Agenda and minutes

Minute 48 – Space Activities: Jan-Sept 2017 – 9 Month Highlight Report: Ramesh Kukar declared that he worked for Slough CVS, which was part of the Space consortium.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th September 2017 be approved as a correct record.

The updated Action Progress Report was received that updated the Board on the recently completed and outstanding actions arising from previous meetings.  It was requested and agreed that the format of the report be amended to clarify the status and timescale for the actions listed.

Resolved –  That the Action Progress Report be noted.

The Independent Chair of the Slough Safeguarding Adults Board, Nick Georgiou, presented the Slough Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) Annual Report for 2016/17 and provided an update on more recent priorities and activities.

It was the third annual report since the introduction of the Care Act, which had put the work of the Board on a statutory footing.  The key areas of activity were reviewed and these included improved identification of risk, self-neglect, mental capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Standards (DOLS), making safeguarding personal and steps to improve the effectiveness of the Board.  There had also been a focus on increasing the understanding and cohesion between adults and children’s services and this was reflected in the fact that Mr Georgiou had been appointed as the Independent Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and a joint business unit had been established.

Members raised a number of issues including the reasons for the continued pressure to the Council from the increased DOLS work and the factors contributing to the significant increase in safeguarding concerns received and enquiries undertaken.  The number of Section 42 enquiries had doubled from 139 to 234 in the 2016-17.  Factors included increased reporting and improved understanding and practice about what constituted a Section 42 enquiry.  Many concerns received did not relate to safeguarding and referrals were made to partners in such instances.  The conversion rate of concerns received and enquiries undertaken had risen from 19% in 2014-15 to 37% in 2016-17 and it was recognised that this increased the workload for social workers.  At the conclusion of the discussion, the report was noted.

Resolved –  That the Slough Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2016/17 be noted.

The Independent Chair of Slough’s Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB), Nick Georgiou, presented the Annual Report for 2016/17 which summarised the actions taken since the negative Ofsted report in November 2015 which informed the 2016/17 Business Plan.

Six key themes had been identified to address issues including multi-agency threshold guidance; monitoring and quality assurance of safeguarding practice; the effectiveness of the response to children at risk of exploitation; a funding agreement; training; and wider community engagement.  It was recognised that whilst progress had been made in all of these areas, more needed to be done to reach the goal of a good Ofsted rating and this was reflected in the priorities agreed for the current year.

The Board discussed a number of aspects of the Annual Report, particularly the timing and focus of future Ofsted inspections and their view of the overall progress that was being made to improve services for children in Slough.  There were regular visits to the Trust on specific services and the next major Ofsted inspection was expected in the first half of 2018.  It was recognised that improvements were evident in a number of areas, some services had been returned to the Council which was a positive sign, and work was continuing to address known weaknesses.  A number of other actions being taken to address priorities in the current year were highlighted including the appointment of single independent chair for both adults and children’s boards and the establishment of joint business unit.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Annual Report was noted.

Resolved –  That the Slough Local Safeguarding Children’s Annual Report 2017 be noted.

The Director of Adults & Communities introduced a report which proposed the launch of a number of public awareness campaigns on obesity, social isolation, poverty and mental health.  The proposals had emerged from the working group established by the Board to take forward the ‘wicked issues’ identified at the Partnership Conference in September.

The group was proposing a series of actions, as detailed in paragraph 6.3 of the report, to run public information campaigns on each issue, linking in to existing national or local activity where possible and adopting the NHS “One You” branding.  The first campaign would be focusing on obesity and would begin in the new year.  Appendix B to the report set out the timing of the proposed campaigns for each quarter of 2018.  The aim was to maximise the influence and reach of the partners on the Wellbeing Board to promote the campaigns in a co-ordinated way.

