Agenda item

To provide the Borough Plan to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Councillor Nerva introduced the item by commenting on the importance of all statutory agencies involved in health and wellbeing knowing what was envisaged in Brent as part of the new Borough Plan. There would be responsibilities and key issues for implementation which could not be done by the Council alone but in partnership with NHS and other agencies. He had requested this item at the Board as an opportunity to reflect on discussions on the issues raised during the meeting such as asthma, childhood obesity, and health inequalities.

In introducing the item, Tom Pickup (Policy, Partnerships and Scrutiny Manager, Brent Council) presented a powerpoint with the following key points raised:

• The public consultation on the Borough Plan had ended on 10 January 2023, so the information presented to the Board was the most up to date feedback received. It was estimated that the consultation period had resulted in approximately 900 responses through various different means including an online survey and engagement such as workshops, focus groups, community hubs and forums.
• The Plan was drafted in the context of operating in a post-pandemic era with a rising cost of living. This had an impact on what the Plan could commit to, what priorities to pursue, and what should be considered over the next 4 years. The rising cost of living affected not only residents, communities, and businesses but also the Council, NHS and other organisations. As a result, the Plan was written in the context of the Council looking to make £18m in savings over the next year.
• The priorities of the Plan were outlined. The final priority most relevant to the Health and Wellbeing Board was healthier Brent. This priority was about tackling health inequalities and ensuring there were localised services for localised need.
• One of the questions during consultation had been ‘what should Brent look like in 2027’, and the three most common words emerging from that question had been ‘clean’, ‘safe’ and ‘green’, which was something to consider for the final iteration of the Plan due to be presented to Cabinet for approval on 6 February 2023. Each of the existing priorities would now be tweaked to reflect the feedback from consultation, which broadly aligned with the draft priorities. For example, prosperity and pride saw a clear theme around creating more jobs and skills. A cleaner, greener future showed themes around better maintained parks and more visible greenery. The theme of safety had emerged and the importance of feeling safe, particularly for women and children. Respect and renewal saw feedback focused on improved air quality, reducing congestion and traffic and a visibly cleaner borough. Those who engaged in consultation wanted more and better affordable housing with accessible infrastructure such as GP surgeries. There were calls for more opportunities for work experience to support young people into work under the best start in life priority. In relation to healthier Brent, people aligned health with happiness, and linked to that was awareness and access for mental health support and reducing health inequalities. These findings would continue to be analysed, with the finalised plan presented to Cabinet on 6 February 2023 with the feedback incorporated.

In considering the presentation, the following issues were raised:

• The Board asked how many young people put forward their priorities and whether it was possible to split that data out. Tom Pickup explained that equality monitoring questions had been included in the survey, so officers were able to pull out demographics for survey responses, and that would be available in the final findings report. Targeted engagement had also taken place with young people, such as Local Democracy Week, where 30 young people were engaged on the Plan.
• ICB colleagues were reassured from a health perspective that the areas of focus and priorities for the ICB were aligned with what people were asking for. HealthWatch Brent agreed that the priorities were echoed in what they heard in their engagement with residents, particularly around air quality.
• Simon Crawford asked to what degree LNWUHT could help deliver the strategy and embed the concept of working together as anchor organisations. Tom Pickup advised that the ambition, once the Borough Plan was finalised, would be to continue that dialogue, as a lot of times the feedback from engagement events was that those events should not be the only time partners speak about priorities. It was felt by partners that the conversation needed to keep going, looking at how to pull resources together and continue supporting people during a time where there were less resources available.
• Councillor Nerva advised the Board that the Plan would go to Cabinet who would look at performance monitoring and resourcing issues. He felt the Health and Wellbeing Board had an important role to play in terms of bringing together those key anchor institutions to carry it forward, and it would be useful for the Board to look at how over the next few years it could work across the local authority, NHS and voluntary and community sector to maximise opportunities for delivery of the Plan.

RESOLVED:

i)              To note the report.