Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Buckley, Cllr Caffrey, Cllr Oxberry, Cllr Weatherley and co-opted members Jill Burrell and Cheryl Lain.

The Committee is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting held on X

RESOLVED    -           That the minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2019 were

agreed as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Public Health

The Committee received the six monthly monitoring report into the review of children’s healthy weight in Gateshead. As an outcome of the review a number of recommendations were agreed by the Committee, an update on progress against these recommendations was provided.

Gateshead has been selected to pre-test the whole system guide and set of resources produced by Public Health England to support local authorities to implement a whole systems approach to address obesity. Therefore, a series of healthy weight workshops have been held, led by Public Health and attended by a number of stakeholders. An action plan is currently being worked on, looking at issues such as transport and community safety and raising awareness to encourage healthy weight. It was noted that the action plan will be shared with the Committee when the next update report is brought back.  The next workshop will be held in February, this will continue to bring together stakeholders to identify areas to intervene in the system to affect change with short term and longer term actions.

The review recommended the creation of a strategic steering group to consider the vision for a healthy weight generation for Gateshead and to decide priorities. Since completion of the review, the Gateshead Healthy Weight Alliance has been formed to provide the strategic direction of the healthy weight agenda in Gateshead. It was noted that at the next workshop the operational group will be formed which will carry out work on the ground.

A further recommendation from the review was to focus on strategies to address the healthy weight agenda across the social gradient, thus focussing on inequalities. Progress in this area has been seen through the regional work led by CNTW in developing a plan for people with lived experience of mental health conditions to support them maintain a healthy weight. It was also reported that the 0-19 years service has appointed a dedicated infant feeding and nutrition lead, to provide a focus for breastfeeding, weaning and nutrition in early years.  Work is ongoing with the Regional Local Maternity Systems Co-ordinator around the Obesity in Pregnancy Self-Assessment Tool, to work with mothers pre and post partum. Work has also been undertaken by the QE hospital paediatrician to measure BMI in two year old children, this allows early identification of those children who need additional support.

One of the recommendations which came out of the review was to establish a healthy weight declaration for Gateshead, working with partners to understand the contribution of each partner and ensure commitment to action through a multi-agency partnership. It was reported that Gateshead are one of the first areas regionally to sign up to the Healthy Weight Declaration. The declaration is focused on population level interventions to address social, environmental and legislative factors that affect people’s ability to change their behaviour.  The declaration includes 14 standard commitments which is a good way to demonstrate local authorities commitment and ensures a consistent approach. Six local commitments will be prioritised for the declaration, a  ...  view the full minutes text for item F28

Report of Strategic Director, Care Wellbeing and Learning

Committee received a report giving an update on performance and delivery for the period 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019 in relation to the Council’s Thrive agenda.

It was reported that there are 32 strategic indicators for children and families which fall under all five Thrive Pledges.

Two strategic indicators fall under the ‘putting people and families at the heart of everything we do’ pledge, both of which have been achieved. These are around the number of eligible two year olds accessing their free learning place and the number of families engaging in the Troubled Families Programme.

In terms of the pledge to ‘tackle inequality so people have a fair chance’ there are 18 strategic indicators which fall under this pledge. For 8 of these indicators there has been improvement in performance, 8 have declined, one is a new indicator and for one there has been no update as of yet. It was noted that there is no data currently for the Progress 8 scores for children receiving free school meals as this data has not been collated.  Also, data has started to be collected for free school meals at primary level which will be a new indicator. It was reported that Gateshead remains top of the region in terms of GCSE results.

Four strategic indicators fall under the ‘work together and fight for a better future for Gateshead’ pledge, one has improved, two declined and one is showing no change. Performance declined in relation to the number of first time entrants to the Youth Justice system, however improvements have been made in the number of hospital admissions for self harm and also the proportion of mothers smoking at the time of delivery.

In relation to the pledge to ‘invest in our economy’, four strategic indicators have been identified, three of which have seen improvement and one cannot be compared as there has not previously been six month data collected.  Under the ‘supporting our communities’ pledge four indicators have been identified, three of which have declined, including excess weight in 4-5 year olds and 10-11 year olds and also the proportion of children in low income families.

