funding, and asking the Scottish Government to consider reassessing the funding levels provided for Health and Social Care in Argyll & Bute, alongside support for transformation.

Decision

The Council agreed the terms of the submitted Motion.