Agenda and minutes

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary or other Pecuniary or non pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Section 4 paragraph 4.6 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed.

The Chair will ask Members to confirm that they do not have a declarable interest.

All Members making a declaration will be required to complete a Declaration of Interests at Meetings form detailing the nature of their interest.

None were declared.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the meeting held on 28^th March 2018 be approved as a correct record.

The Action Progress Report was received that updated the Board on the recently completed and outstanding actions arising from previous meetings.

It was noted that the Task & Finish Group on homelessness established following the themed discussion at the meeting on 28^th March 2018 had met and agreed the focus of its work on coordinating activity to tackle the problem of rough sleeping.

Resolved –  That the Action Progress Report be noted.

An update was provided on the progress of the Wellbeing Board’s first social media campaign, #BeRealistic, which was focused on the campaign priority of obesity.

The campaign had been developed by the Sponsor Group and aimed to link into existing national initiatives and local activity.  The specific actions undertaken as part of the #BeRealistic campaign included a website, factsheet, press and social media coverage to promote the #BeRealistic hashtag which aimed to encourage people to make relatively modest changes to their diet, exercise or lifestyle to improve their health.  Board Members and the Council’s Cabinet Members had taken a leadership role by undertaking Health Checks and Members were reminded of the opportunity to take up this opportunity if they hadn’t already done so.  The campaign had attained a high profile and was considered to have been successful in raising awareness, although it was difficult to track the specific impacts. 

The lessons learned were reviewed which included the role and participation of partners in supporting the campaign to ensure the widest possible engagement.  The next steps included the Slough half-marathon and walk to school week and it was proposed that #BeRealistic continue to run alongside future planned campaigns.  The website was still live and would continue to be a useful resource in promoting healthier lifestyles.  The impact and future of the campaign would be reviewed at a later stage.

The Board welcomed the work that had been undertaken as part of the #BeRealistic campaign and particularly the high profile that it had achieved.  It was recognised that promoting behaviour change was a long term, ongoing process and it was therefore agreed to continue with the activity alongside the next planned campaign, #ReachOut, which would focus on social isolation.

Resolved – 

(a)  That the update on the progress of the #BeRealistic campaign be noted.

(b)  That the campaign be continued and reviewed at a later date.

(c)  That the next campaign, Reach Out, be launched.

(d)  That the lesson learned from the #BeRealistic campaign be noted and that partners take a more active role in future campaigns.

The Draft Slough Wellbeing Board Annual Report 2017/18 was considered for endorsement.  The Board was asked to comment on the draft and recommend it to full Council for endorsement at it’s meeting on 24^th July 2018.

The report sought to set out the work that had been undertaken in partnership to improve health and wellbeing outcomes in Slough.  The draft had been considered by the Health Scrutiny Panel and comments had been incorporated.  The document aimed to detail how the SWB was meeting its statutory responsibilities as a Health & Wellbeing Board; set out the activity against key themed priorities; and include case studies under each theme.

(Ramesh Kukar joined the meeting)

The Board discussed the nature of annual reporting against the high level strategic priorities in the Joint Wellbeing Strategy.  Members welcomed the more proactive, high profile campaign work that had started during the year and agreed the report provided an opportunity to explain the added value of the partnership coming together to address local priorities.

The discussion led to a wider conversation about health inequalities and the role of the Board in addressing them.  It was noted that a significant amount of work was taking place by the Public Health Team and other partners and Members asked that an update on the current position and issues be circulated to the Board.

One specific amendment was agreed in that references to the CCG would be amended to Slough locality of the East Berkshire CCG and that Dr Jim O’Donnell was the Clinical Lead for the Slough Locality.

Recommended –  That the Slough Wellbeing Board Annual Report be recommended to full Council for endorsement.

The Acting Strategic Director of Public Health gave a presentation on the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health, ‘Creating the Right Environments for Health’, which focused on one of the wider determinants of health – the natural environment.

It was recognised that people’s health was determined by factors such as the environment as well and healthcare and a range of socio-economic factors.  The natural environment could have wide ranging health benefits such as mental health, childhood development, reducing cardiovascular disease and increase physical activity.  The report set out some of the success stories in Slough of improving health and wellbeing through the use of green spaces such as the investment in green gyms and the daily mile in schools.  The recommendations included that the local authority and others continue to encourage community initiatives that made the most of the natural space available; including green space in new developments; promoting active transport; and improving existing green space in Slough.

During the course of a wide ranging discussion, the following points were raised:

·  Slough’s geography and pressures on land meant that the limited areas of public open space needed to be carefully managed and maximised.

·  The work being done to ensure parks and open spaces were safe, and perceived to be safe, was crucial in encouraging their use.

·  Partners could work together to ensure parks were places for people to enjoy and benefit from in positive ways and barriers to their use needed to be overcome.

·  There were more opportunities to use parks for organised activities and any increase could be targeted and measured.

·  The investment in facilities in parks, such as green gyms, needed to be supported with work to promote their use.

·  It was suggested that the screens in GP surgeries could be used to show content promoting use of Slough’s green spaces.

·  The townscape and other parts of the natural environment were important in improving people’s health and wellbeing such as trees and planting across the borough.

The Board recognised the importance of maximising the next phase of the Council’s Leisure Strategy to promote increased levels of participation and activity following the significant capital investment in new facilities.  It was agreed that an update report be added to the work programme.

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

Resolved –   That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health be noted.

Members reviewed the Forward Work Programme for the Board and agreed the items for the next meeting including a themed discussion on Early Help.

The following was agreed:

·  July themed discussion on Early Help confirmed.

·  Update report on Recovery Colleges in September.

·  September themed discussion on mental health focusing on children and young people and CAMHs.

The was a wide ranging discussion about support for people on the edge of services as it was felt there were some gaps and risks for some vulnerable people, often who were difficult to identify or engage.  It was agreed that the Health & Social Care PDG would give further consideration to the matter and escalate any necessary matters to the Board.

Resolved –  That the work programme be agreed.

An information report was considered on the recent developments in producing ‘Caring for our carers: a local Memorandum of Understanding’ which aimed to improve the identification, assessment and support to carers.  The update was noted and it was agreed that it would be checked whether Thames Valley Police were a signatory.  It was also agreed to explore whether and how local businesses could be approached to sign up.

Resolved – 

(a)  That the progress that had been made in implementing the MOU be noted.

(b)  That a further review of the impact and value that it had delivered on behalf of carers be carried out by the Health & Social Care/ BCF PDG in 12 months.

An information report was considered on the impact of the work of SPACE in 2017 and the future plans for development in 2018.  The report highlighted the strong partnership working that was in place between the local authority and the SPACE consortium.

Resolved –  That the SPACE Annual Report 2017 be noted.

It was noted that Les O’Gorman had submitted his resignation as a private sector representative on the Board due to business commitments.  The process for appointing business representatives would be reviewed prior to a recruitment exercise taking place.

Resolved –  That the report be noted.

18^th July 2018

The next meeting would be held on 18^th July 2018 at 5pm.