Issue - meetings

Finance officers presented the budget monitoring report which presented the final outturn figures for 2018/19 and the opening budget for 2019/20.The Revenue Budget for Public Health Dorset in 2019/20 was £27.704M, based on an indicative Grant Allocation of £32.525M. The report explained how this would be managed in year.  The report also included a final outturn figure for 2018/19, which showed a £45k underspend. Public health reserves were now at £1.784M, with £791k being committed to Prevention at Scale.

Board members enquired about the background to how the reserves had built up. Officers explained that this had largely accumulated as contracts had been reduced in value to make the national savings required in the Grant. The Chairman was pragmatic in her view that if savings were being made, then an underspend appeared inevitable.

Board members were interested in how the cost increases associated with opiate substitution therapy were being managed and what the financial consequences might be of the increase. The Consultant in Public Health leading clinical treatment services explained that this was a national price rise and the services were working to limit the impact in price rises on service delivery.  The Board were assured that ways in which this Service could be delivered more cost effectively were being sought as far as practical.

The Board was also interested in understanding how the Grant allocation was being used across both Councils, and whether this was providing value and meeting the needs of the respective populations. The Director of Public Health agreed to develop a presentation for the next Board meeting in November that would explain the finances in greater depth.

Members were largely satisfied with this and with he ways in which the finances were being run and the reasoning for this.

Resolved

The Board noted:

• the 2018/19 outturn;

• the provisional forecast for Public Health Dorset in 2019/20;

• the movement in reserves during 2018/19.

Reason for Decision

Close monitoring of the budget position was an essential requirement to ensure that money and resources were used efficiently and effectively.