Agenda item

(To receive a report from Alison Christie, Programme Manager Health and Wellbeing, which asks the Board to agree the Board's Assurance Report and Theme Dashboards)

The Board received a report in connection with the progress being made to deliver the outcomes in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The progress was detailed on the Strategy's Scorecard and Theme Dashboard for 2015/16.

Discussion between the Board and officers included the following topics:-

·       There was a declining trend in the eight indicators which was welcome;

·         It was noted that cases of liver disease were increasing and there was a need to focus on the strategy to tackle this issue and for a partnership approach;

·         The elderly population was increasing rapidly and finding beds was becoming an issue. The strategy was going in the right direction but it was recognised that this issue was becoming more prominent;

·         Increased mortality amongst the under 75's was becoming an issue in some communities due to inappropriate life styles. It was noted that an audit of GP practices was being undertaken to assess the take-up of health checks;

·         The District representative queried the point in the report that the Board agreed to hold each other to account but there had been no discussion about at the Board about the decommissioning of services. The District representative was advised that the 2016/17 commissioning intentions for CCGs, Adult Care, Children's Services and Public Health     were discussed at the informal Health and Wellbeing Board meeting in February 2016, to which all District Councils were invited to attend. In addition, the CCGs Operational Plans for 2016/17 were formally presented to the Board in March 2017;

·         The Council had written to the Government about the reduction in funding for Public Health. It was hoped to address the reduction in funding of Public Health when local authorities had responsibility for setting their own priorities;

·         The challenge faced was where to direct preventive resources and how to prioritise these resources as there were no easy choices for the NHS or Local Authorities. There was a need to consult the public and other agencies to identify constraints and the alternative options available;

·         Elected Members faced election every four years and therefore there was a need to regularly examine priorities and the allocation of resources. Prevention was better than cure in the long term;

·         The statistics in Theme One for physical activity did not match those given by Sport England. Officers were unaware how Sport England had produced their statistics or whether it was possible to measure statistics down to a District Council level;

·         The presentation by The Sports Partnership was about the Sports England Strategy and their new arrangements on how funding was going          to be allocated. The Chairman stated that engagement had taken place around these new arrangements and not everyone was aware. Officers stated that they would check exactly what the Sports England document            was and get back to the Board;

·         Gainsborough Town Council had received funding from West Lindsey District Council to support football at youth level but this funding was coming to an end. Over 2,000 young people had been involved and the activity should be encouraged. It was the case that the dividend from physical activity did not become apparent for many years and it was necessary to convince funding bodies that this was worth supporting;

·         Theme 4 – there had been a lot of good work taking place with improving education attainment and narrowing the gap between those receiving free school meals and those not receiving them. The key challenge was obesity in children which was being tackled by the Government's national plan which Lincolnshire was following;

·         The integration of health teams was welcomed;

·         Children needed to feature in the Transformation Plan and District Councils also had a part to play;

·         There was a lot of work to do in connection with reducing the number of Non-Accidental Injury cases particularly in teenagers and there would           be a focus on this area in the future;

·         Mental illness in children was an issue.  Officers stated that the Safeguarding Board was examining risk in this area and the CAMHS transformation plan was helping to revise the service specification;

·         There was a lot of emphasis on examination results especially in English and Maths.  Officers stated that examination results were selected as the performance measure including measuring the gaps between those living in financial disadvantage and those not.  This was a priority area;

·         One of the reasons why Lincolnshire was not narrowing the education attainment gap was because Lincolnshire was not as well funded as other local authorities.  Officers stated that there was a lot of work taking place in Lincolnshire to narrow the attainment gap for children eligible for free school meals and the government was being        lobbied about school funding; and

·         It was agreed that housing problems had an effect on health and was being addressed in the Strategy.  Officers stated that support was given to people living independently and that fuel poverty was still a major issue.  Details of the Energy Switch initiative were available on the County Council's website. Officers stated that a review of housing and support accommodation for 16-24 year olds was also needed.

RESOLVED

          That the report, comments made by the Board and the responses of officers, be noted.