Agenda item

Andrew Webster, Associate Director for Integrated Care provided an update on the Better Care Fund and headline findings from the 151 draft BCF plans received.

Andrew said that the plans demonstrated very high levels of engagement between partners in different areas and early feedback suggested that any issues emerging were largely as predicted. Andrew said a fuller update would be provided at the end of March.

On the Disabled Facilities Grant, Members asked if assurance had been sought that the provisions set out in the Guidance in December 2013 have been met. Andrew responded that grant money had to be passported to authorities in 2 tier areas.

Members asked about the rationale for the timetable of first drafts of plans in April followed by a revised submission in April. Andrew said that this was because the NHS needed to conclude their contract plans in April.

Members highlighted a number of issues affecting their local areas in relation to the BCF, including:

• The importance of having risk assessments in the plan in the event that the HWB were unsuccessful in bidding for money. Some Councillors reported that they are currently aggregating these and would present back to Government. One risk identified was that of moving the workforce from one place to another.

• There was a danger of confusing transition with transformation. Some members reported that some areas risked overreaching in trying to change the service when authorities’ ability to manage transition effectively was the key area which would come under scrutiny.

• Some members felt that there was still a lack of clarity over what the role of NHSE would be in the new system.

• Members asked what would happen if agreement was not reached on how potential funding was spent. Andrew said that local government peers would try to broker agreement, but there was no formal process on this. However, if stalemate continued, NHSE would decide on what to do with the money, so there was an incentive to reach agreement in order to retain local determination.

• On Monitor, members highlighted that despite ostensibly acting in a support role, mixed messages were being received by some areas, where authorities incorrectly believed they would be subject to special measures. Andrew said that while nationally the relationship with Monitor was positive,there was further work to be done at local level, particularly within the NHS to provide reassurance and clarify their role to ensure traction on the ground.

In response to a query from members, Andrew agreed to seek clarification on a figure of £22m to be provided for ADASS leads.

On the range of assumptions made in relation to the cost of implementing Care Bill, Andrew said that more information was likely in May on this following the presentation of DH’s impact assessment to parliament. It was agreed for the cost of the Care Bill to be included in the agenda of a forthcoming meeting following this announcement.