THE board which oversees the work of Argyll and Bute's health and social care partnership has approved a programme of savings aimed at closing a budget gap of £20 million.

The partnership's integrated joint board met in Lochgilphead to consider its spending plans for 2017-18.

And as anticipated, the board approved the contents of a Quality and Finance Plan which will deliver financial savings of £11.6m over the next two years.

As reported in last week's Advertiser, however, the approved plan doesn't close that £20m budget gap entirely – meaning that further proposals, aimed at plugging gaps of £2.8m in 2017-18 and £5.6m in 2018-19, will be presented to the board for approval at the end of May.

Most of the cuts were set out in a report to last week's board meeting in general terms, without detail of exactly how the reductions in spending will be achieved.

The approved cuts include a reduction of £200,000 in the amount the board spends on services and contracts with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, redesigns of residential care, children and families staffing and learning disability services (saving a total of £1.5m over two years), reviewing community-based mental health services (saving £500,000), rationalising its property portfolio (£820,000) and cutting the costs of the area's alcohol and drugs partnership (£250,000).