Agenda and minutes

The Chair reported that Councillor S Pritchard had sent his apologies and Councillor A Farrell was present as his substitute.

The Chair further reported that apologies had been received from Councillor D Box.

RESOLVED that Councillor P Brindley be appointed as Vice-Chair

(Moved by Councillor R Ford and seconded by Councillor A Farrell)

The Minutes of the previous Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 11^th March 2020 were approved as a true record.

(Moved by Councillor P Brindley and seconded by Councillor M Greatorex)

Councillors S Peaple and P Brindley declared an interest in agenda item 8 as a result of their involvement in the anchor organisations referred to in the report.  However, neither Councillor felt that these interests required them to leave the meeting or to preclude them from participating in the discussion.

To receive an update from the Chair

The Chair thanked members for attending this first remote meeting of the Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair welcomed the new members of this Committee; Councillors Richard Kingstone, Sheree Peaple and Steven Pritchard, and thanked the retiring members for their participation on this committee.

The Chair reminded members that the 2 April 2020 Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting had been cancelled.  That meeting had been due to receive a safeguarding update, which instead had been circulated to members. The Chair requested that members forward any questions or comments to him.

(To receive the Digest from Staffordshire County Council for its meeting on 8^th June and to receive an update from County Councillor T Clements)

The Chair reminded members that the Staffordshire County Council Digest from their meeting on 8^th June was included in the agenda pack and invited County Councillor T Clements to provide a further update.  County Councillor updated the committee on some of the work which had taken place in respect of track and trace in care homes. 

The Chair reported that at the 6^th July Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee there had been a discussion on the potential to align, where appropriate, scrutiny activity at county and borough level, with the borough taking a more local view.  Members supported this approach, whilst noting that this would not constrain this committee’s ability to scrutinise any relevant areas it considered necessary.  The Chair agreed that he would feed this back to the Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee.

County Councillor T Clements then left the meeting.

Please see the link to the Forward Plan:

http://democracy.tamworth.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=120&RD=0&bcr=1

No items were identified from the Forward Plan at this time for this committee’s scrutiny.

(Report of the Assistant Director, Partnerships and the Assistant Director Neighbourhoods)

The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Housing Services and Communities, Councillor M Cook, and the Assistant Director Partnerships and Assistant Director Neighbourhoods who were in attendance to provide an update to the committee on the actions taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing actions around the most vulnerable people in the local community.

Councillor Cook confirmed that supporting vulnerable communities was one of the Council’s paramount priorities, and the exceptional response to the COVID-19 pandemic reflected that.  Councillor Cook invited the officers attending to provide an overview of the report for members.

The Officers highlighted:

·       The immediate response from various anchor organisations which locally mobilised support to vulnerable groups;

·       The deployment of Council resources to support the anchor organisations;

·       The coordination work of the Local Resilience Forum;

·       The tailored support for homeless people;

·       The successful lottery bid for resources to support the ongoing support over the next six months.

The Committee sought and received clarification in the following areas;

·       How support from Staffordshire County Council and Tamworth Borough Council interacted.  The officers reported that the county was responsible for delivering services to those identified on the clinical vulnerable list, and where the county received contact from others within the borough these were signposted to local support.

·       The work underway to manage any second wave in cases of COVID-19. The officers reported that the environmental health team were involved and support would be available for a small localised lockdown if necessary and arrangements were in place to provide mutual aid, if there looked to be the need for a more widespread local lockdown.  The processes had now been established which would be capable of being deployed as necessary. Furthermore in terms of the funding and ongoing support for voluntary groups, officers responded that this would be addressed through the partnership working.

·       The research work commissioned to produce a base line assessment which was welcomed by members.

·       The work to support homeless people and the actions which would continue to prevent future homelessness.  Officers confirmed that all approaches received during the lockdown period were accommodated, and proactive work continued in terms of designing a housing plan and to address any associated issues.

·       The local situation on domestic abuse during lockdown.  Officers confirmed that whilst reported domestic abuse had not shown a great increase, there had been some increase in self referrals.  The Assistant Director Partnerships agreed to circulate to Members, when available, relevant figures on domestic abuse.

The Officers, Members, and the Portfolio Holder reiterated the massive contributions of the voluntary sector, as well as local businesses and officers in the council, who had contributed to the partnership led response.

RESOLVED that it be recommended to Cabinet that a joint letter from all the Leaders of each political group and the Chief Executive be issued to thank all anchor organisations involved in the response to COVID-19 in the borough.

(Moved by Councillor R Ford and seconded by Councillor S Peaple)

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1. Noted and endorsed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider the Work Plan for 2020/21

The Committee considered the work plan and discussed possible work plan items for consideration during the 2020/21 municipal year.  It was agreed that for the next committee meeting in September that COVID-19 related matters should take precedence.  The Committee further considered that grouping matters under three broader topics (physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing and children’s wellbeing) could assist with workload prioritisation.

The work plan was updated as follows:

  Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Work Plan

To consider the activities of Working Groups

The following working groups were agreed: