Aberdeen City Integration Joint Board members have agreed their revenue budget for 2026/27.
The decision means Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP) will have a total budget of £437million to meet the needs of people in the city in the coming financial year. Some 40% of the funding comes from Aberdeen City Council (ACC) and 60% from NHS Grampian.
The agreed IJB budget details savings of £14.5 million which need to be made in the 12 months from the start of April to balance the accounts at the end of next March. IJB chair Hussein Patwa said: “Our budget shows our commitment to protect the essential front-line health and social care services upon which so many of our citizens depend. “This Board, like every other IJB in Scotland, is under huge financial pressure and having to manage rising costs, growing demand and the ever-increasing complexity of the cases we deal with.
“Budget pressures in the coming financial year will remain significant – including pay awards, inflationary pressures, rising costs within the National Care Home Contract Rate, real living wage increases from April 2026 of 6.7%, sustained demand for social care services where need is ‘high’ or ‘urgent’, unplanned out-of-area placements, care packages for children transitioning to adulthood, and prescribing costs that are projected to rise.
“I am confident, however, that our dedicated management team and committed staff will be able to deliver savings while protecting essential services. “We will be focusing on developing transformative projects which will bring greater efficiency and innovation to the delivery of our health and care services, to put us on a more sustainable footing. Staffing costs will be tightly controlled by careful vacancy management and by
redesigning roles where appropriate in consultation with staff, while aiming to reduce the impact on front-line services.
“The delivery of savings will continue to be closely managed by our Budget Savings and Oversight Group overseen by the Risk Audit and Performance Committee and by the Board itself.”
The budget for 2026/27, and budgets for the following three years, underpin the delivery of the ACHSCP Strategic Plan 2025-29. The plan includes a strong focus on improving health outcomes in Aberdeen, and an ongoing emphasis on prevention, including community rehabilitation and re-enablement to support people to recover and retain their abilities.
Mr Patwa added: “The 2026/27 spending and savings plans have been put together with careful consideration, including extensive consultations with the people of Aberdeen and our own staff.
“We received almost 1,000 responses from members of the public when we asked for their views towards the end of last year. We listened closely and reacted accordingly – for instance by removing proposals to reduce our support for unpaid carers and to tighten the eligibility criteria for social care packages.
“There is no doubt that the work ahead of us to make the necessary savings will be challenging and require the combined efforts of us all. But the professionalism and commitment of our staff will ensure that we continue to provide the best possible care for those who depend upon us.
Together, and with the full support of the IJB, we will make health and social care provision in Aberdeen sustainable into the future.”
The full 2026/27 budget report is at
https://aberdeen.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g9716/Public%20reports%20pack%2017thMar-2026%2010.00%20Integration%20Joint%20Board.pdf?T=10