Decision details

Update on the progress of the Public Health funded one-off projects

24.1     The Committee considered a report by the Acting Director of Public Health which provided an update on the progress of the Public Health Grant unallocated reserve one-off funded proposals. 

24.2     The Committee was informed that the Department of Health consultation on the methodology for the in-year reduction to the Public Health budget had closed in August, and the outcome was awaited. It has also been signalled that the Department of Health will require recurring savings to be made but there is no further detail on the methodology for that to date.

24.3     The Committee discussed Community Resilience and was apprised of how this work links with the Locality Team development which is a core part of East Sussex Better Together. The projected funding for Community Resilience is informed by evidence from a project in Cumbria.  The work on Community Resilience will seek though localised programmes to reduce demands on health services.    

24.4     The Committee picked up other strands in the report: falls prevention, young people’s mental health, speed reduction and reducing social isolation through technology.  The Director of Adult Social Care and Health reinforced the point that some of the funding was for pilots to allow assessment of the impact of the proposals, which may lead to a revised way of working should the pilot demonstrate a cost-effective and sustainable alternative approach when set against all the other competing demands and savings requirements.  With regard to falls prevention, the Director set out that an increased use of technology, funded from the community care budget, to monitor those vulnerable to falls had led to a decrease in incidents and therefore a reduction in budget pressure. 

24.5     There was general agreement that future monitoring of the one-off projects should be undertaken by the relevant service Scrutiny Committee.   

24.6     RESOLVED to (1) note the report; and

(2) request a further update on the programme of one-off funded projects including more detail on the community resilience work, to examine value for money, within six months.