Finance and Sustainability Committee Assurance Report - May 2025
Meeting: Trust Board – Public Meeting
Date: 7 May 2025
Report Title: Finance and Sustainability Committee Assurance Report
Agenda Item: PUB25/05/3.4
Committee Date: 19 February 2025
Meeting Chair: Chris Brook, Non-Executive Director / Committee Chair
Meeting quorate: YES
Purpose: Assurance
Link to Strategic Objective:
- Be excellent collaborators and innovators as system partners.
- Be an environmentally and financially sustainable organisation.
Summary of items considered at the meeting:
| Issue | Consideration | Resolution | Assurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance report | The current financial position was discussed – with a strong likelihood that we would deliver a break-even outlook by the end of the year. | Good fiscal management in several areas assisted the Trust in achieving an improved yearend outlook. A lot is expected from the team in how the new Business Planning approach will unlock additional recurrent benefits against a challenging outlook. | Good |
| Integrations and Partnerships – Patient Transport Services (PTS) | The committee reviewed the current PTS performance with particular focus on Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS). | Good contractual management and new arrangements by the Commercial Services team has meant a significantly improved position on PTS – from a forecasted negative position of £3.3m to a contribution of £470k by year-end. The team will continue to apply the 4 principles (financial viability, ICB co-created, shared ownership and digital enhancement) in further contractual conversations. Specific area of focus is to reduce spend on NEPTS and taxis. | Good |
| Finance and Sustainability | The committee reviewed several activities taking place across the Trust to deliver our statutory requirements and the Green agenda – from EV infrastructure, Electric Vehicles and Building investments. | The committee is particularly looking forward to the Trust Board conducting their Sustainability Training and considering key items such as Board Sponsorship and BAF inclusion. These steps should significantly improve the Trust’s ability to embed sustainability into both every day and strategic actions. | Moderate |
| Integrated Transformation Programme Updates | The committee discussed a number of initiatives under the watch of the Financial and Sustainability Committee – noting the progress that is being made. | The Transformation plans will be significantly changed with the introduction of the new Business Planning approach. | Moderate |
| Board Assurance Framework | The committee discussed the current SO4 risk around financial delivery. The current scoring, controls and mitigations need to be reviewed since they may not be indicative of the success of the controls that are in place. | Risks will be reviewed in the annual Board Risk Management Workshop – where it is expected that these risks will be refreshed for 2025/26. There were no proposed changes to current risks or their rating. | Moderate |
Matters for escalation or referral:
None.
