Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 13 September 2017 as an accurate record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 13 September was agreed as an accurate record.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There was no disclosure at this meeting.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.

A Presentation from the Director of Public Health

Due to the Director of Public Health annual report going to Cabinet following this meeting of the Board, only an overview of the report was given to the Board. The rationale behind the report was to consider the challenges around Health and Wellbeing.

The Board learned that there were health inequalities in society that flowed from different economic circumstances. The report highlighted alternative lifestyle choices for better health that aimed to improve the socio-economic position of the individual.

The Board heard that there was a lot of evidence identifying the impact on health from what we do in life to the environment that we live in, which was identified in the report.

The Board learned that Croydon is said to have the second highest population of any borough in London with the highest population for people under eighteen years and had the third highest population for people over sixty-five years. The report estimated that the next generation in ten years’ time would see Croydon still having the largest population of those under eighteen years. Croydon is said to have the fourth highest population of working age residents, and have over sixty-one thousand older people residing in the borough. The age range was notably diverse within different areas of the borough, however, it was recognised that Croydon broadly have younger people in the north of the borough and older people in the south of the borough.

The Board recognised that there were different ways to define health and was working hard to better understand the challenges in the health and wellbeing across Croydon society. The Board noted that adults’ and children’s social care, housing and community safety were all equally important when recognising health needs across society. The Board discussed the upcoming report and recognised that there was a need for policy to be evidence based, and that the detailed work identified in the report would help shape how the Board would work together to address the issue.

The Board discussed that there was plenty of opportunity to change the way the Board operated. The Chair highlighted that the upcoming workshop on the three underlining priorities in line with the strategies would be delivered to identify:

-          how the Board wants to work,

-          what the priorities are,

-          what the Board wants to achieve in twelve months,

-          convening partnership meetings, and

-          whether there would be other partners such as mental health involved in the Board

Members of the Board announced that the future focus should be on areas of highest need. The Board acknowledged that resources were limited for those that reside in North Croydon and New Addington.

The Board discussed that the ‘Just Be’ website was enabling people to help themselves to empower change in their own behaviours (such as stop smoking, alcohol awareness and healthy eating) and to access facilities to improve their health and wellbeing. It was recognised that obesity was a long-term cause of ill-health and therefore, to acknowledge the signs at an early  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114/17

The report from the Director of Public Health is attached

The Director of Public Health presented the Development of Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2018-2022.

The Director welcomed the new Health and Wellbeing Board into their second Board meeting as the Board was growing together in its early stages.

The report outlined the purpose of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2018-2022 and suggested options to the Board for developing the strategy.

There were three options discussed and the Board was in consensus that they were sensible and attainable.  The Board deliberated in finding the best way forward, looking into the principles in developing strategy. The Board agreed that there was an opportunity to collaboratively work together, bringing in all Members involved with the development of the strategy.

The Board was in discussion over some areas where they need to be responsible in focusing a strategy in supporting communities. Issues concerning:

-           Overall health in society;

-           The need for diversity and the citizen’s voice should be included in decisions as it was noted that young children were often missed in capturing information due to their age;

-           Issues in the north of Croydon around parenting; and

-           Issues in New Addington around environmental issues

The Board was reminded to include the voice of the child. The Local Strategic Partnership would also be linked into the shape of the Health and Wellbeing programme.

The voluntary sector would be beneficial to the Board, as it would represent engagement and networking where voices from the community would be heard; the Board heard that fantastic work and citizen led projects, had a great impact at the Upper Norwood Health and Wellbeing Oasis.

The Board discussed the issue of timescales and how they proposed to achieve their focus in developing strategy. Moving forward, the Board considered options of completing tasks by mid-2018, to have some steps and forward plans in what they would have achieved, and by when.

The Board agreed to a multi-agency workshop to begin the process in understanding each partner’s roles and work on proposals to develop the joint health and wellbeing strategy. This workshop would help shape the identity of the Health and Wellbeing Board in Croydon. The idea of holding a summit in the coming future was also considered. The Board also recognised internal challenges, such as funding.

The Board was of the view that they would need to include all Members in the process around what they set out to achieve; thus work would not be duplicated, and with co-production as a new Board, the idea was to focus on being realistic in how they chose to go forward.  It was emphasised that all Members should have an equal voice. The Board noted that they would have greater impact when specifically focusing on discrete areas to improve wider determinants of health.

The Chair stressed the idea of strategy as being an opportunity for the Board to take ownership of what they wanted to achieve. The Chair highlighted that the workshop would be an impeccable start to discuss the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115/17

The report of the Director of Public Health is attached

The Board received a presentation on the Healthy Weight Action Plan.

Officers explained the vision of what was achieved which was to improve access to food and the way it is sold. The programme for this plan had worked incredibly well for the last two and a half years. The Board learnt that three flagship schools had done intensive work, and by September 2017 four more schools had joined.

A video was played for the Board which evidenced success in healthy meals provided to children at schools. This was considered great for tackling obesity as it was observed what a child eats. The voice of a child was heard in the video as it was seen that children identified with food choices and habits and spoke of their appreciation in eating healthily.

The presentation further informed the Board that obesity remained a big issue nationwide and was a particular issues in Croydon. With obesity existing through the life of many, it was noted that those who reside in poorer areas were more likely to be overweight.

The presentation was received well by all the Members of the Board, for the scope and depth of work demonstrated to support healthier eating in Croydon.

The idea around involving all schools can be seen as a role for the voluntary sector, where the community could receive information in parks, open spaces, and organise healthy eating project for those on low incomes, to help across Croydon’s communities.

The Board highlighted that the Sugar Smart project was making a difference as it was providing an informative measurement of sugar in our diet, also the Daily Mile challenge was already having an impact. The Board also noted that obesity was spreading in affluent areas too, as the Croydon population was increasing in size. There was talk of the complications in tackling the issue as there was no single solution to deal with obesity. The activities had been far greater but there remained a need to measure the impact on reducing obesity over time.

The Board NOTED the achievements and legacy of the Food Flagship programme, and APPROVED the borough’s three-year Healthy Weight Action Plan (2017-2020). The Board further recommended the impact of the plan across the system, and committed to the Local Government Declaration on the Sugar Reduction and Healthier Food.

For members of the public to ask questions relating to items on this

agenda of the Health & Wellbeing Board meeting.

Questions should be of general interest, not personal issues, and must

be received in writing no later than noon on the Friday prior to the

meeting.

There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for all questions and responses

which will be minuted. The responses to any outstanding questions will

be included as an Appendix to the minutes.