Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Caan, Caborn and Grinsell and Andy Hardy.

The following substitutes had been received:

Simon Gilby for Andy Hardy.

(i)            Goodgym launch in Warwick – 16th October 2019

The Chair reported that she was pleased to announce that Goodgym had launched in Warwick last week and conveyed her thanks to Simon Hall and all those involved in the launch.

(ii)          Offer for Veterans

In relation to the Armed Service Covenant, the Chair reported that it would be timely to look at what’s on offer for veterans in our region and how the health sector responds to ex-forces personnel (with a view to submitting a report to a future meeting). Sean Russell reported that a meeting would be arranged with interested colleagues to look at how this would be taken forward.

(iii)         Mental Health Star Awards – 29th January

Sean Russell reported that further to the recent email circulated on the Mental Health Star Awards, he was seeking support  from members to encourage colleagues and partners to submit nominations for the Mental Health Star Awards before the closing date for entries on 3 November. He added that the event on 29 January would celebrate the great work being undertaken in mental health and asked colleagues to note the date in their diary.

(iv)         ‘Walk Out of Darkness’ – May 2020

Sean Russell reported that the ‘Walk Out of Darkness’ event, a 6 mile walk around Birmingham City Centre to support the Zero Suicide Ambition was planned for a date in May next year and further details would be circulated to colleagues in due to course. In the meantime, Sean Russell asked if members could nominate an officer lead to support the event.

(v)          High Street Health Checks

Sean Russell reported that consideration is being given to what high street health checks might look like moving forward and a paper would be shared with colleagues before the next meeting.

(vi)         Chatty Cafes

In relation to the Mayor’s initiative of taking forward ‘Chatty Cafes’  (the scheme seeks to reduce loneliness by getting people chatting), Sean Russell reported that the WMCA was seeking to increase the number of  Chatty Cafes in the West Midlands from the current 60 cafes and a leaflet providing more information was available following today’s meeting. He added that 20th January 2020 was officially designated as ‘Blue Monday’ and it was hoped that Chatty Cafes could help support people on this day.

(vii)        Violence Reduction Unit

Sean Russell advised the board that a report on the Violence Reduction Unit would be submitted to the next meeting.

(viii)       Local Authorities input into future Wellbeing Board meetings

Sean Russell reported that he would like to hear from local authorities on 3 health/ wellbeing initiatives that they are really proud of and asked that Coventry and Warwickshire authorities report to the next meeting on 24 January 2020; Birmingham and Solihull to the meeting on 3 April 2020 and the Black Country authorities to the meeting in July (to be arranged).

(ix)         Farewell to Henry Kippin

The Chair informed the board that this meeting was Henry Kippin’s last,  as he would be leaving  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2019 were agreed as correct record.

The board considered a joint report from the Implementation Director Wellbeing, Director of Public Service Reform and the PHE/WMCA Consultant in Public Health that provided an update on the current position of the Population Intelligence Hub and reported on progress on intelligence projects to date.

It was noted that the Population Intelligence Hub is a virtual intelligence hub established by PHE in collaboration with WMCA and is intended as a resource for the whole of the West Midlands and a focal point for placed based intelligence on population health outcomes.

Lina Martino, PHE/WMCA Consultant in Public Health, outlined the report and highlighted progress being made on 3 key areas; demonstrating impact, delivering solutions and increasing capacity.

The board noted the importance of ensuring the Population Intelligence Hub includes information from communities and all sectors, including the voluntary sector to ensure it provides an effective resource for policy development.

Alison Tonge reported that work is being undertaken to develop decision support tools to look at how decisions are made in taking forward a priority.

Lina Martino concurred with the need to obtain more information from communities and that she would linking-in with Alison Tonge and NHSE on the work they are undertaking.

The Chair reported that she was interested in asking people what works for them and what they want.