The Board welcomed the proposal and discussed some of the specific techniques and messages that could be most effective in influencing behaviour.  In response to questions it was anticipated the campaigns would be supported from existing resources with no additional costs to partners and it was also agreed that evaluation should be considered at an early stage so that the effectiveness of the campaigns could be assessed.  Members also suggested a number of forthcoming events and activities that could be linked to the campaigns.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board agreed the recommendations to launch the public awareness campaigns, to be overseen by the ‘Sponsor Group, on obesity, social isolation, poverty and mental health.

Resolved –

(a)  That the key recommendations of the ‘Sponsor Group’ for a coordinated campaign proposal as set out in section 6 of the report be approved.

(b)  That a number of public awareness campaigns be run locally on behalf of the Wellbeing Board on obesity, social isolation, poverty and mental health.

The Board held a themed discussion on the Prevention Strategy Implementation and Action Plan which aimed to prevent ill health and promote healthy lifestyles and self care.  The Prevention Strategy had been presented to the Board on 27^th September 2017 and the themed discussion was the next step in shaping actions and ensuring strong leadership at a strategic level.

The priorities discussed included drug and alcohol misuse, violence against women and girls and social isolation.  The key points raised during the discussion can be summarised as follows:

·  The wide variety of factors often contributing to poor health were considered and it was recognised that the determinants of health outcomes were often complex and generational.

·  Helping people improve their self confidence and resilience were agreed to be important and the value of volunteering in achieving this was acknowledged.  The issue of how to increase peoples resilience was a recurring theme raised during the discussion and it was considered to be a potential focus for further action.

·  An effective local action plan would require a clearer understanding of local data and intelligence about Slough’s population to ensure an evidence based approach was taken.

·  Once the strategic approach had been agreed, there would need to be much more buy in from partners on the delivery of the prevention agenda if real change was to be achieved.

·  Work with children and early years was agreed to be a key issue and the challenges of engaging parents and carers was raised.

·  The prevention agenda could help improve outcomes for individuals and reduce or delay demands on the health and social care system, however, it was emphasised that the focus on the immediate needs of people in poor health should not be lost.

·  The links between the prevention strategy and ‘wicked issue’ campaigns were noted and it was agreed that these would be built into the public awareness campaigns.

·  The Wellbeing Board could contribute to the agenda by providing strategic support and helping to make the necessary connections between partners that would be essential to effective delivery.

·  The private sector could be better engaged in campaigns to highlight key issues such as substance misuse which was a major factor in the levels of violence against women and girls.

·  Slough Children’s Services Trust should be an important partner in actions to tackle violence against women and girls and the Board encouraged more engagement on this issue.  The Trust highlighted the significant amount of work they were already doing to address this issue and it was agreed that discussions should be held to ensure there was proper co-ordination rather than overlap of activity.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was noted that an Innovation Café style discussion would be held with partners to take forward the key themes of the action plan and identify any further gaps.  It was agreed that a report be brought back to the Board at a future date with any specific proposals about how the Board or partnerships could more directly contribute to the delivery of the strategy.

Resolved –

(a)  That the comments of the Board be noted and incorporated into the Prevention Strategy Implementation and Action Plan where appropriate.

(b)  That further engagement with partners take place in the form of an Innovation Café.

(Cate Duffy left the meeting)

Members reviewed the Forward Work Programme for the Board.  The following action was agreed:

·  That reports on key statutory inspections and monitoring visits of partners be built into the work programme, focusing on ‘what happened’ and ‘how can the partnership help?’.

·  The next themed discussion on protecting vulnerable children should focus on preventative work and support for all children, including wellbeing, employment and training opportunities.

·  The Board be kept updated on the progress of the public information campaigns on the ‘Wicked Issues’.

Resolved –  That the Slough Wellbeing Board’s Forward Work Programme be agreed, noting the above comments.

The Director of Adults & Communities gave a verbal update on the progress being made to deliver the Frimley Health and Care Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) Plan.  A Memorandum of Understanding between the partnership and NHS England had been agreed and work was ongoing to develop such agreements with statutory partners to set out how the arrangements would work locally.  An update was also provided on the early work of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance Board.

