Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Les Caborn, Councillor Stephen Craddock, Councillor Farut Shaheen, Wayne Brown, Guy Daly, Sue Ibbotson and Alison Tongue.

The following substitutes had been received:

Lola Abudu for Sue Ibbotson and Steve Vincent for Wayne Brown.

The Chair reported that the last few months had been tough for the region and  it was likely that Covid-19 would be around for some time to come. The Chair noted the impact of the Coronavirus on people’s mental health and the role this board had in supporting partners to help communities.

The Chair introduced Ed Cox to the Board who had recently taken over the role of Director of Inclusive Growth and Public Service Reform from Henry Kippin.

Ed Cox reported that wellbeing was an important strand of his work area and  he was seeking to develop a fairer, greener and healthier West Midlands. He also informed the board of the new appointment to the post of Head of Wellbeing, Dr Mussahir Ajaz who would be joined the WMCA within the next few months.

·       16 October 2020

·       22 January 2021

·       26 March 2021

     All meetings scheduled from 10.00am- 12.00pm

The committee noted the schedule of meetings for 2020/21 as set below:

16 October 2020

22 January 2021

26 March 2021

All meetings are scheduled from 10.00am-12.00pm

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2020 were agreed as a true record.

Councillor Grinsell, WMCA Wellbeing Board sponsor for the Population Intelligence Hub, introduced the report and reminded colleagues of the importance of good data and good intelligence that are needed to influence the work programmes.

The report provided an update on the current position of the Population Intelligence Hub including progress on intelligence projects, changes to the work plan for the current financial year  and new additions to the work plan due to the Covid-19 pandemic and shifting priorities.

Lina Martino, PHE/WMCA Consultant in Public Health, outlined the changes to the work programme that had been revised to take account of the regional impact of Covid-19 and conveyed her thanks to Grace Scrivens, PHE who had undertaken the PHE intelligence analysis and had adapted the work programme accordingly.

Lina Martino along with Rob Davies, PHE also reported on key priority areas notably, the ‘refresh’ of the Wellbeing Dashboard, the development of the logic model to support the Inclusive Growth Unit and the health in all policies approach. The health in all policies approach would examine how policies impact on mental and physical health, both directly and indirectly learning from the experiences of Transport for the West Midlands.

Paul Maubach, STP Lead for the Black Country and West Birmingham STP, reported that this was fantastic work and was supportive of what is proposed and he undertook to liaise with Lina Martino and Rob Davies for the STP Support Units to connect in with this work.

The Chair reported that she looked forward to receiving further updates on progress at future meetings.

Resolved:

1.     That progress against the Population Intelligence Hub workplan for 2020/21 and the changes made in the light of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic be noted and

2.     That changes in relation to the wider WMCA approach to response and recovery be endorsed.

The Director of Public Service Reform and Inclusive Growth, Ed Cox reported on the recent establishment of a Covid-19 Task and Finish Group to look at the regional health impacts of the Coronavirus including health inequalities.

Ed Cox advised the board that the task force would work partners across arrange of sectors from Directors of Public Health, STPs and universities to seek to produce one version of the truth on the health impacts of Covid-19 for the region.

It was noted that an interim report on the health of the region was expected to be  published late September/early October and the final report would feed into Government policy on health/health inequalities.

The Director of Public Service Reform and Inclusive Growth reported of the need to hear the voices of people impacted by Covid-19 and there would be a call for evidence from everyone effected by the Coronavirus that required the support of local authorities to assist in obtaining the views of their communities/ residents.

The Chair reported of the importance of understanding the impact of Covid-19 on communities in order to identify where help is required.

The Vice-Chair, reported that Covid-19 had had a devasting impact on certain communities and emphasised the importance of the task and finish group having access to all local people, the need to involve Black and Asian communities and to engage with local authority Cabinet Members.

Councillor Caan concurred with the Vice-Chair regarding the need to ensure a wide range of views from communities are captured, to utilise local councillors and the need to be mindful of literacy issues.

The Director of Public Service Reform and Inclusive Growth thanked Councillor Hamilton and Caan for their comments and undertook to fully engage with local communities. He added that the interim of the task and finish group would be submitted to the next meeting of this board in October for consideration in advance of its submission to the WMCA Board.

Resolved:

1.     That the establishment of a task and finish group to focus on the regional health impact of Covid-19 be noted and

2.     That the interim report of the task and finish group be submitted to the  next meeting on 16 October 2020 be noted.

Councillor Caan, Wellbeing Board Physical Activity Champion introduced the report that informed the board of work being undertaken in reviewing the WMCA’s Physical Activity Strategy.

Simon Hall, Physical Activity Policy and Delivery Lead, outlined the report and presented details of how the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown and the opportunities relating to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games  have shaped the priorities for the strategy review. The five priorities identified related to walking and cycling, active environments, work force and volunteers, Commonwealth Games venue legacy and, children and young people.

Councillor Grinsell reported that she fully supported the proposals especially the need to focus on getting people active through other means such as volunteering and expressed her appreciation to GoodGym for their work and the hope that this could be championed and expanded into other areas.

Resolved:

1.     That the proposed purpose and priorities for the WMCA’s Physical Activity Strategy review and proposals for consultation as set out in the report be noted;

2.     That the Physical Activity Strategy Action Plan be submitted to the next meeting for approval and

3.     That a detailed case for a West Midlands Physical Activity Commissioner be developed for consideration at the next meeting.

Sean Russell presented an overview of the Single Assurance Framework on behalf of the author, Jodie Townsend who was unable to attend the meeting.

Sean Russell referred to the PowerPoint slides that had been circulated prior to the meeting that set out the purpose of the Single Assurance Framework and the proposed core roles for all of the WMCA’s thematic boards.

It was noted that the core roles, that are in the process of being developed, would  put in place a consistent approach for all thematic boards with regards to the operation, outputs, purpose, functions, membership and operations of meetings.

The Chair asked that a further update be submitted to the next meeting of the board.

Resolved:

1.     That work on the Single Assurance Framework and its implications for the future operation of this board be noted and

2.     That an update on the Single Assurance Framework be submitted to the next meeting.

The Director of Implementation for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Radical Prevention, Sean Russell, presented a report that set out a high-level overview of the proposed review of the Mental Health Commission ‘Thrive’ programme and the creation of a new strategic approach and ten year-plan, #ThriveWM203,1 to tackle the challenges of poor mental health .

Sean Russell outlined the proposed three wave approach for the ten- year plan that would firstly seek to reconvene the Mental Health Commission to review and refresh the strategy, taking account health inequalities and the impact of Covid-19.

It was noted that following the strategy review by March 2021, the new agreed vision and strategy would be launched in April 2021 and the work programmes identified would follow, building on the success of the previous Thrive into Work, Thrive at Work and Thrive at Home (launched at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic) programmes.

The board fully endorsed the approach to the strategy review noting that mental health was more important than before due to the impacts of Covid-19.

Resolved:

1.     That the report be noted and

2.     That the approach to Thrive going forward be approved