Resolved : That the proposed updates to the Population Health Intelligence Hub projects be agreed

The board considered a report of the Implementation Director Wellbeing, that provided a high level overview of a potential draft of the Health Weight Strategy framework for the West Midlands that was attached to the report as Appendix 1, ‘Healthy Weight in the West Midlands : Strengthening Partnerships for Collective Action  2019- 2030’.

The report highlighted the overarching ambition for the West Midlands, outlining the four key pillars of the framework (Leadership and enabling change; healthy environment; healthy settings and healthy people) and the need for engagement from partners, stakeholders and citizens of the West Midlands to tackle obesity across the region.

It was noted that following consultation with Lead Wellbeing Members and Health and Public Health Partners, it was hoped the draft framework would be formally signed off in early January 2020 before a broader consultation was undertaken with wider partners, stakeholders and the public in the early part of 2020.

Councillor Hamilton, Vice-Chair and WMCA Wellbeing Board sponsor for healthy weight (previously childhood obesity) introduced the report and urged colleagues to get involved in the consultation and to encourage their Public Health Director to comment on the framework.

The Implementation Director Wellbeing, Sean Russell and the Director of Public Service Reform, Henry Kippin, echoed Councillor Hamilton’s comments  regarding the need for engagement by all partners and communities to take forward this work and the need for more collaboration across the region.

Councillor Hamilton outlined the work being undertaken by Birmingham in partnership with the Food Foundation and reported that she would be interested to learn what other areas are doing with regards to the food environment. 

In relation to a comment from Helen Hibbs regarding the need for an easy read version of the document to be available for the public consultation, the Implementation Director Wellbeing reported that an easy read version would be produced and available for the public roadshows following a review of the document and an agreed final version.

Resolved :

1.    That work be undertaken with officers to develop an agreed final consultation document and

2.    That the proposed timetable for stakeholder consultation be agreed and support for the consultation be endorsed.

The board considered a report of the Implementation Director Wellbeing that provided an update on progress of the key programmes of work within the Thrive West Midlands Mental Health Commission Action Plan.

The Implementation Director Wellbeing, Sean Russell highlighted the progress being undertaken on key programmes including Thrive At Work, Thrive Into Work, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements and the Housing First Programme.

In relation to an enquiry from Helen Hibbs as to how the Thrive Into Work programme could be embedded into STPs given the start/stop nature of the programme, the Implementation Director Wellbeing reported that he would welcome the opportunity to embed Thrive Into Work into the NHS Long-Term  Plan.

The Chair conveyed her congratulations to Sean Russell for all the work being undertaken to improve mental health since the Thrive Action Plan was launched almost three years ago in January 2017.

Resolved: That progress in the delivery of the current priorities be noted.

The board considered a report of the Physical Activity Policy and Delivery Lead that outlined the achievements in delivering ‘West Midlands On the Move’ and set out the next steps to develop a West Midlands partnership to get more people to be active and to reduce the inequalities of those who take part.

The Physical Activity Policy and Development Lead, Simon Hall outlined the progress being made across the various programmes notably, ‘Include Me WM’ and the work being undertaken with disabled people.

The Physical Activity Policy and Development Lead also updated the board on collaborative engagement and the proposal to establish a WM on the Move Executive /Partnership Group with stakeholders to drive forward common work.

Ben Brook considered that more collaborative working was required and reported that West Midlands Fire Service has a ‘Fire Fitness’ programme that supports diversity and helps with recruitment.

The Physical Activity Policy and Development Lead and the Implementation Director Wellbeing, undertook to follow-up with Ben Brook with regards to the fitness programme provided by West Midlands Fire Service.

Resolved:

1.    That progress in the current delivery of priorities for West Midlands on the Move be noted;

2.    That the WMCA explore the wider potential of Include Me WM in delivering a more inclusive and customer focused West Midlands be agreed;

3.    That the terms of reference for the WM on the Move Executive Group reporting into the Wellbeing Board be noted.