Members are asked to consider whether they have personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they are.

Members are reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they are subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

No such declarations were made.

Further to minute 17 (22 September 2008) and minute 34 (26 November 2008), the Director of Adult Social Services reported that on 22 September 2008 it had been confirmed that the gross projected budget shortfall for 2008/2009 was £9.1m, which was 10.5% above the budget. This figure included the efficiency savings required of the department in 2008/2009 and the Department had identified actions that would reduce the projected overspend in 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. However it was noted that a significant increase in activity across the Wirral health and social care economy, particularly in the acute trust with increased hospital admissions, including those for elective surgery, were placing additional demands on resources. The Cabinet member for Social Care and Inclusion commented that demands on the service, levels of contribution and attrition rates were very difficult to predict and she commented that when a service was required it had to be delivered in full.

As a consequence it was agreed that senior managers from DASS with the Cabinet member for Health and Inclusion attend the Finance and Best Value Overview and Scrutiny Committee to address concerns expressed by the Committee in relation to the budget shortfall.

The Chair had subsequently clarified the framework in which he wanted a report to the Committee and the Director considered each of the following elements –

·  To give continuing consideration to the procedures necessary to ensure that the Department of Adult Social Services remain on target for, or within the projected overspend of £3.5m reported to this Committee.

·  To satisfy members that the currently available accounting resources are able to give a clear picture of commitments facing the service and that the profile and pattern of expenditure over a financial year is such to enable the department to budget accordingly.

·  To consider further the circumstances in which the original over commitment arose to the extent of £9.1m and to establish whether commissioning and procurement procedures were properly followed, and to seek and receive detailed explanations.

He reported that whilst the projected expenditure for the department was broadly in line with previous calculations, previous savings proposals were taking longer than anticipated to implement. He commented that without further action, and the need to progress key decisions in the coming weeks, there remained a projected budget shortfall at 31 March 2009 of £5.5m. He set out a number of actions that had the potential to impact on the final outturn and whilst it had not been possible to offer certainty, it was anticipated that these should result in further savings of £1m. NHS Wirral (PCT) was working with DASS to jointly develop and fund new services and existing packages of care requiring joint investment, including financial commitments in the current year and all levels of management in DASS were taking actions to ameliorate the projected overspend.

He reported that the department had adequate resources that were dedicated and focused on the monitoring of the budget. However, it was proposed to consider the role of the performance team to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.