Resolved –  That the information report be noted.

An update on the recent activities of the Slough Youth Parliament (SYP) was received and noted.  The report set out the progress that had been made on the actions agreed during the themed discussion at the last meeting.   Following a query from a member, it was agreed to that the status of the letter to the Minister on the importance of PHSE be clarified.

It was noted that the SYP had had the highest turnout of any in the country at the recent elections and the Board commended those involved for the continued high levels of engagement.  It was proposed that a representative of SYP be invited to join the Board and the process for agreeing it was confirmed.  It was agreed to invite a representative to join the Board and that a recommendation be made to Council to approve the change to membership.

Resolved –

(a)  That the information report be noted.

(b)  That a representative of Slough Youth Parliament be invited to join the Board, initially on an informal basis pending an appointment by full Council as part of a wider review of the membership set out in the terms of reference.

A report was considered that advised the Board of the arrangements put in place to manage the transition of young people with ongoing or long term health or social care needs into adult services.  Agreement was sought for a protocol between key agencies including the Council, Slough Children’s Services Trust and health partners to facilitate joint working to ensure the transition process worked effectively.  The Board welcomed the work that had been done to strengthen partnership working in this important area and the protocol as at Appendix A to the report was agreed.

Resolved –

(a)  That the information report be noted.

(b)  That the implementation of the draft Transition Protocol at Appendix A to the report be agreed and endorsed.

An information report was received on the arrangements put in place for refreshing the 2015 Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for Slough.  It was a requirement that a revised assessment be published by 31^st March 2018 and consultation on the draft PNA was underway with stakeholders.  Partners were encouraged to respond to the consultation.  It was anticipated that an update report would be provided to the Board at its meeting in January with the PNA being considered for approval at the meeting in March 2018.

Resolved –

(a)  That the arrangements put in place for carrying out a fit for purpose PNA for Slough be noted.

(b)  That it be noted that the consultation period would end on 31st December 2017.

(c)  That the Board receive a progress report in January 2018 and consider the final draft for endorsement in March 2018.

An information report was received and noted which updated the Board on the east Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Groups Collaborative Operational Plan 2017-19.  The Health Scrutiny Panel would consider the plan at its forthcoming meeting and any relevant feedback would be provided to the Wellbeing Board.

Resolved –  That the information report be noted.

An information report was received on the Better Care Fund Plan 2017-2019 which had been submitted on behalf of the Board on 11^th September 2017 under the delegated authority approved on 29^th March 2017.  The plan sought to make further progress on the ambition to integrate health and social care services.  The update was noted and it was agreed that a report be brought to the Board as a discussion item at a future meeting.

Resolved –  That the information report be noted.

An information report was received and noted on the terms of reference of the Early Help Board (EHB), a multi-agency forum to oversee delivery of the Early Help Strategy and Local Area Collaboratives.  It was noted that the EHB was accountable to the Wellbeing Board for escalation of partnership issues and reporting progress on the implementation of the strategy.

Resolved –  That the information report be noted.

The Board received an update on the Housing Strategy Action Plan, particularly the progress made on special housing needs and vulnerable people.  Any specific comments should be made to the Council’s policy team.  It was requested that the policy to assist key workers, referenced at paragraph 6.2 of the report, be circulated to members of the Board if possible.  The Board would consider a further report on housing at the meeting in March 2018.

Resolved –  That the information report be noted and that a further report be considered by the Board in March 2018.

Ramesh Kukar summarised the key aspects of the SPACE Activities 9 month highlight report.  The Board noted that good progress was being made including the establishment of the Slough Advice Centre, Slough Carers Support and the Wellbeing Prescribing Service.

Resolved –  That the information report be noted.

Resolved –  That the Attendance Report be noted.

The Board reviewed key outcomes from the meeting and learning points for future meetings.

25^th January 2018.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 25^th January 2018.