The Director of Corporate Services  gave an overview of the reported and stated that an update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy was taken to Cabinet in December. The report highlights that there is built in growth for adult social care of £9.3 million in 2018, £252,000 in 2018/19 and a reduction in monies thereafter. There is now an overall budget gap of:

£1.6 million in 2017/18

£14.3 million in 2018/19

£15.1 million in 2019/20

£21.4 million in 2020/21

 Ahead of the final settlement an additional 1% precept for adult social care has been announced.

A panel member asked what the impact will be if the 3% levy is taken up by the council. The Director of Corporate Services reported that the additional 3% means the gap in 2018/19 reduces to £11.1 million.

A panel member asked if we can use growth in adult social care budget to demonstrate improvement. The Director of Community and Housing said the growth brings the budget in line with current spend, and so no service or quality enhancement can be funded and no savings can be set aside. There will be more rather than less pressure on the department to be thrifty with management of the budget. The Director of Corporate Services said we are waiting for central government to define what ‘improvement ‘ means in relation to the additional 1% allocated within the Adult Social Care precept.

Councillor Brian Lewis Lavender moved a motion stating that:

The Panel urges Cabinet to apologise to Merton’s most vulnerable residents for not accepted the proposed 1.7% Adult Social Care precept in the 2016-17 Budget, which would not have cost Merton’s taxpayers a penny more, especially given the higher increase that is now required in 2017-18 in order to recover this lost revenue.

This was seconded by Councillor Abdul Latif.  Councillors: Suzanne Grocott, Abdul Latif and Brian Lewis Lavender voted in favour of the motion and Councillors: Peter McCabe, Mary Curtin, Sally Kenny and Laxmi Attawar voted against the motion.

The motion was not carried

A panel member asked if it is appropriate to be concerned about the current situation in the adult social care sector. The Director of Community and Housing confirmed that this is not a pessimistic view point, even with the growth there are significant pressures on the sector. The Director of Corporate Services said in the short term we need to make savings and address the gaps we also need to continue to drive savings including through the procurement processes.

The Chair asked the Panel to agree that the following reference to Cabinet via the Overview and Scrutiny Commission in regards to the budget proposals:

The Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel noted Cabinet’s budget proposals and expressed  grave concern about the forecast gap in the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21 ( As set out in appendix one of the 12 December Cabinet report) . A  majority of panel members indicated that central government must address the problem and provide additional funds for health and adult social care as a matter of urgency.

The Panel voted on the reference and Councillors: McCabe, Curtin, Attawar and Kenny voted in favour and Councillors: Brian Lewis Lavender, Latif and Grocott voted against.

The reference was agreed.  

A panel member asked the Director of Community and Housing if the concerns around Adult Social Care are being raised with government. The Director reported that this is the case, The Association for the Directors of Adult Social Services , along with the Local Government Association are making the case to government that more funding is needed for Adult Social Care.

The Director of Corporate Services reported that the savings in home care for 2019/20 was based on an outcome based commissioning approach and working with providers to find efficiencies within the system.