Purpose

Following the provisional settlement, on the
24 January, 2024, government announced an additional £500m of
new funding for councils to deliver social care. The final
settlement on 5
February, 2024 confirmed Doncaster’s share of the additional
social care money is £3.14m.
Due to the timing of the notification, there was insufficient time
to agree a spend plan and incorporate into the budget for approval
by Council. Therefore, for the purposes of the budget
report, the grant was included, along with a corresponding increase
in expenditure, with the specific details being subject to further
discussions and agreement. Cabinet agreed on the 7th
February, that the spend plan decision be delegated to the Director
of Corporate Resources and the Assistant Director Finance &
Technology (Section 151), in consultation with the Mayor.
The purpose of the grant is to provide support to local authorities
towards expenditure lawfully incurred or to be incurred in respect
of meeting adults’ and children’s social care needs.
The
recipient authority must provide written confirmation to certify
that the authority’s allocation of the Social Care Grant has
been used exclusively on adults’ and children’s social
care in the April,
relating to the previous financial year.

Content

To approve the spend plan for the additional
2024/25 Social Care Grant allocation

Alternative options considered

Alternative areas of spend were considered for
additional funding; the proposals identified in Appendix A were
confirmed following a prioritisation exercise by the relevant
Directorate
management team.