Purpose

The Better Care Fund (BCF) is an annual grant and is one of the Government’s national vehicles for driving health and social care integration. It requires the South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Croydon Council to agree a joint plan on how the grant will be used, aligned to the BCF Policy Framework for 2026-27. The plan must be signed off by the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB). The plan enables use of pooled budgets to support integration, governed by an agreement under section 75 of the NHS Act (2006).

A key national requirement is that both the ICB and Croydon Council formally enter into a Section 75 agreement which underpins the BCF Plan and sets out the requirements of both parties of this agreement. The report sets out the funding that the Council will receive as part of the BCF and how this supports Croydon residents and aligned to the BCF Policy Framework for 2026-27. The value of the grant for Croydon Council in 2026-27 is £29.1m.

Draft Recommendation: That the Executive Mayor agrees for the Council to enter into the Section 75 Agreement for 2026/27 with the South West London Integrated Care Board for the reasons detailed in the report.

Decision

1. To agree to the Council entering into the Section 75 Agreement for the Better Care Fund (BCF) with the South West London Integrated Care Board for 2026/2027.
2. To note that funding is received by the Council to deliver the objectives of the BCF Plan for 2026/27.

Reasons for the decision

As detailed in section 1 of this report, the BCF is a national scheme bringing together pooled funding across health and social care to meet local objectives in line with the BCF National plan priorities.

Sign-off of the Croydon Better Care Fund Plans to NHS England sits within the legislative remit of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The plan has been signed off by the Health and Wellbeing Board but to meet all national conditions the Council and the South West London ICB must enter into the Section 75 agreement by 30 September 2026.

The report is deemed as a key decision as the schemes and plans agreed through the BCF affect all residents within the borough.

Alternative options considered

The BCF is a nationally mandated scheme for the Council and Health Services. This provides valuable funding to support health and social care integration and to provide important service to the residents of Croydon. There is a statutory requirement for the BCF funds to be managed via pooled funding arrangements and hence, the Council has to abide to those.