The issue of permanent exclusions was raised. It was noted that there was previously an increase in exclusions and a conference was held to look at why. Work is ongoing to broaden provision so that there are more fitting routes for all young people. The rate of exclusions is dropping and officers continue to challenge secondary schools. Multi-disciplinary panels are held to look at the needs of individual young people and alternative provision, this has been found to be more successful than referring to the PRU as it does not offer a lot of alternative provision. It was questioned as to the relationship between Multi Academy Trusts (MAT) and the local authority in terms of exclusions. It was confirmed that the relationships are very positive at present.

It was questioned whether lost days at school is used as an indicator. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item F29

Report of the Director of Public Health

The Committee received a presentation on the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The Health and Wellbeing Board has recognised that not all determinants of health lie within the health service, therefore there is a need to engage a wider group of stakeholders.

It was reported that there was a need to update the strategy due to a number of new challenges, for example austerity and welfare reform and continuing inequalities.  A significant proportion of Gateshead residents are in need or are vulnerable and it was reported that once a child is born into deprivation a number of other inequalities follow, thus there is a need to think more broadly.

It was noted that the policy objectives in the Marmot report are still relevant today and therefore the strategy will adopt these policies;

·         Give every child the best start in life, with a focus on the first three years of a child’s life

·         Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives

·         Create the conditions for fair employment and good work for all

·         Create and develop sustainable places and communities

·         Strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention

There is a need to understand why people adopt behaviours which have a detrimental impact on their health and understand the environment they live in. It was acknowledged that there needs to be a focus on prevention, through service intervention along with community intervention and civic level interventions.

Committee was advised that this was an opportunity to set out the strategic vision. Each policy objective was looked at as to what action could be taken and identified what delivery vehicles would do so. It was noted that in terms of delivery the strategy will move and change.

In terms of the next steps, further engagement will continue, the strategy will be finalised in December, to then be approved by the Health and Wellbeing Board. The aim is to launch the strategy in Spring 2020. Action planning will take place in order to deliver the strategy.

It was questioned how we approach communities. It was acknowledged that the medical model has always been a preventative approach, for example stop smoking services. However there is now a recognition that more needs to be done to start empowering communities and ensure people are enablers and that we are not disempowering them. An example of such work it Edbert’s House, this has demonstrated positive collaborative work with communities, allowing them to take the lead.  It was also suggested that more needs to be done to support communities while they are waiting to access services.

RESOLVED    -           That the Committee’s views on the proposed strategy be

noted.

Report of Strategic Director, Care Wellbeing and Learning

Committee received an update on the Youth Justice Service key priorities for 2019/20. The priorities for this year are;

·         To strengthen the Gateshead Youth Justice Board, including development sessions and reviewing terms of reference.

·         To set up a scrutiny panel for Out of Court Disposals and reporting into the board to improve accountability.

·         To develop a digital forum where young people can access information and support through mobile technology

·         To further develop case audits to include trauma informed working and Enhanced Case Management approaches

·         To increase the identification of speech and language difficulties of young people

In terms of the scrutiny panel it was noted that decisions will be scrutinised and reported to the Board on a quarterly basis. If it is felt that a decision is not right an action plan will be put into place.

Work is ongoing with Viewpoint to get the digital forum in place. In terms of the audit around trauma, this will be looking at the early years of the child’s life.

Work is also underway to increase identification of speech, language and communication needs, NTW staff are now situated in the main police stations between 7am and 7pm.

Committee was informed that the Knife Angel will be coming to Gateshead Quayside on 1 February 2020, a number of activities will take place during its time in the region. It was noted that the arrival of the Knife Angel was driven by a family in Newcastle who lost their child to knife crime.

It was reported that links are being made with other Youth Justice Services that are working under the same police force to establish joint protocols.

In terms of performance, first time entrants continue to fall, and the rate of re-offending remains below the Force and national averages.  In relation to custody rates there is currently one young person in custody, this is lower than the national and regional averages.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That Committee continue to receive regular updates on

the key priorities.

                                    (ii)        That the Committee noted the contents of the report.

Joint report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director of Corporate Services and Governance

The Committee received the work programme report setting out the provisional work programme for the Committee for the year 2019/20.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That Committee noted the provisional work

programme.

                                    (ii)        That Committee noted that further reports on the work

programme will be brought to the Committee to identify  any additional policy issues, which the Committee may be asked to consider.