Agenda item

[To receive a presentation on Performance, Budget Monitoring and Medium Term Financial Strategy]. 

The Chair invited John Denley, Director of Public Health, to present the report.

The Directorof Public Health advised the panel that the presentation would cover the following areas, 2022- 2203 performance, and budget monitoring update as at Q2, the 2023-2024 – 2023-2026 draft budget and medium-term financial strategy. The presentation would also cover future challenges to the service and the details of strategic risk register within the remit of the panel.

The Director of Public Health outlined the Council’s management of its finances and the link to the Our City: Our Plan strategic priorities. The priorities were approved by Council on 2 March 2022. The presentation would focus on the priorities related to healthy, inclusive communities and the contribution of public health in achieving them.

The Director of Public Health advised that the panel comments on the draft budget plans and how they are aligned to these priorities would be included in a response to Scrutiny Board.

The Director of `Public Health outlined the main findings of the performance and budget monitoring report as at Quarter 2 and advised that overall, a forecast overspend of £1.5 million was reported across the Council.

The Director of Public Health outlined an analysis of the overall performance of the Council against 56 key performance indicators in Quarter 2.

The Director of Public Health gave details of plan to develop a range of performance measures that could help the service to better understand the key priorities and health trends within the City. The Director of Director Public Health highlighted the difficulties caused by the delay in NHS publishing key performance indicators which related to the priorities in the Our City: Our Plan health portfolio.

The Director of Public Health highlighted plans for improving the situation by developing a new set of local performance indicators to ensure the service has a robust intelligence base to better understand the health needs of the population.

The Director of Director Public Health advised the panel that the service had recently commissioned healthy lifestyle survey to better understand the health needs of the population. In total 2000 people have completed the survey and the deadline has been extended to January 2023 to achieve a target of 5000 responses. The Director added that this figure would give a much better view of the City’s health profile and the likely impact on healthy life expectancy rates in the future.

The Director of Director Public Health commented on the increase in the uptake of residents attending health checks which is higher than the national average and plans to further improve the level of uptake in the future.

The Director of Public Health outlined the forecast budget position and explained the allocation of the public health grant of £21.7 million for 2022- 2023 and a breakdown of the services which it funds.

The Director of Public Health gave an overview of the 2023 – 2024 draft budget, the MTFS 2023 -2024 to 2025 – 2026 position that was approved by Full Council on 22 March 2023. The reported forecasted that the budget deficit would increase from £12.6 million (2023 – 2024) to £25.8 million over the medium term (2025 – 2026).

The Director of Public Health outlined the work being done to reduce the budget deficit to deliver a sustainable medium term financial strategy position.

The Director of Public Health highlighted future budgetary challenges, for example future funding and inflationary pressures.

The Director of Public Health advised the panel that there were no specific savings or growth targets relating to services within the remit of the panel.

The Director of Public Health highlighted the key risks and future challenges presented by Covid 19 and commented on plans to help mitigate their impact. The Director commented on the wider risks to the public health service listed in the strategic risk register which was reported to the Audit and Risk Committee on 28 November 2022.

The panel were invited to comment on the presentation.

The panel queried if any of the six performance indicators referred to in the presentation which saw a decrease related to public health service and when details of a new set of performance indicators would be available.

The Director of Public Health Panel advised the panel that none of performance indicators relate to the remit of the panel. However, there was acceptance of the how poor performance in these areas can influence future health outcomes and rates of healthy life expectancy.

James Amphlett,Head of Data, and Analytics, commented on the background to the development on new performance indicators to support improvement and to ensure the resources are being used to support work in the areas where performance has decreased in Quarter 2.

The panel queried the timetable for publishing the results of the Census 2021. The Head of Data and Analytics advised that information about the numbers of people in the City and migration data has been published by ONS. The information on ward profiles has been updated to reflect the changes. The panel were advised that there is no specific timetable when specific public health data collected in the Census will be published by ONS. The aim will be to publish information asap when it is released.

The Director of Public commented on the important contribution of health checks screening programme in helping detect cancers at an earlier stage and how this information will help in the development of new performance measures.

The Director of Public commented that Wolverhampton has the one of the highest alcohol related death rates in the country and work is being done with colleagues across the Black Country to address the issue.

The Director of Public Health highlighted that the City is in the top quartile for provision of alcohol and drug treatment services in the country which is important in supporting the achievement of priorities detailed in Our City: Our Plan.

The Director of Public Health added that the plan is to present this health performance information quarterly to give the panel the opportunity to comment on progress to improve health outcomes.

The panel congratulated theDirector of Public Health on the work of the service in helping in support local communities and improve health outcomes, particularly in the deprived wards of the City. The panel highlighted concerns about the quality of housing provision for refugees and asylum seekers and the impact on health and wellbeing on the priorities of Public Health service in the future.

The panel commented on the impact of changes in national adult social policy and funding on the good work of the Public Health team.

The Director of Public Health reassured the panel about the support offered to refugees and asylum and commented that the work is being delivered within the framework of the City of Sanctuary, which Wolverhampton is a member.

The Director of Public Health outlined work done with the Home Office and contractors involved to prevent gaps in provision and that there are sufficient resources to meet the need. The Director of Public Health commented on the range of support offered to asylum and refugees and that concerns about the quality of provision is shared with the Home Office.

The panel thanked the presenters for the report and formally recorded their appreciation of the work being done by colleagues in Public Health.

Resolved:

The panel comments on the presentation to be noted.