Summary of Integration Joint Board meeting: November 2024

Falkirk’s Integration Joint Board, responsible for the strategic planning and operational oversight of local health and social care services, met on 29 November 2024. Here’s a summary of what member’s discussed:

Chief Officer Report

Presented at each board meeting, the Chief Officer report provides an overview of local and national developments across health and social care. This report updated members on the latest information about the Partnership’s Senior Leadership restructure, progress made to address delayed discharge, and develop a Forth Valley wide Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategic Commissioning Plan.

The report also confirmed the IJB’s audited annual accounts have been published, following final audit by Audit Scotland and approval at the IJB Audit Committee.

Financial Updates

The Chief Finance Officer gave members an update on the 2024/25 challenging financial position and outlined steps underway to set next years budget. In an updated forecast, the Partnership is facing a £20m budget gap across the next 3 years, with an expected gap of £13m for 2025/26 and £7m over the following two financial years (2026/27 and 2027/28).

A forensic review of all areas of spending is underway, identifying ways the Partnership could make budget savings whilst minimising the impact on people who access support.
Third sector partners and voluntary sector organisations are to help shape the evaluation criteria for a review of Partnership funds, which will take place as part of the budget setting process. ahead of bids for funding opening in the new year.

The timetable for setting the Partnerships budget is:

• December: Scottish Government settlement announcement
• January: Public consultation to open.
• February: Initial feedback and options to be notified to IJB members.
• March: Budget to be finalised at IJB meeting

The Partnership has shared further information about its budget process, and the upcoming budget consultation, on its news pages.

Palliative and End of Life Care Strategic Commissioning

The Board approved a new Forth Valley-wide strategic commissioning plan for palliative and end of life care. The plan has also been presented to members of the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Integration Joint Board.

The plan outlines the local approach to agreeing future spending priorities. As part of the plan, a new Commissioning Consortium group will be established with representation from across Forth Valley services, and people, families, and carers who have accessed palliative and end of life support. The Consortium will consider future financial investment and consider how any identified gaps in support can be met.

Day Services Review

The Board was presented with the findings of Falkirk’s review of day support for people with disabilities. The review considered what support people need, and the resources required to meet these needs. As a result, the Board agreed to increase staffing numbers and invest in a refurbishment programme at Dundas Resource Centre, while also deciding to formally close Oswald Avenue Resource Centre which has not been used since 2020 as a consequence of the pandemic.

You can read more about this service development on the Partnership’s news pages. 

Board meetings and membership

The Board has agreed to increase its frequency of meetings and create a new Performance, Audit, and Assurance Committee to replace both the Audit Committee and Clinical and Care Governance Committee. The Board and new committee will each meet six times a year, up from the current quarterly meeting schedule. More frequent meetings will allow for timely decision-making and ensure up-to-date information is available to members.

The new committee will be formed of six IJB members, including two NHS voting members, two Council voting members and two non-voting members. At least half of the committee must be in attendance to conduct business of the group. Compared to existing committee structures, this increases the membership and range of expertise involved in committee business.

The Board also received confirmation that the existing Carer Representative will vacate their position from 31 January 2025. A recruitment exercise will be conducted with the support of the local Carers Centre to appoint new representative in January.

The Board confirmed the following meeting schedule for 2025:

Recurring items

In addition to topical and thematic reports, the Board received usual updates covering:

• Agenda item 11: Summary of recent performance data
• Agenda item 12 Summary of quarterly communications and engagement activity

Watch the discussion

All Integration Joint Board meetings are livestreamed on Falkirk Council’s Committee Meetings YouTube channel. A recording is available to watch shortly after. A copy of all Board reports can be found on the Falkirk Council committee webpages.