IJB PFA - Minutes from meeting held 27-08-2025 via MS Teams
North Lanarkshire Council · 22 October 2025
Back to IJB Performance, Finance and Audit Committee — 22 October 2025 and its agenda
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Page 1 of 4 ITEM: Integration Joint Board Performance, Finance & Audit Committee Minutes from the meeting held on Wednesday 27th August 2025, 14.00 – 16.30 via MS Teams PRESENT Voting Members: Cllr Beth Baudo NLC Nominated Councillor Brian Moore (Vice -Chair) NHS Lanarkshire Nominated Non-Executive Siobhan White NHS Lanarkshire Nominated Non-Executive Others In Attendance: Mark Dell Communications Manager Morag Dendy Head of Planning, Performance & Quality Diane Fraser Head of Adult Social Care Joanne Jenkins Nurse Director North HSCP Jocelyn Lyall Chief Internal Auditor Ann Muir Chair of North Lanarkshire Disability Forum Lucy Munro Medical Director for Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire Claire Rae Chief Office NL HSCP Francis Scott Chief Officer (Audit and Risk) Kerry Taylor Business Support Manager Maggs Thomson Head of Health North HSCP John Watson Employee Representative NLC Apologies: Cllr Anne McCrory (Chair) NLC Nominated Councillor Cllr Claire Barclay NLC Nominated Councillor Phillip Couser NHS Lanarkshire Nominated Non-Executive Cllr Bob Burgess NLC Nominated Councillor Nauman Dar NHS Lanarkshire Nominated Non-Executive Alison Gordon Head of Children’s, Families & Justice Services Cllr Anne McCrory NLC Nominated Councillor Catherine McGinty Unison / Staff Side Representative (NHSL) Thomas Moan Senior Manager – Community Solutions VANL Harry Robertson North Lanarkshire Carers Together / Carer Representative Nicola Scott Chief Finance Officer David Wood Chief Executive Officer with VANL 1. Welcome and Apologies BM chairing on behalf of AM The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies were noted as above. The Chair noted that as the meeting was not quorate, no decisions could be made during the meeting. Brian Moore 2. Declaration of Interests No declarations of interest were made. All
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Page 2 of 4 3. Minutes IJB PFA (21st May 2025) The minutes accepted as an accurate record. Noted the absence of an action log; agreed to implement a more robust action log process, as recommended by internal audit and previously requested by members. Brian Moore 4. Matters Arising Noted the absence of an action log; agreed to implement a more robust action log process, as recommended by internal audit and previously requested by members. Outstanding actions to be captured in the new action log include: Tackling Poverty Team report Safe Staffing report Information requests on age assessments and carers during crisis periods Use of reserves (to be discussed under Finance) No additional matters arising raised. Brian Moore Performance & Finance 5. Financial Monitoring Report Budget gap over three years: £51.85m; £14.9m for 2025/26. Projected year-end overspend £4.94m. Employee costs show an underspend; social care shows an overspend, mainly in payments to other bodies. Overspend in independent care homes and care at home due to higher-than- budgeted care plans. Prescribing budget increased to address overspend; aim to break even. Savings to date: £1.9m against a target of £14.9m. 289 WTE vacancies offset by agency/bank/overtime. Reserves: Opening balance £75.5m, revised to £72.5m. Concerns about the achievability of savings targets, especially in social care. Recruitment challenges and the need for innovative approaches. Demographic pressures and demand modelling for care home and home care services. Use and transparency of reserves, especially ring-fenced funds. Agency usage in mental health; ongoing efforts to reduce reliance. Detailed breakdown of reserves and agency usage to be provided at the November development session. Continued monitoring and reporting on savings and workforce. RECOMMENDATIONS i) IJB PFA acknowledge the contents of the report. ii) IJB PFA acknowledge the projected outturn for 2025/26 is an overspend of £4.945m Claire Rae 6. Q4 IJB Performance Report Alcohol Brief Interventions (ABIs): Additional work on alcohol harms; suggestion for a broader briefing on alcohol issues. Cervical Screening: Declining uptake; discussion on self-sampling and barriers. Childhood Immunisation: Focus on consistency and outreach; risk of falling rates to be considered for the risk register. Reablement & Rehab: Ongoing transformation; positive outcomes noted. Morag Dendy
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Page 3 of 4 Adult Mental Health: Significant psychiatry staffing vacancies; some improvement in stability. Speech & Language Therapy: Marked improvement in children’s SLT performance due to data system upgrades. Complaints: Need for better integration of health and social care learning; tracking of Ombudsman referrals. Smoking Cessation & Population Health: High smoking rates in North Lanarkshire; need for more intentional health improvement work. Sickness Absence: Early intervention and thematic analysis underway; home support workers have highest absence rates. Consider focused “spotlight” sessions on key performance areas in future meetings. Include neurodevelopment services in future performance reviews. Provide more detailed reporting on annual health checks for people with learning disabilities. RECOMMENDATIONS i) IJB PFA noted the contents of the report and the appendix. 7. Internal Audit Progress Report 2024/25 and 2025/26 Governance arrangements reviewed; found to be adequate. Some audit recommendations delayed due to National Care Service proposals and management changes. Improved tracking and reporting of outstanding actions agreed. Audit plan progress and partner organisation reports noted. Outstanding recommendations to be reviewed and closed where appropriate. Audit history to be included in future plans. RECOMMENDATIONS i) IJB PFA considered the attached Progress Report at Appendix 1 and the summary of relevant partner reports at Appendix 2. ii) IJB PFA noted that the GIAS development work continues. The draft Internal Audit Charter including the Mandate is at agenda item 8. Jocelyn Lyall 8. Draft Internal Audit Charter Charter aligns with global internal audit standards. Sets out mandate, roles, and responsibilities. Requires formal approval by Chair, Chief Officer, and Chief Finance Officer. Discussion: Importance of clear audit relationships and responsibilities noted. Charter to be finalised and signed off. RECOMMENDATIONS i) IJB PFA noted that this report provides assurance that the Internal Audit Charter complies with GIAS. ii) IJB PFA approved the Internal Audit Charter. Jocelyn Lyall Governance & Policy 9. Risk Report Highlight report on current IJB risks. SMT reviewed all risks, new risks to be proposed at the September development session. Ongoing work on a new IJB risk management strategy. Kerry Taylor
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Page 4 of 4 Revised risk register to be reviewed at the next development session. Consider adding childhood immunisation rates as a risk. RECOMMENDATIONS i) IJB PFA noted the contents of this report which includes a review of the highest rated risks within the IJB risk register and a note of those operational risks highlighted by the North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership that impact upon delivery of IJB business. 10. IJB PFA Work Plan Draft work plan presented; focus on performance, finance, audit, and risk. Plan is a live document; items can be added as needed. Streamlined agenda welcomed flexibility to add topics such as SLT improvements. Equivalent work plan for IJB Board to be developed. Kerry Taylor For Noting 11. Risk No new risks identified beyond those discussed. Noted that vaccination rates and related risks will be considered for inclusion. 12. AOCB Annual Health Checks for People with Learning Disabilities: Issue raised regarding reporting and data challenges; further detail to be provided in a future report. Anne Muir expected to chair next meeting. ALL Date of Next Meeting: 22 October 2025, 14:00-16:30