Wednesday July 1st 2026
Scottish Parliament
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
Holyrood’s Health Secretary, local MSP Angela Constance, will be invited to meet a local health board to discuss the crisis in social care.
West Lothian’s Integration Joint Board needed an extra £2m from the council and the NHS to set its budget this year, and used up the last of its cash reserves.
John Innes, the chair of the Board, told this month’s meeting that a national study by the Accounts Commission mirrored West Lothian’s financial crisis, and these challenges “should be underscored” to MSPs.
A report by chief Financial Officer, Hamish Henderson said: “The operational budget was once again overspent; a break-even position was only achieved by drawing down £2.4m from IJB reserves and after additional one-off payments were made by both partners.
“IJB reserves reduced from £4.1m to £2.4m at the end of 2025/26. This reflects the fact that the IJB drew down £2.4m from uncommitted reserves to achieve a break-even position.
“With no reserves, the IJB cannot absorb in-year shocks or emerging pressures without immediate savings or additional partner funding.”
The Board, which oversees primary and social care across West Lothian, is jointly funded by the council and NHS Lothian.
Mr Innes told the meeting the Accounts Commission report “reiterated the messages that we have been trying to get across to our elected representatives.”
He added: “It reminds me that we extended an invitation to our local elected representatives to come for another round of discussions.
“We can communicate these messages to our local representatives.
“I’m very pleased to see that we have got the Accounts Commission reiterating the points that we are making.
“The challenges we are facing should be underscored to our local representatives.”
Alison White, the Chief officer of the local Health and Social Care Partnership said the Accounts Commission showed that all IJBs were in crisis.
In her report she said: “Despite a real-term funding increase of 2.3% in 2024/25, financial pressures and demand for services continue to outstrip available resources.
“Total reserves continue to fall, reducing financial resilience across the sector. Reserves decreased by 12% to £404 million, with almost half of IJBs holding no contingency reserves.
“The majority of IJBs reported operational overspends. There has been a significant increase in additional financial contributions from NHS boards and councils, which is not sustainable given the financial pressures on partner organisations.”
Almost 400 people responded to a public consultation last year on cutbacks ahead of the West Lothian budget.
A report said: “responses strongly opposed any measures reducing adult day services and as a result no measures were proposed in this area.”
Proposals were developed around reducing cost of supplementary staffing, medicines and equipment.
Other plans include service transformation, reducing the cost of care at home, cost per bed day and intermediate care.
The difficult choices, which the Board continues to face, include reducing or cutting services.
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