Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by councillors regarding the item on this Agenda.

The Health Liaison Panel is asked to comment on the draft Health and Wellbeing Position Statement and attached Action Plan prior to consideration by the Community and Wellbeing Committee in January 2018.

The Panel received a short presentation from the Head of Housing and Community, which informed discussion the draft Health and Wellbeing Position Statement and Action Plan prior to its consideration by the Community and Wellbeing Committee in January 2018.

The Panel’s Terms of Reference referred to “preparation, promoting and monitoring the Council’s Health Strategy…” and the development of the action plan fitted in with this. It was stressed that the draft plan attached as an Annex to the report was an early draft. This was the first time that current delivery and developments in the Borough that contributed to residents’ health and wellbeing, either directly or indirectly, had been matched to wider strategy and it was pleasing to note how the Borough’s activities mirrored Surrey County Council’s priorities set out in the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Board’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS).

The purpose of the Health and Wellbeing Position Statement and Action Plan was to recognise the Borough Council’s role in the community in relation to promoting health and wellbeing within existing resources, for example, Surrey Youth Games or campaigns run by Environmental Health such as “Eat out, eat well”. The draft plan worked around the five priorities in Surrey’s JHWS.  The Council’s activities with implications for these priorities were wide ranging and some activities covered several priorities. It was noted that the Borough was particularly active in working with the elderly: priority 4 of the JHWS was to improve older adults’ health and wellbeing and that not every activity or initiative was time bound by a set target date or specific outcomes. Some activities or initiatives related purely to reinforcing messaging or education, for example, promotion of healthy eating campaigns such as “Change 4 Life”.

Key points to arise from the discussion around the draft Plan were:

·                     It was highlighted that this Borough Council was the only District/Borough to actively engage in discussions with the County Council to raise awareness of relevant Borough Council activities and to discuss further coordination or service developments within existing resources;

·                     Opportunities were being taken to input into the development of the Local Plan, notably around planning infrastructure;

·                     The Council was developing a successful, bespoke model in relation to “social prescription” led by team at the Wellbeing Centre, drawing on and alongside the wealth of voluntary sector help available. The pilot scheme would be running until the end of March 2018.

The Head of Housing and Community thanked members for their engagement and contributions and undertook to circulate the presentation and a latest draft of the Action Plan to members of the Panel following the meeting prior to its submission to the Community and Wellbeing Committee.