Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 10^th July 2019 having been circulated were signed as a correct record.

The Lloyds Banking Foundation is funded via a percentage of the Banks profits - and last year it came in around £18.2 m.  Following some independent research that the Foundation commissioned into the value of small charities which showed that small and local charities provide a distinctive value for people dealing with complex social issues, the Foundation wants to continue with their ongoing support however they want to fundamental change how they do that.

Representatives from Lloyds Banking Foundation will be in attendance to provide a presentation to the Board on the work of the Foundation in Halton.

            The Board received a presentation from Gill Baker, on behalf of Lloyds Bank Foundation, which outlined the background to the Foundation, underlying principles and their approach taken to work with small charities. It was noted that in 2019 the annual donation by the Bank to the Foundation based on profitability was £18.2m. The money was used to provide grants, capacity building support, work on policy and influencing and supporting bank staff with skills based volunteering.

            The presentation outlined to the Board details of the 2018/19 Strategy, Reaching Further, which aimed for the Foundation to partner with small and local charities to help people overcome complex social issues and rebuild their lives.

            RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

            The Board considered an update report on the One Halton Integrated Commissioning Group. Since the last meeting the Group had:

·         met on 19^th August and a Workshop had been held on 15^th August;

·         a further Integrated Commissioning Group meeting had been scheduled for October;

·         Commissioners had supported the development of the One Halton Plan;

·         Cheshire and Merseyside Healthcare Partnership had shared a Place Based Matrix. This had now been completed and would be used as a reference tool by Commissioners when agreeing outcomes; and

·         the Terms of Reference had been updated to include a section on conflicts of interest.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

            The Board considered a report which provided an update on the work of the One Halton Forum. Since the last meeting of the Board the One Halton Forum had met twice and discussed the One Halton Plan. The final draft of the Plan had now been shared with stakeholders on 13^th September for any final amendments. A copy of the Plan had been circulated to Board Members.

            Following comments received from stakeholders around the mental health element of the Plan, it was proposed that the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, be given delegated authority to approve the final version of the One Halton Plan.

             In addition, the Board had been previously advised that £25,000 had been allocated to be used for Communications and Engagement for One Halton. Since the last meeting of the Board it was noted that:

·         a Communications and Engagement Manager was now in post; and

·         a Communications and Engagement Strategy for One Halton had been produced;

·         the process for funding requests had been developed and one request for funding had been received;

·         a One Halton Budget Statement had been produced and circulated to the Board.

            RESOLVED: That

1.    the contents of the report be noted;

2.    in consultation with the Leader, the Chief Executive be given delegated authority to approve the final version of the One Halton Plan;

3.    Communications & Engagement Strategy is approved;

4.    process for funding requests are noted;

5.    funding requests made in this reporting period are noted; and

6.    One Halton Budget Statement is noted.

            The Board received a report which provided an update on the work of One Halton Provider Alliance. Board Members were advised on the key decisions made to date which were around:

·         Urgent Treatment Centres;

·         Workstreams;

·         Place Based Integration;

·         Place Based Matrix;

·         Halton Integrated Frailty Service; and

·         Place five year strategic plan – One Halton Plan.

The Board was also updated on the proposal to merge Halton and Warrington CCG’s. Following consultation with its GP stakeholders around a proposal, a merger application would not be submitted to NHS England because of insufficient support from members in Halton. The Council would continue to work with the Halton CCG to help them reduce their running costs.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

            The Board considered a copy of a report which presented an Annual Flu Plan with an overview of key changes to and requirements of the annual seasonal influenza vaccination campaign for the 2019/20 flu season and implications of this for the Local Authority and health and social care partner agencies.

            RESOLVED: That

1.    the Board note the content of the Annual Flu Plan and note the changes to the national flu vaccination programme for 2019/20; and

2.      each individual agency note their requirements in relation to the programme and promote flu prevention as widely as possible.

            The Board received a presentation from Ifeoma Onyia, on behalf of Public Health, which informed the Board of the national and local context on inequalities that were impacting on health outcomes for Halton’s population. The Board considered examples of health inequalities within Wards in Halton, the benefits reducing health inequalities brought to health, social wellbeing and the economy and the work-taking place within Halton to tackle health inequalities.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted and the key health inequalities identified within the presentation be incorporated into Halton’s Place Based Plan.

            The Board received a report of the Chief Executive and Director of Public Health, which provided an update on the work to tackle the harm caused by alcohol in communities; and sought Board support to participate with other similarly minded authorities across the North to build support amongst the public and politicians for the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP).

            It was noted that alcohol was one of the biggest public health challenges faced by Halton with rising levels of harm linked to increases in consumption over the past few decades. Halton suffered disproportionate harm when compared to the rest of the country, with estimated costs to the NHS alone of over £10million each year. 27% of the adult population in Halton were estimated to be drinking at increasing and higher risk levels. There were 2,152 hospital admissions caused by alcohol each year, with 32 adults dying as a result of alcohol consumption. Estimates suggested that in Halton 6,839 crimes, including thefts, criminal damage and violence were caused by alcohol each year.

