Service Reviews – Outline Business Case - Somerset County Council

(Cabinet – 2 May 2012)
• SCC corporate overheads. The LDPS for 12/13 has £3.80m of corporate
overheads apportioned.
These can be broken down as follows:
Capital Charges
£1.56m
Carbon Reduction £0.02m
SCC Support Services £0.35m
Accommodation
£0.06m
SWOne Fixed Charges £0.93m
SCC & SWOne Charges £0.70m 19
Pension Deficit
£0.18m
Total
£3.80m
If externalising services, it should be done on the basis of new overheads being
funded. The Authority will bear the cost of any existing arrangements as it
endeavours to manage down (SWOne) costs. MTFP pressures would need to
take this cost into account and will impact in the short to medium term on
savings delivery.
• Assets. The LDPS currently utilises a number of assets. These range from
day centres to residential homes where people with learning disabilities live.
Care and support services which are provided though the “supported living” 20
model separate housing and care and support through the customer holding a
tenancy with a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) as a result of arrangements
put in place in the 1990s. The asset position is complex and often involves
properties that are people’s homes. Future arrangements will need to be
considered as part of the full business case.
Many of the properties utilised, including 44 of those managed by RSLs, were
originally purchased through funding made available by the NHS when longstay
hospitals closed. The total value of these assets is £17.13m 21 including a
Section 28a investment of £10.3m, and the NHS will continue to maintain a
legal charge on the properties. NHS Somerset is in the process of transferring
these properties to SCC on the condition that the asset or the capital value, if
disposed of, continue to be utilised for the benefit of individuals with a learning
disability. Any transfer of the LDPS out of SCC therefore needs to ensure that
the assets are configured in a way that is financially sustainable and provides a
sound base for capital reinvestment. It also needs to maintain a clear
separation between the housing and care and support provider for supported
19 Includes advisory and other services that will be retained by SCC
20 The supported living model, as defined by the care Quality Commission, requires that care and support
services are provided separately to housing/landlord functions. These are a number of mechanisms for
achieving his including the introduction of a 3 rd party to perform the function of landlord or by devolving this
responsibility to a separate legal entity within a larger organisation that also provides care and support
21 As at 22/02/2012. The difference in value between the original Section 28a investment and current
valuation includes where the there is part ownership by RSLs.
A - 20