Agenda item

A report updating the committee on Public Health transfer is attached.

Phil Newby introduced the item and advised that the White Paper setting out the plans for public health had been confirmed in the Health and Social Care Bill which was subject to Parliamentary approval.  The council was due to formally take on public health responsibilities on 1 April 2013.  There was a real desire by the council and NHS Brent to integrate public health functions, however guidance from the Government was still awaited.  Phil Newby advised that there was a sister project with regard to adult social care in the One Council Programme as it made sense to integrate this area as much as possible.  Discussion was also taking place with other West London boroughs as to what services would be logical to share.  However, there remained uncertainties in the Bill which presented additional challenges and there were also issues to discuss in relation to commissioning, although the overall conclusion that could be made was that there should be as much integration as possible and a rigorous project approach would be undertaken to help achieve this.  Page 57 in the report set out the financial allocation, although in respect of Brent’s allocation, there were some anomalies and these were being raised with the Department for Health.

Councillor R Moher added that transferring public health was a complicated process exacerbated by the drip feeding of information by Government, however the final plans were now coming together.

Simon Bowen explained that there had been long discussions on this issue and the model of public health in Brent would be much different to the present one.  He was confident that the model would be delivered and work was underway to finalise various details.

Councillor Daly stated that there appeared to be a very few number of measures outlined that the council was obliged to undertake.  In respect of funding, she asked if this meant that the council would need to trim its public health budget.

Phil Seely was invited to address the committee by the Chair.  He commented that Brent had the second highest incidences of tuberculosis (TB) in London and asked what action was being taken to address this.  Councillor Ogunro also sought information in respect of this issue.  Councillor Cheese added any clinics offering TB treatment should be located in areas of London where cases were high, such as Brent.  Councillor Hunter informed Members that a TB awareness day had taken place the previous week and this had been well attended by health professionals.

Councillor R Moher asked if the Mayor of London had any public health responsibilities.

The Chair commented that the issue of TB was a prominent feature in the JSNA.  She sought further information in respect of abortion services and added that it was reassuring that the overall shape of public health provision was coming together, despite the many challenges to overcome.

In reply to the issues raised, Phil Newby advised that abortion services had originally been intended as a local authority responsibility, however it had since been determined that this would remain under the Department for Health who had disproportionally clawed back funding for this.  In addition, the Department for Health would also be retaining 0-5 years services, however Phil Newby felt that it would have been more logical if this had been given to local authorities for purposes of consistency.  He advised that the Bill provided clues as to what the council could provide by using the term ‘local’, however ultimately the local authority could determine what the priorities were.

Simon Bowen confirmed that TB services would remain a responsibility of the NHS and there was a proposal to designate clinics offering TB treatment across London.  He added that there were a number of issues that transcended London borough boundaries in terms of provision.  However, the local authority could play a role in promoting and educating issues in relation to TB.

Andrew Davies advised that public health functions had not been taken into account in respect of the Mayor of London, however the Mayor would be entitled to a 3% slice of funding from each borough and could obtain an additional 3% on top of this if London boroughs agreed.  The Mayor had established a Health Improvement Board that had selected four initial priorities, preventing cancer and early detection, childhood obesity, alcohol and data sharing.