Agenda item

Report of Ben Diamond, West Midlands Fire Service and Co-Chair of the Marmot Steering Group

The Board considered a report and received a presentation by Ben Diamond, West Midlands Fire Service and Co-Chair of the Marmot Steering Group which provided a progress update on the Coventry Health and Wellbeing Strategy priority ‘Working together as a Marmot City to reduce health and wellbeing inequalities’.

The report set out the background to Coventry’s position as a Marmot City from 2013 to 2015 and the involvement in the initial Marmot Programme to reduce health inequalities. In 2016 Sir Michael Marmot and his team committed to working with Coventry for a further three years to progress the health inequalities work. Partners were continuing to work together on a number of projects initiated in the first two years. In addition the Marmot City priorities now were to tackle inequalities disproportionately affecting young people and ensuring all Coventry people, including vulnerable residents, could benefit from good growth which would bring jobs, housing and other benefits to the city.

The Board were informed that there remained a strong commitment to the Marmot programme from all the partners on the Steering Group. The Marmot Action Plan set out ways in which partners and stakeholders would work to achieve the key priorities. Progress against the programme indicators included:

·  92% of children and young people reporting an increased awareness of the risks of sexual violence and support services available following the delivery of the sexual violence prevention programme.

·  Employment and training support to over 500 young people not in education, training and employment as part of the Ambition Coventry programme.

·  All key policy decisions taken by the City Council now consider the potential implications on inequalities across the city

·  Voluntary Action Coventry and the West Midlands Fire Service had both signed up to the Workplace Wellbeing Charter.

Progress against the Action Plan and indicators was set out in an appendix attached to the report under the following two headings: young people and good growth. Indicators were split into programme indicators (output focused) and overarching indicators (outcome focused). The Marmot Steering Group met on a quarterly basis to receive updates from partners, discuss progress and identify areas for development and partnership working.

The presentation informed of the continuing national recognition of the work in Coventry and gave detailed information on the supporting young people and good growth priorities highlighting achievements to date against targets. Comparisons of outcomes from 2015/16 to 2016/17 for both priorities clearly demonstrated positive progress. The presentation concluded with a summary of the next steps for the current year.

Members raised a number of issues arising from the presentation including:

·  Clarification regarding some of the indicator statistics in the report

·  Further information about the reasons for the positive increase in the number of new young clients accessing the CRASAC Counselling Service

·  A request for further updates on progress with the indicators in due course

·  What Members could do to support organisations to sign up to the Workplace Wellbeing Charter and the need to market the Charter to employers

·  The suggestion that contact be made with the Welfare Reform Group and the Group supporting the Feeding Coventry Initiative to provide access for good guidance concerning health inequalities

·  An acknowledgement of the links to the Better Health, Better Care, Better Value programme

·  The role of the Voluntary Sector in supporting young people into work

·  A suggestion that contact be made with individual trade unions to gain their support for the Workplace Wellbeing Charter

Ben Diamond indicated that he would make contact with the links suggested by Members.

RESOLVED that:

 (1) The progress made to date against the Marmot Action Plan be endorsed.

(2) Further progress updates from the Marmot Steering Group be submitted to future meetings of the Board every six months.