“Tough decisions” were needed as Inverclyde Integration Joint Board (IJB) set its budget for the next two years against a challenging financial backdrop.
Decision-makers agreed a report, which set out funding from Inverclyde Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, at a meeting on Monday.
A spending plan covering 2026/27 and 2027/28, worth roughly £233 million per year, was approved and savings of almost £6.5m rubber-stamped.
These included the loss of approximately 22 full-time equivalent jobs, with the majority coming through the removal of vacant posts.
The need to use £757,000 of reserves in 2026/27 – which will be returned in 2027/28 – to balance the books was also noted.
David Gould, chair of the IJB, said after the meeting: “In endeavouring to produce a balanced budget, our priority has been to ensure that we continue to focus upon the most vulnerable members of our community who need our assistance and support and the budget has been developed to enable us to continue to do that.
“The financial challenges right across the public sector combined with increasing demand for services means we are in a position where the available funding doesn’t match up with what’s required to deliver services.
“That’s meant that very tough decisions have had to be taken in order to deliver a balanced budget.
“However, senior officers and the board have worked extremely hard to come up with new and innovative ways of working and by deleting already vacant posts to minimise the impact on staff and service users.
“We hope that by setting a two-year rolling budget, we can provide staff and service users with a degree of certainty over the next two years about the level of service provision that will be available and allow our dedicated and hard-working staff to continue delivering for the people of Inverclyde.”
Despite savings worth £5m being taken during 2024/25 and 2025/26, as well as the £6.5m over the next two years, it’s expected there will be a further budget gap of around £4.5m by 2030/31.
The IJB is a separate entity from the council and health board with full autonomy to act on its own behalf regarding health and social care.
