Agenda item

To provide the Board with an update on the financial monitoring of the Blackpool Better Care Fund.

Lucia Plant, Better Care Fund Lead, provided the Board with an update on the financial monitoring of the Blackpool Better Care Fund. Ms Plant explained that it had not been possible to present the Better Care Fund planning template for 2022/23 to the Health and Wellbeing Board due to the short timescale for submission and the late receipt of amended statutory guidance. Councillor Farrell as the Chair had reviewed the planning template prior to approval and it had been agreed by the key partners- the Board’s approval of the template was therefore sought retrospectively. The Board noted that while approval and assurance by NHS England of the planning template remained outstanding it was not anticipated that were would be any issues in that regard.

Ms Plant explained that a new Section 75 agreement, which underpinned the Better Care Fund Plan had been required following the transfer of Clinical Commissioning Groups to Integrated Care Boards and that this revised agreement had been approved by the Council’s Executive at its meeting on the 5 December 2022.

Ms Plant provided a brief update on the financial reporting and asked board members to note that officers have been unable to submit a consolidated report for this financial year due to the continued delayed publication of the Better Care Fund Policy Statement. It remained clear however that the Better Care Fund was within its overall budget parameters as individual organisations (Blackpool Council and Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board) had still been monitoring their respective schemes as part of their own financial reporting requirements and through the Better Care Fund Monitoring Group. It was anticipated that a full budget monitoring would be presented to a future meeting of the Board.

Ms Plant then explained the imminent changes to the Better Care Fund with the newly announced Adult Social Care Discharge Fund proposed to be distributed via the Better Care Fund. The funding would be provided in 2 phases – the first (40%) in December 2022, and the second (60%) by the end of January 2023. In response to questions regarding the short timescales, Ms Plant and Karen Smith, Director of Adult Services, Blackpool Council and Director of Health Integration, Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, explained that the use of the fund would involve the expansion of existing initiatives and schemes which already had a strong evidence of past success in addressing the issue.

The Board expressed satisfaction with the current delivery of the Better Care Fund but considered that given the importance of the Better Care Fund to the delivery of the Board’s objectives an update should be presented at least once every 6 months to the Board.

Resolved:

1.  To note the report and the brief verbal update summarised above in these minutes.

2.  To support the continuation of the Better Care Fund Monitoring Group which would be responsible for day to day monitoring and management of the Better Care Fund and require that body to report to the Health and Wellbeing Board on at least a 6 monthly basis.

3.  To confirm the Board’s approval of the Better Care Fund planning template for 2022/23 attached at Appendix 4a to the agenda.