54.1. The Committee considered a report by the Acting Director of Public Health which set out the proposals for spending the unallocated Public Health Grant reserve, with projects identified with reference to specific Public Health Outcome Framework indicators.
54.2. The Committee expressed concern that such a large unallocated reserve (£7million) was being spent without a Lead Member decision or reference to Scrutiny. The Director of Adult Social Care and Health and Chief Finance Officer explained that financial regulations and the Council’s Standing Orders delegate authority to Chief Officers to allocate any underspends. The Director of Adult Social Care and Health stated that the initiatives proposed were designed to deliver against the Council’s priority outcomes and reduce demand for services. He confirmed that the proposals were at an early stage of development, and that other suggestions would be considered.
54.3. The Chief Executive set out the process undertaken by Chief Officers with the Acting Director of Public Health to put forward plans to address areas of significant under-performance against national indicators. The proposals have been carefully developed so that they take into account the original grant conditions and reflect the priorities derived from the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JNSA), and Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF). The one-off projects have been selected to invest in areas where performance against the Public Health Outcomes Framework in East Sussex is significantly worse than for England as a whole.
54.4. The Committee discussed Community Resilience, to which a large proportion of the underspend was targeted, and were informed of the Member Reference Group established in response to Councillor Ungar’s recent County Council motion on loneliness. The Committee was also referred to the Public Health Portfolio Plan and the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report, and the work of the Health and Wellbeing Board.
54.5. RESOLVED to (1) note the report; and
(2) request further updates on the progression of the proposals, to ensure Scrutiny input and assessment of value for money.