Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed Mr Hipkin who was attending the meeting in his capacity as a Coopted Member of the Council's Standards Committee to observe and monitor compliance with the Council’s ethical governance framework.

Minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2019, attached.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2019 be signed as a correct record.

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

There were no items requiring urgent attention.

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, which reviews progress against the overarching priorities identified in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Devon 2020 – 2025.

The appendix is available at https://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/strategies/

The Board considered a Report from the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the performance for the Board, which monitored the priorities identified in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Devon 2020-25.

The Report was themed around the four Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2020-25 priorities and included breakdowns by South West benchmarking, local authority district and local authority comparator group.  These priority areas included:

·       Create opportunities for all;

·       Healthy, safe, strong and sustainable communities;

·       Focus on mental health; and

·       Maintain good health for all.

The following indicators below had all been identified as being significantly worse compared to the national average at a Devon level:

·       Good level of development

·       GCSE attainment

·       Fuel poverty

·       Dwellings with category 1 hazards

·       Suicide

·       Self-harm admissions

·       Alcohol specific admissions in under 18s

·       Reablement coverage

·       Estimated dementia diagnosis rate

The outcomes report was also available on the Devon Health and Wellbeing website www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/jsna/health-and-wellbeing-outcomes-report

The Board, in discussion, highlighted and asked questions on;

·       The percentage of relating to the Level of Good Development for 2019 had increased to 72.7%, above national average, South West and statistical neighbours;

·       The Level of Good Development (Free School Meals) had also increased by 6.3% in 2019;

·       The level of GCSE attainment had also improved in 2019 and Devon was achieving better than the national average in English and Maths;

·       However, it was noted there was still a gap and challenge relating to pupils with Free School Meals;

·       There was still a lot of variations across the County, with North Devon and Torridge noted as being performing lower in most areas, including GCSE attainment, Good Level of Development, Fuel Poverty and dementia diagnosis rates;

·       Dementia diagnosis rates were still an area of concern, with difficulties in increasing the rates of early diagnosis and work was ongoing with Primary Care and how to better inform the public about the importance of early diagnosis; and

·       The Board noted there was not a large number of Mental Health indicators and that it was difficult to find good quality indicators.

It was MOVED by Councillor Leadbetter, SECONDED by Dr Pearson, and

RESOLVED that the performance report be noted and accepted and the refreshed Health and Wellbeing Outcomes Report, which reflected the priorities in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2020-25, be supported by the Board.

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the theme of ‘Child Poverty in Devon’, as outlined as a priority in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, attached.

The Board considered a Report from the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on Child Poverty in Devon.  The Report highlighted that the causes of child poverty were broad, and the experience of child poverty varied significantly across Devon’s communities.  Whilst levels of child poverty had generally declined, there were considerable variations that existed across Devon.

One of the complex and challenging issues with child poverty, as causes were broad and multiple, was that there was no overall lead from a local organisation, meaning that work to resolve the causes and ameliorate the impact of child poverty was usually focused on specific individual causes rather than tackling the issue as a whole.  It was therefore important to strengthen collaboration between organisations and strategic partnerships to tackle this issue.

The Board discussed and asked questions on the following;

·     Initiatives within Children’s Services around school attainment within North Devon and coastal towns which link into child poverty;

·     Utilising resources such as the European Social Fund to help reduce child poverty; and

·     Devon’s Economy Team looking into causes of child poverty including social mobility.

It was MOVED by Councillor Leadbetter, SECONDED by Dr Pearson, and

RESOLVED that the findings of the Child Poverty review be noted and a presentation on strategic economic assessment and development strategy be brought to a future Board meeting.

Joint Report of the Associate Director of Commissioning (Care and Health) Devon County Council and NHS Devon CCG on the Better Care Fund (BCF), Quarter Return, Performance Report and Performance Summary on the BCF. 

The Board considered a joint Report from the Associate Director of Commissioning (Care and Health) and NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on the Better Care Fund (BCF), Quarter Return, Performance Report and Performance Summary.

Regular Reports were provided on the progress of the Devon Better Care Fund Plan to enable monitoring by the Health and Wellbeing Board. Performance and progress was reviewed monthly by the Joint Coordinating Commissioning Group through the high level metrics reports and progress overview.

It was MOVED by Councillor Leadbetter, SECONDED by Dr Pearson, and

RESOLVED that

a)   national approval of the Section 75 Framework Agreement and associated Service Specifications for 2019/20, underpinning the Better Care Fund arrangements between the Council and CCG, be noted; and,

b)   the Q3 BCF return be submitted to NHS England on 24th January, with delegated approval given to the Chair of the Board to sign the return, due to timeline constraints around the Health and Wellbeing Board meetings.

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, attached.

The Board considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the Devon Strategic Partnerships Collaboration Agreement, highlighting the importance of collaborative working and outlining how partnerships would work together to improve health outcomes across Devon.

The Devon Strategic Partnership Collaboration Agreement covered the Devon Health and Wellbeing Board, the Children and Families Partnership, Safeguarding Adults Board, Safer Devon Partnership and the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.  It described the future working relationships between these organisations, setting outcomes to be achieved and the working arrangements that would be established to support this. The Agreement had been signed by the Chairs of the other partners and required final sign off by the Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

RESOLVED that the Devon Strategic Partnerships Collaboration Agreement be formally endorsed by the Board.

