To consider the progress made against the recommendations arising from the review of the Health and Wellbeing Strategyand to agree the framework as the future priorities for health and wellbeing.

16.1           Attention was drawn to the report of the Development Services Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 110-132, which set out the progress which had been made in relation to the implementation of the actions in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2013-16.  Members were asked to consider the progress made and to agree the framework, outlined at Appendix 2 to the report, as the future priorities for health and wellbeing.

16.2           The Health and Wellbeing Strategy was adopted by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in July 2013, following a review of the Leisure and Culture Strategy which was carried out by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee Working Group, and approved by the Executive Committee in September 2013.  The strategy focused on three key themes: to support, encourage and enable healthy, active lifestyles; to facilitate opportunities for children and young people; and to provide an infrastructure which made it easier to be healthy.  The strategy action plan was set out at Appendix 1 to the report with progress against each action set out in italics.  Three key achievements were highlighted in more detail at Pages No. 111-113 Paragraphs 3-5 of the report, namely, the new leisure centre, Tewkesbury Rugby Club and social prescribing.

16.3           In terms of the way forward now that the strategy had come to the end of its life, Members were advised that the Council did not have a specific health and wellbeing service, and there was no statutory obligation to have a strategy in place, although it was recognised that health and wellbeing was something which ran through a number of Council services.  Furthermore, the Council currently had a number of policies which strongly influenced the health and wellbeing of residents and it was intended to use the existing priorities which had been identified to create a framework for health and wellbeing.  The diagram at Appendix 2 to the report set out the proposed framework which Members were asked to approve.  It was noted that progress would be reported via service plans and the performance tracker.

16.4           The Lead Member for Health and Wellbeing reiterated that, whilst there was no specific health and wellbeing service, the Council worked closely with a number of partners to improve the health and wellbeing of residents.  Officers did become aware of trends in medical practice and other areas which were incorporated into the work which it did, for instance, social prescribing which, if successful, could help to reduce pressure on the health service. Health and wellbeing was something which was important to individuals across the country and everyone had a joint responsibility for helping people to live healthier and happier lives.  The Support Member for Health and Wellbeing echoed these sentiments and hoped that the good work which had been done by Officers could continue.

16.5           A Member raised concern that there did not appear to be any specific outcomes arising from the strategy and he asked whether any actions still needed to be addressed.  The Deputy Chief Executive explained that the strategy was more about enabling things to happen and the outcomes from health and wellbeing tended to be difficult to track e.g. heart disease, strokes etc.  The Economic and Community Development Manager advised that the Joint Strategic Needs Team at Gloucestershire County Council collated an annual Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which was a high level overview of need in Gloucestershire, this was informed by statistics collected by the Multi-Agency Information Database for Neighbourhoods (MAIDeN) which collected social, economic and service data about the communities within Gloucestershire, including health.  Whilst the statistics may not be a direct result of the work being done by the Borough Council, it would be one of the contributing factors and MAIDeN could be invited to give a presentation to Members if they so wished.  The Chair expressed the view that such indicators were monitored elsewhere so he did not feel that would be necessary at this point.

16.6           Having considered the information provided, it was

RESOLVED          1. That the progress which had been made in relation to the implementation of the actions in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2013-16 be NOTED.

2. That the framework outlined in Appendix 2 to the report be AGREED as the future priorities for health and wellbeing and that this be monitored through service plans and the performance tracker.