Dumfries and Galloway Council has agreed that £2.4 million of existing recovery funding can be used to help offset a projected overspend in local health and social care. The move is intended to reduce the further savings the Integration Joint Board needs to find during the current financial year.
Councillors agreed the change at a special Full Council meeting on 2 November. It involves money already available through a Financial Recovery Fund, rather than a new allocation for care services. The council has said the decision will not provide additional care capacity or solve the wider pressures facing social care.
The fund was established as part of the council’s 2026/27 budget, providing the board with £2.8 million in recurring funding. Around £2.4 million remained uncommitted for 2026/27. Councillors agreed that this balance could be used to offset the projected overspend, with the aim of reducing the additional savings required in the year.
How the recovery fund was intended to work
The fund was created to support delivery of the board’s savings plan, help preventative changes and cover delays or shortfalls in planned savings. In June, the council agreed arrangements for the £2.8 million and its inclusion in the budget delegated to the board, after the board had agreed to the terms.
Those arrangements were designed both to support the board and to reduce the financial risk to the council from any further overspending. The new decision permits a different use of the uncommitted balance for this year; it should not be read as a separate £2.4 million increase in the care budget.
Earlier in the year, the board approved a 2026/27 savings plan for adult social care. At that point, the delegated adult social care budget was put at £124.2 million. The plan included reviewing care packages, supporting more people to recover at home rather than enter long-term care, and changes to charges for some non-residential services.
The recovery-fund decision is intended to lessen the amount of further savings needed on top of the existing plan. It does not by itself establish that any particular savings measure has been reversed, or that the projected overspend has disappeared.
Care services and hospital discharge
The Integration Joint Board plans and oversees integrated health and social care in the region. The council and the NHS board delegate responsibilities and funding to it, and services are delivered through the health and social care partnership. Adult social care includes support delivered by council teams as well as care bought from external providers.
At the meeting, councillors considered pressures on people waiting for support, their families and unpaid carers. These included risks to people’s health, independence and wellbeing when their care needs are not met, as well as increasing demands on those providing unpaid care.
Limited care capacity can also affect people who are ready to leave hospital. The local NHS has said that patients may still need support at home or in the community before they can be discharged safely, and that longer hospital stays can affect their wellbeing. The council has also recognised the link between care capacity and delayed discharge.
Using existing funds to reduce budget pressure is therefore different from creating more places or recruiting more staff. The council has acknowledged that funding alone cannot resolve shortages of workers or available care, and that oversight cannot remove every risk faced by people awaiting support.
A wider funding challenge
The local decision sits within a wider challenge for Scotland’s integrated services. In its review of the 2024/25 finances of Scotland’s 30 integration joint boards, the Accounts Commission identified an almost £450 million gap between demand and available funding. The commission found that funding had risen by more than 2% to over £12 billion, but had not kept pace with costs and demand.
That national figure relates to an earlier financial year and is not the size of the current Dumfries and Galloway overspend. Locally, councillors agreed to continue pressing the Scottish Government for more adult social care funding. Longer-term requirements are also due to be considered through the council’s forthcoming budget process.
