Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 26^th January 2021 were approved as a true record.

(Moved by Councillor P Brindley and seconded by Councillor S Peaple)

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair reported that he intended to bring the draft Annual Report for this Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to the April 2021 meeting for the Committee’s consideration prior to its formal presentation to full Council in the new municipal year.

The Chair reported that it had not been possible for the local head teacher to join this Committee meeting due to significant workload at schools following their re-opening last week, and that accordingly item 9 on the agenda would be deferred to a later meeting of this Committee.

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

The Chair updated the Committee on the recommendations made to Cabinet following this Committee’s discussions on the Green Agenda at its meeting on 26^th January 2021.  In particular the Chair reported that he presented this Committee’s recommendations at the Cabinet meeting on 18^th February 2021 and that Cabinet agreed that:

·       once full council had elected a new Leader, at its meeting on 23 February 2021, to take leadership on 1 March 2021, Councillor D Cook would write to the new Leader to recommend and supporting scrutiny’s recommendation that a portfolio lead for climate change be designated and that portfolio lead also has a member champion and that we also then look to let the portfolio lead and member champion form a working group to meet the aspirations of scrutiny and look to consult with the public; and

·       the outcomes of Stage 1, in terms of the baseline report outcomes, when ready, would be reported back to Cabinet and this Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

(To receive The Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee District / Borough update for the meeting of 1 February 2021 and any further updates from County Councillor T Clements)

The Chair reminded members that the Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee Digest for the meeting held on 1 February 2021 was included in the agenda pack and invited County Councillor Clements to provide an update on the Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee meeting held on 16^th March 2021 which both he and County Councillor Clements had attended.

County Councillor Clements reported that:

1.     A response from West Midlands Ambulance regarding First Responders was awaited.

2.     The Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee had received a detailed Vaccination update, which was summarised for the Committee and included details on the uptake where it was reported that Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent CCGs had the highest uptake levels for over 65s vaccinations. It was further reported that the uptake of residents in care homes in Staffordshire was 94% and the vaccination programme to reach homeless people was underway.

3.     Integrated Care System update, which focussed on the strategic commissioning aspects.  It was also reported that GP membership had recently voted to form a single Strategic Commissioning Organisation across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent with an 84% vote in favour following significant engagement.

4.     Digital update, which it was reported was designed to empower patients to remain in their homes for longer.  The impact of COVID-19 on digitised care and the increased number of first appointments being done remotely. 

5.     Care Homes and the Impact of COVID-19, where it was reported that COVID had impacted including in terms of infection control and the recruitment and retention of staff.  It was reported that it had been considered important to ensure that care homes were integrated into the community.

The Committee thanked County Councillor Clements for her update.

Please see the link to the Forward Plan:

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

There were no further items identified from the Forward Plan which were not already included on the agenda.

(Report of the Chair of the Young People Working Group)

The Chair invited Councillor Brindley to update the Committee on the activities of the Working Group on Young People.  Councillor Brindley reported that, in order to take into account information from the recent return to schools and other information received by a member of the working group in respect of young people support groups, the working group report to the Committee was deferred until the April meeting.

(To receive an education focussed update from a local headteacher)

The Chair reported that this item was deferred to a later meeting of the Committee.

(Presentation from the Assistant Director, Partnerships and Community Partnerships Manager)

The Chair invited the Assistant Director, Partnerships and the Community Partnerships Manager to provide an Overview of the Tamworth Advice Centre Services.

The Assistant Director reported that the existing contract with Citizens Advice Mid Mercia to provide the Tamworth Advice Centre Services would expire in March 2022 and therefore accordingly there was a requirement to seek authorisation from Cabinet to re-procure the services and this request to re-tender would be presented to Cabinet in April.

The Community Partnership Manager provided an overview of financial wellbeing, debt and generalist advices services which were provided and which were accessed through three possible routes:

·       Self referral by Tamworth residents;

·       Homelessness team client referrals

·       Tenancy team client referrals

It was reported that;

·       Advice on benefits and tax credits comprised around half of all the issues presented; and

·       certain referrals were presenting with more complex requirements, in part as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to multiple appointments and contacts between clients, the service and partners.;

·       an online 24/7 referral process was being trialled;

·       there had been a reduction in the number of appointments which were not attended by clients during the pandemic, which could have resulted from the increased flexibility of the service, utilising telephone and online communication methods, in place of face-to face appointments.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic it was expected that going forwards there would be a requirement for a hybrid model which had the capacity for local services to be provided from an office as well as utilising digital platforms.

The Committee thanked the Officers for their presentation and for all the support provided to local residents during the current pandemic.

The Officers then left the meeting.

To consider items for 2020/2021 Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Plan

The Committee discussed the Work Plan and updated it as follows:

Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Work Plan