Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director of People

The Committee received the report of the Assistant Director of People. Members noted that the Government had announced an Integration Transformation Fund, known as the Better Care Fund, which would give £3.8 billion worth of funding in 2015/16 to be spent locally on health and care to drive closer integration and improve outcomes for patients and service users. The fund pulled together some existing monies from various grants and gives a small additional pot to develop a more seamless approach between Health and Adult Social Care.

Members noted that funding must be used to support adult social care services in each local authority, that also had a health benefit and it will be a condition of the funding to demonstrate how it would make a positive difference to social care services. Another condition of the funding was that the local authority agrees with its local health partners how it was best used within social care, and the outcomes expected from this investment. Health and Wellbeing Boards would be the natural place for discussions between the Board, clinical commissioning groups and local authorities on how the funding should be spent, as part of their wider discussions on the use of their total health and care resources.

A plan proforma would be drafted between the local authority and the CCGs that would be party to the plan. A draft plan must be submitted by the Health and Wellbeing Board to the Local Government Association (LGA) and NHS England by the 15^th February 2014 with a final submission at the beginning of April.

A consultation event was held with Healthwatch on the 12th December 2013 on the areas where we think we need to concentrate in delivering services in the future. The plans that will be drawn up will directly reflect the views of our service users, partners and providers taken from the consultation event.

The four key areas are:

• Care in the right place at the right time
• Looking at 24/7 care, reablement and other local services
• Joined up care
• Looking at how we work better with partners to make a seamless service for our users
• Quality of life
• Looking at how we can make things better for people who live in the City
• Caring for Carers
• Looking at how we can support the carers to continue in their caring roles

Members noted that the City of London Corporation would receive an initial allocation of funding to support the transformation in 2014/15 of £41k, with £819k to be allocated in 2015/16. The £819k comprised £775k of BCF funding, £17k Disabled Facilities Grant funding and £27k Social Care Capital Grant funding. Most of this money comes from existing allocations that we would receive for Social Care. A plan for how the Better Care Fund would be used must be signed off by the Board in April 2014, for implementation in April 2015.

In response to a query from Members it was noted that there would be a number of implications arising from this fund and the proposals that would emerge. It would change the funding streams to Adult Social Care with the creation of one fund that comprises the Carers Grant, Disabled Facilities Grant, CCG reablement funding and transformation funding.

RESOLVED: that Members agreed to a consultation workshop for Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board on the Better Care Fund in early March.