Issue - decisions

(i)            to note the financial position as at 31 December 2024 for the 2024/25 integrated budgets;

(ii)          to note the challenging factors that had caused the Chief Finance Officer to re-evaluate the financial implications for the deliverability of the November 2024 Recovery Plan, that meant a substantial overspend for the year was now forecast;

(iii)         to approve the use of IJB uncommitted reserves, up to the value of £6.119m, utilising all available and uncommitted reserves thus leaving no contingency to manage budget fluctuations in future years;

(iv)         to note the forecast 2024/25 deficit position of £10.454m after the use of £6.119m from reserves;

(v)          to note the Chief Finance Officer has notified the partners that a deficit is now forecast for the year, and understands that the deficit, in accordance with the IJB’s Integration Scheme, will require NHS Grampian to contribute c.£6m and Aberdeen City Council c.£4m;

(vi)         to note the opportunity for a special meeting of the Board prior to the next scheduled meeting of 18 March 2025, should the Chief Officer and Chief Finance Officer deem it necessary;

(vii)        in light of the latest forecast for the current financial year, note that significant work has also been undertaken to refresh the draft forecast budget position for 2025/26, that indicated an emerging gap in funding of circa £21.4m;

(viii)       to note, that at this stage, similar to the November 2024 recovery plan, there were key areas of the budget that would have to be tackled to bring costs in line with total funding.  Indicative areas and changes which could be made, are: 

1)    Changes to eligibility criteria for service users;

2)    Deliver services to meet statutory requirements;

3)    To consider sustainability of additional services currently provided to service users;

(ix)         to work to bring efficiencies to the partnership which would bring financial sustainability in future years;

(x)          to consider and mitigate the risk associated with all budget savings plans changing services levels to meet financial expenditure limits; and

(xi)         to acknowledge a significant effort would be required to deliver in-year savings of over £20m in 2025/26, that these would not be without a wide range of implications and therefore there remained a risk that a deficit in 2025/26 may emerge.