Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1^st March, 2017, were signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

To consider whether to exclude the press and public for the item of business for the reasons shown in the report.

RESOLVED to exclude the press and public under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to the private report in Minute 58 below headed “Modernising Public Health Children’s and Lifestyle Services” on the grounds that the report involves the likely disclosure of information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as it contains information relating to the identity, financial and business affairs of an organisation and the amount of expenditure proposed to be incurred by the Council under a particular contract for the supply of goods or services and that, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Briefing Note of the Acting Director of Public Health

Simon Kimberley, Deputy Chief Executive and Richard Osborne, Director of Property Services, Whitefriars Housing have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item 

The Scrutiny Board considered a briefing note of the Acting Director of Public Health which highlighted how housing could impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry residents; provided information on work undertaken to improve housing conditions to date; and suggested further areas of work to improve the quality of housing and therefore improve the health and wellbeing of Coventry residents. Simon Kimberley and Richard Osborne, Whifefriars Housing attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The briefing note indicated that the right home environment was essential to health and wellbeing throughout life. Key features of a healthy home included warm and affordable heat; free from hazards, enabled movement around the home and was accessible; promoted a sense of security and stability; support was available if needed; and a healthy neighbourhood community. Disrepair and cold homes could cause immediate health issues to residents and also affect children’s educational attainment, emotional wellbeing and resilience and put adolescents at five times more risk of suffering from multiple mental health problems.

The Board noted that 17% of homes in England were socially rented and these were often the healthiest and most accessible type of homes. 19% of homes in England were privately rented. This type of tenure was expected to continue to grow and could have the highest prevalence of unhealthy homes.

Current work to improve housing in Coventry included:

·  Public Health contributing to the Selective Licensing proposal and were exploring the possibility for Housing Enforcement officers to identify tenants who might benefit from a Safe and Well visit run by the Fire Service

·  Whitefriars extensive programme to improve energy efficiency of homes with external insulation and improvements to tower blocks. New heating systems have been installed and energy advice was available to customers.

·  Whitefriars undertook home checks to support vulnerable customers in their homes

·  Midland Heart provided care and support services for tenants who needed support at different times in their lives

·  Orbit provided a Care and Repair service to people aged 60 and over and to those who has who had a disability.

·  Public Health worked with the Affordable Warmth team who gave advice and information to residents on how to stay warm and well and save money on energy bills.

·  There was a Memorandum of Understanding to support joint action on improving health through the home from 2014 which set out the shared commitment to joint action across government, health, social care and Housing sectors in England.

·  The Council worked with organisations to empower communities to become and stay connected, using and growing the strengths and assets of communities.

·  The Council was a member of the West Midlands Housing Officer Group which aimed to achieve a long term preventative strategy through strategic housing. The Council was also a member of the West Midlands Best Use of Stock Group which was a partnership working together to explore innovative ways of making the best use of stock to maximise the opportunity for people to move when they need to.

It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

Report and Presentation of the Acting Director of Public Health

The Scrutiny Board considered a report and received a presentation of the Acting Director of Public Health on the proposal to modernise children’s and lifestyle public health services. There was also a corresponding private report detailing the confidential aspects of the proposal (Minute 58 below refers). Both reports were due to be considered by Cabinet at their meeting on 11^th April, 2017, when approval would be sought to commission the two new services.

The report indicated that the City Council commissioned a range of services that aimed to prevent poor health by improving childhood health and supporting behaviour change among at risk groups. It was proposed that these individual services were integrated to provide:

(1) A Family Health and Lifestyle Service: supporting children, young people and their families. This service would include Health Visiting and School Nursing and would be an integral element of the developing family hub model.  The service aimed to systematically reduce health inequalities including supporting the reduction of childhood obesity, families to be more physically active, improving childhood development and readiness for school and reducing infant mortality.

(2) An Integrated Adult Lifestyles Service:  supporting adults at greatest risk of poor health including those who displayed multiple lifestyle behaviours such as obesity, low levels of physical activity and poor diet and smoking as well as other at risk groups including people with mental health conditions.

The proposal to integrate the services was based on what local Coventry people wanted from these services, following consultation with the general public, service users and wider stakeholders and the latest evidence about what worked to improve quality and outcomes.

In order to properly develop an integrated approach for the Family Health and Lifestyle Service a significant amount of re-design was required. It was therefore recommended that the contract would run for five years with two 24 month extensions available. It was also proposed that the service was procured via a competitive tender with dialogue (an approach where tenderers work in partnership with the contracting authority to develop a suitable solution to the service specification and requirement – at the point where the contracting authority was confident that one or more of the solutions presented were sufficiently developed to meets its needs and requirement, tenderers were then invited to submit competitive bids). This procurement approach was innovative and, while it was planned for the proposed contract to be operational during the summer 2018, permission was being sought to extend existing contracts for up to 6 months until 30 September 2018 to allow for robust process.

The proposed contract for the Integrated Adult Lifestyle Service would be operational by 1 April 2018 and would be procured through a standard competitive tender. The contract would run for five years with two 24 month extensions available.

The presentation set out the vision for both services; detailed the delivery principles; highlighted the outcomes that the services needed to make a positive impact on; and provided examples of what the public and professionals had acknowledged as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Board noted their completed Work Programme for the current municipal year.

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

The Committee were informed that the Quality Accounts for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust were due and required a response from this Scrutiny Board and also from Healthwatch. The Board’s role was to ensure that the provider’s quality account reflected local priorities and the concerns voiced by constituents.

RESOLVED that authority be delegated to the Chair, Councillor Gannon, to provide a written response on behalf of the Board to the UHCW and CWPT Quality Accounts for 2016/17.   

Report of the Acting Director of Public Health

Further to Minute 55 above, the Board considered a report of the Acting Director of Public Health which set out the confidential aspects relating to the proposal to modernise Public Health’s children’s and lifestyle services. The report was due to be considered by Cabinet at their meeting on 11^th April, 2017. Members questioned the officers on the confidential aspects of the report and responses were provided.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The proposed approach be supported and the recommendations to Cabinet, as set out in the report, be endorsed.

(2) Members be provided with a breakdown of the Family Health and Lifestyles and the Adult Lifestyles budgets for 2017/18.

Any other items of private business which the Chair decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no additional items of private business.