Decision details

The Cabinet considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive which sought approval for the Council to enter into partnership arrangements under Section 75 of the National Health Act 2006 with each of the two Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) of Southport and Formby and South Sefton covering the population of Sefton, to enable pooled budgets to be established to support the delivery of the Sefton Better Care Fund Plan for 2015/16.

Decision Made:

That:

1)         the work to date on the Sefton Better Care Fund Plan and Section 75 agreement for the pooled budget be noted;

(2)       the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT, Head of Vulnerable Adults and the Head of Corporate Legal Services be granted delegated powers to complete the Section 75 agreement with Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group and South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group to enable pooled funds to be established and to govern the delivery of the Sefton Better Care Fund Plan 2015/16; and

(3)       it be noted that the proposal was a Key Decision but had not been included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions. Consequently, the Leader of the Council and the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Performance and Corporate Services) had been consulted under Rule 27 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan because of the tight timescales involved in the submission of the Better Care Fund submission, and any delay in the submission could involve the loss of financial income for the Council.

Reasons for Decision:

Under the auspices of the Health and Wellbeing Board, Sefton Council had submitted its successful Better Care Fund Plan in November 2014. One of the conditions of the approval of the plan was a standard condition relating to the development of a Section 75 agreement for managing the budgets identified within the Better Care Fund Plan

This was reflected in the Care Act 2014 which required that funds allocated to local areas for the Better Care Fund must be put into pooled budgets established under Section 75 agreements. Authority was required from the Council’s Cabinet and each CCG Governing Body to enable each organisation to enter into the Section 75 agreements.

These agreements needed to be in place by 1April 2015 to allow the funds to be pooled and invested in line with the Sefton Better Care Fund plan.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

None.