The Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel of Merton Council met on Wednesday 24 January 2024. The meeting's agenda focused on the council's budget and business plan for 2023-2026, alongside discussions on how to prevent hospital admissions and an update from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Safeguarding Annual Report

The panel was scheduled to consider the Safeguarding Annual Report, which covers the period from pages 1 to 36 of the provided documents.

Budget and Business Plan 2023-2026

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to the council's Budget and Business Plan for the period 2023-2026. The report pack provided to members included detailed information on proposed growth and savings across various directorates.

Growth Proposals:

• Innovation and Change: Proposals included funding for a Monitoring Officer salary share, HR and Organisational Development recruitment and change initiatives, a Head of Communications and Engagement post, and the creation of a Transformation team.
• Finance and Digital: Growth was proposed for an Assistant Director post, a capital accountant, and IT systems re-procurement and support costs.
• Housing and Sustainable Development: Additional funding was requested to cover unachievable income targets within Facilities Management.
• Environment, Civic Pride and Climate: Growth proposals covered Emergency Planning and Business Continuity, Traffic Management and Transport Planning, a Highways Development/Licensing Officer, and enhanced refuse collection and street cleansing services.
• Children, Lifelong Learning, and Families: A proposal was put forward for feasibility and project costs related to a new Children's Home in Merton.
• Organisational Pay Review: A review of pay at senior tiers of the organisation was proposed to address recruitment challenges and reduce agency spend.

Savings Proposals:

• Innovation and Change: Savings were identified through renegotiating service contracts and income generation, and a review of admin and business support functions.
• Finance and Digital: Savings were proposed through reducing contributions to insurance provision, increasing interest income from Treasury Management, and decommissioning Citrix IT infrastructure.
• Housing and Sustainable Development: Savings were planned through reallocating heritage work, more effective allocation of administration tasks, more efficient use of the climate fund, reduction in vacant posts within Facilities Management, and a review of printing services.
• Environment, Civic Pride and Climate: Savings were identified from the disposal/treatment of food and garden waste, a change to highways verge cutting, a reduction in the CPZ programme budget, and a reduction in contractual payments to SLWP. Increased fees and charges for a range of licences and services, and a short-term lease of the Morden Assembly Hall were also proposed to generate income.
• Children, Lifelong Learning, and Families: Savings were proposed related to pre-schools, linked to increased government funding for childcare places.
• Adult Social Care, Integrated Care, and Public Health: Savings were proposed from supported living placements, reablement services, changes to the S75 agreement with the Mental Health Trust, Mental Health Brokerage, homecare placements, integration of commissioning functions, and a review of ASC fees and charges.

Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) were provided for many of the proposed savings, with most concluding that there were no negative impacts identified or that any potential impacts were minimal and would be managed through existing processes or further consultation.

How to Keep People Out of Hospital

The panel was scheduled to discuss strategies for preventing unnecessary hospital admissions, drawing from information on pages 37-54 of the report pack.

CQC Update

An update from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) was also on the agenda, covering information from pages 55-64 of the documents.

Work Programme

Finally, the panel was set to review its work programme for the upcoming period, with relevant documents on pages 65-72.