Agenda and minutes

Apologies for Absence were received from County Councillor T Jay and Councillor J Jones.

Apologies were received from Councillor S Daniels and Councillor L Smith attended as a substitute.

Apologies were received from Councillor D Cook who advised the Committee that he would need to leave at 6:40pm.

The Chair welcomed newly the elected Councillor for the Amington ward, Lewis Smith to the Committee and to the Council. who was attending as a substitute.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 21^st September were approved as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor R Claymore and seconded by Councillor C Dean)

There were no Declarations of Interest.

There were no updates from the Chair.

(Update on responses to the Reports of the Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee)

There were none.

(Discussion item)

There were none.

(To receive the Digest from Staffordshire County Council’s Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee and an update from County Councillor T Jay)

The Chair confirmed that apologies had been received from County Councillor T Jay and that a written update had been requested but that they had confirmed that there was no update at this point.

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health and Community Partnerships, Councillor Summers introduced the safeguarding children and adults at risk of abuse report to provide a biannual safeguarding update to the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, before introducing the Partnerships and Vulnerability Officer who highlighted the following items from the report:

Ø  There had been an increase in referrals in quarter two, which is not unusual as we moved into the summer and the school holidays.

Ø  Safeguarding training is offered to all staff and Members annually and the Staffordshire Connects Website offers links to all services including for referrals for support that do not reach the safeguarding threshold. Prevent training is also offered.

Ø  The Council no longer deliver safeguarding training for Taxi Drivers this is now delivered by a commissioned service.

Ø  The Council are still active members of the adult safeguarding board.

Ø  The Council is required to have a Modern Day Slavery Statement which is available on the website.

Ø  The Council have held several community safety events over the last six months which have been well attended.

Ø  The Council are still active members of MACE and there is now an Anti-Social Behaviour Practitioner in place through Staffordshire County Council.

Ø  The Tamworth Vulnerability Partnership and Anti-social behaviour coordination groups meet weekly to share updates.

The Committee made the following comments/observations and asked the following questions:

1.     Who is responsible for Policing Modern Day Slavery in particular around local car wash businesses?

The Officer confirmed that as a business they would be required to have a licence. Any concerns would be reported into the Modern Day Slavery Tactical Group within the police and the Head of Service attends County meetings to feed in information on behalf of Tamworth. The Council work in partnership with the Police around any concerns which can lead in safeguarding referrals.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that there is a Modern Slavery Hotline where anyone can report concerns and the number is 0800 0121700, this can also be done via their website.

2.     Concerns around the number of children who missed out on their last two/three years of socialisation at school due to covid and are now entering the wider world who may be more vulnerable than previous cohorts. Is there any work going on to monitor young adults 17 to 24 who aren’t monitored through being in the care system?

The Officer confirmed that the Council do not hold any data but there may be data through Staffordshire Observatory around education attainment which could be requested via a Freedom of Information request. The Council were still receiving referrals during this period but there was nothing to suggest that there was anymore risk.

The Committee also highlighted that there had been an increase in that generation engaging with mental health issues and it have also been reported that for babies born in 2020, development was stunted due to lack of socialisation.

The Committee highlighted that whilst the report comes to Committee six monthly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

(Presentation on the work of Beat The Cold ‘Heat’ in Tamworth)

The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, Councillor Smith and the Safer Communities and Homes Manager to introduce the report of the Assistant Director, Partnerships to update the Committee on actions within the Tamworth Borough Council Housing Strategy to 30 September 2023 which directly impact on health and wellbeing of Tamworth communities, along with Anthony Walters from Beat The Cold who was going to give a presentation around work that the Chairty do.

The Development Manager for Beat the Cold presented the following information to the Committee:

An update on the work that Beat the Cold do including –

Ø  Bead the Cold is a unique Staffordshire based fuel poverty charity

Ø  Work with people on how to be more efficient with your energy, how to  use energy for health

Ø  Looking at tariffs, metre and billing. Helping people get the right tariff without overpaying. Helping people understand metres and deal with problems with metres and checking that bills are fair and correct

Ø  Signposting for help with benefits

Ø  Dealing with energy debt, to understand it; to manage it and where it is part of a larger debt issue work with CAB.

Ø  Key factor is to get people to stop worrying about the debt and avoid switching off services by managing the debt, for example getting debt ‘put behind’ the meter so this can be managed sensibly so people can still keep using their heating

Ø  Work around understanding and setting controls.

Ø  Dealing with relatives for the older and more vulnerable

Ø  Help people with eco/energy efficient methods.

Ø  Verification/checking on behalf of Councils people who apply for eco/home energy schemes.

Ø  Access to the Priority Services register.

Ø  The services have helped over 1400 since April 2021. 70% of which have declared health issues. The Charity records any reports of  an improvement in wellbeing as a result of the service during a visit and this is currently at about 50%.

Ø  Services has a high social return, per £16 per person enquiry they are getting a social return of £470.

Ø  Enquiries come from a broad range of ages and tenures, since the cost of living crisis has seen an increase in enquiries from younger people

Ø  Enquiries from Council tenants has doubles since last year.

Ø  Three examples were shared from the district where help was provided around the Priority services register, benefits, liaising with providers and housing team around boilers, liaising with social prescribers to keep them up to date and working with private sector landlords around insulation and damp and mould.

Ø  The charity is also working on a project around installing Solar Panels at the Rebert Peel, the income from which will support patient interventions within Tamworth.

Councillor Cook left the meeting at 6:32pm.

The Officer introduced the report which included figures for quarter one and partial figures for quarter two and highlighted the following:

Ø  Priority 1: The teams has just received its first, First homes application on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Please see the link to the Forward Plan:

Browse plans - Cabinet, 2022 :: Tamworth Borough Council

There were no items identified from the Forward Plan.

There were no working group updates.

To the Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Plan

The chair highlighted the items on the agenda for the next meeting and the Committee endorsed the workplan.