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, attached.

(Councillors Hall and Scott attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Board received a Report from the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health, developed by Public Health England as a mechanism for promoting good mental health and providing a focus for cross sector action to increase the adoption of public mental health approaches.

The Report highlighted that poor mental health had a considerable impact on the quality of people’s lives and was a major contributor to premature death.  This was also highlighted in the ‘Healthy and Happy Communities’, Devon’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2020-25, which set a priority on mental health and building good emotional health and wellbeing, happiness and resilience. 

The Prevention Concordat aimed to:

·       galvanise local and national action around the prevention of mental health problems and promotion of good mental health;

·       facilitate every local area to put in place effective prevention planning arrangements led by health and wellbeing boards, clinical commissioning groups, and local authorities; and,

·       enable every area to use the best data available to plan and commission the right balance of provision to meet local needs, increase equity and reduce health inequalities.

The work covered prevention in the widest sense covering the full range of activity from the promotion of good mental health through to living well with mental health problems.

The Board heard from Councillors Hall and Scott who discussed their own experiences with mental health, the need to remove the stigma around mental health, the importance of Mental Health Champions in the workplace, the link between physical wellbeing and mental health, the vital support provided by local charities and communities and the need for Councils to support these services, and the need to increase mental health services available to children and young adults to reduce the effects of mental health before they become more serious.

Members discussion points included:

·       an emphasis required on prevention of mental health, rather than just treatment;

·       acknowledging that mental health can affect anyone at any point of their life;

·       the need for measurable outcomes when improving mental health services;

·       the Devon Deal and need to focus on community assess and resource such as local football clubs and community groups; and,

·       links to the STP work programme linking in mental health and cross partnership working to deliver services. 

It was MOVED by Cllr Leadbetter and SECONDED by Dr Pearson and

RESOLVED that the Board supports the work to develop an action plan through constituent organisations and signs up to the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health, with an update Report at the next meeting.

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, attached.

The Board considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the Healthy Weight Declaration, which aimed to achieve local authority commitment to promote healthy weight and improve the health and wellbeing of the local population, and recognise the need for local authorities to exercise their responsibility to develop and implement policies which promoted healthy weight.

The Report noted that health related factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity and obesity often lead to ill health and premature death, with considerable variation in these risk factors across the county of Devon. 

In October 2019, the Council became the first local authority in the South West to sign up to the Healthy Weight Declaration for local authorities developed by Food Active. The Council had committed to a series of pledges that helped improve access to nutritious foods that were low in fat, salt and sugar in places that we each lived, worked and played.  Through the declaration there was also an opportunity for local authorities to develop and sign up to any local commitments that were specific to the needs of the local community.

RESOLVED that local work on the Healthy Weight Declaration be noted and future work to promote healthy weight and healthy eating across local organisation be supported by the Board.

An update by the Chair of NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, attached.

The Board received the Report of the Chair of the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group which provided an update on CCG business, Devon-wide and national developments within the NHS. It was intended to provide the Board with summary information to ensure Members were kept abreast of important developments affecting the NHS.

The Board noted the updates in relation to:

·       the NHS Long Term Plan – which continued to be developed with the final document aimed to be published in early 2020;

·       Winter campaign update – including pressures on A&E and the promotion of the NHS 111 service; and

·       The development of the Devon Strategy for General Practice.

RESOLVED that the Report be noted.

NIL

Nil

In order to prevent duplication, the Board will review the Council’s Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programmes. The latest round of Scrutiny Committees confirmed their work programmes and the plan can be accessed at; http://new.devon.gov.uk/democracy/committee-meetings/scrutiny-committees/scrutiny-work-programme/

The Board received a copy of Council’s Scrutiny Committee work programme in order that it could review the items being considered and avoid any potential duplications.

To review and agree the Boards Forward Plan.

The Board considered the contents of the Forward Plan, as outlined below (which included the additional items agreed at the meeting).

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be approved, including the items approved at the meeting.

Members of the Board received regular email bulletins directing them to items of interest, including research reports, policy documents, details of national / regional meetings, events, consultations, campaigns and other correspondence. Details were available at; http://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/

No items of correspondence had been received since the last meeting.

Please note that dates of future meetings and conferences will be included in the Devon County Council meetings calendar. All will take place at County Hall, unless otherwise stated.

Meetings

Thursday 9 April 2020 @ 2.15pm

Thursday 16 Jul 2020 @ 2.15 pm

Thursday 8 Oct 2020 @ 2.15 pm

Thursday 21 Jan 2021 @ 2.15 pm

Thursday 8 Apr 2021 @ 2.15 pm

Annual Conference

Thursday 16 July 2020 @ 9.30am

RESOLVED that future meetings and conferences of the Board will be held on:

Meetings

Thursday 9 April 2020 @ 2.15pm

Thursday 16 Jul 2020 @ 2.15 pm

Thursday 8 Oct 2020 @ 2.15 pm

Thursday 21 Jan 2021 @ 2.15 pm

Thursday 8 Apr 2021 @ 2.15 pm

Annual Conference

Thursday 16 Jul 2020 @ 10.00am