            Members were advised that research from Sheffield University indicated that Halton would see significant benefits from the introduction of a 50p MUP in England:

•           The NHS locally would save £256,200 per year;

•           Alcohol related hospital admissions would fall by 130 per year;

•           65 deaths would be avoided over the ensuing 20-year             period; and

•           196 fewer associated crimes would be committed per year.

            Given the disproportionate levels of harm experienced across the North of England, the view expressed at Stakeholder meetings showcasing the research, held in Warrington and Durham late in 2018, was that the North West and North East should work together to influence national MUP discussions. As a working group, the aim was to facilitate and encourage willing participant local authorities to work together to influence the national debate on MUP.

            In light of the harms caused in Halton by the widespread availability of cheap alcohol and the improvements in alcohol related health and crime promised by the above research, work was now underway to start the process of building public and political support for MUP and to seek to engage with politicians and Parliament. The Board was asked to support the call to urge the Government in Westminster to introduce MUP in England without delay.

            In addition, the Board was asked to support, should the Government be unwilling to introduce MUP, joining a group of North West and North East Councils to take local action on this issue. Such an approach would enable consultation with local people on making a bid to introduce MUP at a regional/sub-regional/local level by making a bid using the Sustainable Communities Act.

            Arising from the discussion, Cheshire Fire would provide information on the number of fire alcohol related deaths.

            RESOLVED: That

1.    the report be noted; and

2.      the Board supports the decision for Halton to participate with other similarly minded authorities across the North to build support amongst the public and politicians for the introduction  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

            The Board considered a copy of the Public Health Annual Report (PHAR) 2018/19.  Each year a theme was chosen for the PHAR and for 2018-2019 the Report would be a short film that focussed on Workplace Health. This topic had been chosen to highlight key areas pertinent to the Health and Wellbeing of the working population within the borough. The report would emphasise the measures being taken to both prevent poor health and improve the health of workers and their families.

            The film would cover the following areas:

·                     what has been happening with workplace health in      Halton;

·                     what impact the work undertaken has had on local       businesses and their employees;

·                     outcomes associated with this work; and

·                     recommendations for the future.

            The final version of the film would be presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board in January.

            RESOLVED: That the Board note the contents of the report.

            The Board received an update on the development of Halton’s Healthy Weight Strategy. Over the past ten years there had been a huge amount of work to help the people of Halton maintain a healthy weight. A summary of these services were provided within the strategy and included; the Healthy Child Programme, the Healthy Schools programme, workplace health initiatives, Sure Start to Late Life and Health Checks.

            The strategy aimed to build on the success of these programmes but would also look at new ways of working to reflect the many influences on obesity and the need to continue to work in partnership across agencies to improve outcomes.

            In order to address the challenge locally, Halton entered into a partnership with Leeds Beckett University with a view to designing local whole systems approaches to assist in preventing and tackling obesity. Halton was one of only 6 local authority areas across England chosen as a pioneer site. Working with researchers from Leeds Beckett university two initial workshops were held to utilise the whole-systems approach to identify priorities and form the basis for the strategy and action plan.

            Following the workshops, a Whole Systems Obesity network was set up to refine the priorities and develop a range of actions for each one. The strategy itself sets out some the key actions, however, a more comprehensive action plan had been developed, to be overseen by the network and would be regularly updated and monitored to ensure it delivered against the priorities for the lifetime of the strategy. The overarching priorities were set out in the report.

            Whilst a comprehensive action plan sat behind the strategy with timescales and responsibilities, in order to understand how our actions were impacting on health and wellbeing locally, progress against indicators in the Public Health Outcomes Framework would also be monitored.

            Arising from the discussion it was agreed that the comments regarding people with disabilities would be taken back to the Strategic Lead.

            RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.

The Board received a report from the Strategic Director – People, which gave an update on the progress of the Transforming Domiciliary Care (TDC) Programme and information on Premier Care – Lead Provider for commissioned domiciliary care in the Borough.

It was reported that the Council had been working with a range of partners to develop how domiciliary care was delivered in the Borough, known as the Transforming Domiciliary Care Programme.  The term Domiciliary Care was used to describe the help some adults need to live as well as possible when coping with an illness or disability they may have.

Members were presented with information about the TDC Programme and the aims of the project. The report also discussed the Programme’s capacity and demand, service user assessment and management and workforce development.

Arising from the discussion the representative from Heathwatch advised that they had wrote a report on Domiciliary Care within Halton and they would be willing to meet with Officers to discuss the report outcomes.

            RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

            The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health, which updated members of the work of Halton’s Active Me (adult) project. The project was operated by a Sport and Physical Activity Officer and utilised short-term funding to set up new physical activity sessions in the community were need had been identified.

            The report outlined the current health picture in Halton, adult physical activity levels in Halton and the challenges for increasing physical activity in Halton.

            RESOLVED: That Members note and support physical activity as a priority for health as physical activity is related to many of our major health problems.