Agenda and minutes

Councillor Barnes for Councillor Udall.

To receive any declarations of interest.

None.

Up to a total of fifteen minutes can be allowed, each speaker being allocated a maximum of five minutes, for members of the public to present a petition, ask a question, or comment on any matter on the Agenda or within the remit of the Committee.

None.

Of the meeting held on 7^th February 2022 to be approved and signed.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th February 2022 be approved and signed by the Chair.

Presentation item from Lisa Bedford, Service Development Manager, People’s Directorate, Worcestershire County Council.

The Committee received a presentation item from Lisa Bedford, Service Development Manager, People’s Directorate, Worcestershire County Council. She explained the background to the scheme, which had originally been set up to help people who needed adult social care support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Success of the Here2Help service had been measured by the number of people using the service to ask for help and to volunteer. As of February 2022, 18,946 requests for help had been received throughout Worcestershire and around 3,000 offers of help. 2,458 expressions of interest in volunteering received, with 707 of those from Worcester city.

The service was currently expanding with the aim of providing easily accessible information to empower and enable residents to make their own choices and find their own solutions, and to help connect residents with their communities. This includes a Here2Help webpage and digital directory of services.

Relevant services were encouraged to register and the service can be promoted through attendance at events or meetings. The aim is to develop a partnership approach to growing the Community Services Directory and to increase the number of services registered and community awareness.

Lisa Bedford responded to questions from Committee Members about the scheme.

The Chair thanked Lisa for her presentation.

RESOLVED: That the Committee note the contents of this report and the associated presentation.

That the Committee:

1.     Notes the contents of the report, and that the current Access-able Contract is due to expire on 30th November 2022;

2.     Approves a one-year extension of the Access-able Contract to cover the period 1st December 2022 – 30th November 2023;

3.     Approves the allocation of £6,000 from the Small Projects Fund, originally utilised to fund this scheme; and

4.     Notes that a further report will be brought back to this Committee within the next 12 months, outlining options for continuing to procure such a service moving forward.

The Committee considered a report on the extension of the current Access-able Contract, which was due to expire on 30^th November 2022. The Community Services Team Manager presented the report and explained that the Council had previously approved funding to sign up to what was then known as the Disabled Go service, now known as ‘AccessAble.’ There was no provision to extend the current contract, which required a set up budget of £25,000 plus ongoing costs of £6,000 per year. The report summarised achievements since the service launched in 2017.

The proposal was to utilise the budget remaining in the Small Projects Fund, which had funded the original procurement, to cover the period of extension at a cost of £6,750.00. The report highlighted that additional funding will need to be identified for 1^st December 2023 onwards should the Council wish to continue with such a service.

Officers responded to questions from Committee Members. In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were raised:

·        A question was raised as to how venues can become participants? Officers agreed to look into whether the current number can be increased.

·        It was noted that a very small percentage of Access Guide users find the information through the Council and partner websites and there are limited references to the AccessAble Access Guides for venues across Worcester.  Officers were asked to take steps to publicise the Guides and improve awareness and access to information across the city.

Committee Members expressed support for the proposal for a one year extension.

RESOLVED: That the Committee agree to:

1.    note the contents of the report;

2.    approve a one-year extension of the Access-able Contract to cover the period 1^st December 2022 – 30^th November 2023;

3.   approve the allocation of £6,000 from the Small Projects Fund, originally utilised to fund this scheme; and

4.   note that a further report will be brought back to this Committee within the next 12 months, outlining options for continuing to procure such a service moving forward.

That the Committee:

1.     Notes the contents of this report and in particular, the current Worcestershire Health & Wellbeing Strategy Consultation 2022 – 2032 at Appendix 1;

2.     Notes that an all-Member Briefing Session on the Strategy will be held to support officers in developing a Worcester City Council response to the consultation; and

3.     Delegates the Corporate Director (Operations, Homes & Communities) in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of Health Wellbeing Committee to develop and agree a final consultation response for submission, the questions for which are attached at Appendix 2.

The Committee considered a report on the current Worcestershire Health & Wellbeing Strategy Consultation 2022 – 2032, which launched on 7^th February 2022 and was due to close on 2^nd May 2022. The Corporate Director – Operations, Homes and Communities presented the report and highlighted some of the key points of the proposed Strategy, including how the City Council can help in its delivery through the services that the Council provides.

Given that the consultation period would end before the next meeting of this Committee, the report sought approval for delegation to be provided to the Corporate Director in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair to develop and agree a final consultation response for submission on behalf of the Council. In order to support the preferred option, it was planned to hold an all-Member briefing on the consultation, supported by colleagues at Worcestershire County Council Public Health.

Officers responded to questions from Committee Members. In the ensuing discussion, reference was made to the Council’s approach to working alongside communities (Asset Based Community Development) to support delivery of strategy ambitions. The Corporate Director advised that an introductory paper on this subject will be presented to the Communities Committee in June. A briefing note can be provided for all Members to supplement this.

RESOLVED: That the Committee agree to:

1.    note the contents of this report and in particular, the current Worcestershire Health & Wellbeing Strategy Consultation 2022 – 2032 at Appendix 1 to the report;

2.    note that an all-Member Briefing Session on the Strategy will be held to support officers in developing a Worcester City Council response to the consultation; and

3.    delegate to the Corporate Director - Operations, Homes & Communities in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of Health Wellbeing Committee to develop and agree a final consultation response for submission, the questions attached at Appendix 2.

That the Committee considers the proposed content of the Health and Wellbeing Performance Scorecard for 2022/23.

(Report to follow)

The Sub-Committee considered the proposed content of a Performance Scorecard for Health and Wellbeing for 2022/23. The Corporate Director – Operations, Homes and Communities presented the report and explained that the content had been considered by the senior management team and the Chair and Vice-Chair as part of the Council’s service planning processes for 2022/23 to ensure that it reflects the functions of the Committee. Proposed targets have been developed based on a principle of performance improvement where this is realistic.

In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were made:

•    With reference to increasing the number of disabled people enabled to live more independently through home adaptions, Officers will look at how this Indicator can be made meaningful for the purpose of reporting over the forthcoming year.

•    A question was raised about Disabled Facilities Grants, as there is also a Performance Indicator relating to this for the Place and Economic Development Committee. The Corporate Director stated that he would investigate this further.

•    There are a number of items in the City Plan that may sit with this Committee, for example food bank attendance, fuel poverty, obesity levels in Year 6 students, NHS admissions, life expectancy. The Corporate Director agreed to pick up on this point and consider whether there can be some additions to the scorecard.

RESOLVED: That the Committee agree the proposed content of the Health and Wellbeing Performance Scorecard for 2022/23.

Which in the opinion of the Chair is of sufficient urgency as to warrant consideration.

Household Support Fund and Fuel Poverty were raised as topics which are relevant to the findings of the Child Poverty Task and Finish Group and Officers were asked whether it would be possible to provide Members with a briefing note to explain what support the Council provides and also Government support for vulnerable residents.

The Vice-Chair commented that the Chair was attending her last meeting as she would be retiring from the Council in May. She thanked the Chair for her work in developing this Committee since it was established in 2021. The Chair in turn thanked Members and Officers for their support.