Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable declarations of interest.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 8 September, 2021 were agreed as a true record subject to the inclusion of the following assurances sought in relation to Minute 24 relating to “Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 – Impact and Legacy Planning”:-

a)  The City Council receiving and retaining all intellectual property (as well as data) from the Trust and;

b)  Coventry citizen’s participation and engagement in events taking place

The Committee noted that in relation to Minute 24, the information requested to be circulated was being sought.

Briefing Note of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing

The Committee considered a Briefing Note of the Director of Public Health and Well Being, together with a comprehensive presentation at the meeting, which provided an update on the work of the Marmot Partnership Group on tackling inequalities.

The Briefing Note indicated that the Covid 19 pandemic has shone a light on health inequalities, showing the stark reality that the circumstances you are born into and in which you live your life, can have very real circumstances for your health.  Data from Public Health England (PHE) indicates that health inequalities in the period 2017-19 were improving in Coventry, with the gap in life expectancy between the least and most affluent reducing for both men and women in the City. In addition, Coventry was the only local authority in the West Midlands which significantly improved its position in the indices of multiple deprivation.

However, it is likely that inequalities will have worsened locally and nationally as a result of the pandemic. One area of particular concern is that life expectancy for women in Coventry has decreased locally between 2017-2019, although in England and the West midlands, the average has increased slightly in the same period. Although the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be seen, its is clear that there has been a disproportionate impact on people in Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities. Reasons for this disproportional affect include over-exposure to the virus through poor working conditions, over crowding and poor living conditions. In addition, the BME communities are over-represented in shutdown and self-employed sectors, leading to a loss of income during the pandemic.

Coventry has been a Marmot City since 2013 and since then, organisations across the City have committed to work together to reduce differences in health outcomes between the most affluent and most deprived areas of the City. Of the seven Cities in the UK to become a Marmot City, Coventry is the only one to remain a Marmot City, reflecting the on-going commitment to acknowledge the inequalities in the City and the importance of the work to tackle this on a long-term, partnership basis. Coventry has received nationwide recognition for its achievements as a Marmot City and the City has maintained effective relationships with the Institute of Health Equity and Sir Michael Marmot, who continues to hold Coventry up as a positive example of its continued work.  

The presentation outlined the following work that has been carried out to embed Marmot in the City:-

•  Maintained multi-agency steering group / Partnership Group

•  Revisited and revised priorities to ensure relevance to needs of City

•  Health inequalities embedded in policies throughout the Council

•  Influenced range of areas of work, including Thrive at Work, City of Culture

•  Influenced partners, including WCC who have joined on Call to Action, and WMCA who are considering becoming a Marmot Region.

•  Co-location of PH Office in Place based teams to work with Planning, Licensing and Transport colleagues

•  Principles embedded throughout the Voluntary Sector

•  Nationwide  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Committee received and noted the Work Programme for the current Municipal Year.

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no items of urgent public business.