Agenda item

To consider a report to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership setting out an update on progress with delivery of health place shaping across Oxfordshire and to present the new Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy for Oxfordshire.

The Panel considered a report to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership which set out an update on progress with delivery of healthy place shaping across Oxfordshire and which presented the new Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy for Oxfordshire.

Rose Rowe, Head of Healthy Place Shaping and David Munday, Deputy Director of Public Health, Oxfordshire County Council presented the report, a summary presentation and responded to member questions.

Member questions and comments included:

·           Monitoring of the delivery of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy – a member asked how progress and performance would be managed in order to identify the impact of specific schemes? Members were informed that a draft delivery plan and outcomes framework including high level metrics would be presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board in March 2024.

·           Healthy Place Shaping and supporting ongoing work between health and planning – a member expressed concern regarding what was felt to be a lack of coordination between the County and districts councils around responsibility for street design guides. It was felt street design code were preferable as they made clear what developers had to do to help deliver healthier outcomes. Officers indicated this could be followed up, but there was a preference for codes where possible.

·           Supporting models of care and community activation in healthy place shaping – a member commented that his observation was that there appear to be significant levels of duplication between the NHS and adult social care. It was important to do everything possible to improve integration with the Bucks, Oxon and West Berks ICB in order to get better outcomes and value for money. Officers responded that the best opportunity for coordination was around early intervention work, for example through the mapping of social prescribing and community connections.

·           Finance and commissioning linked to the Health and Wellbeing Strategy – were the finance and commission targets aligned to outcomes-based commissioning being considered? Officers responded that the Health and Wellbeing Board had responsibility for the sign off and utilization of the Better Care Fund which represented the intersection of health and social care spending.

·           Provision of primary health care facilities – a member commented that there was a lack of primary care facilities in communities despite funds generated from Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy being earmarked for this use because the ICB had very limited powers to own estate. This was a major issue which did not appear to be addressed within the Strategy. Officers commented that they shared many of these frustrations. It was a topic that was being looked into by the Planning Advisory Group.

·           Coordination between the delivery of healthy place shaping, delivery of Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the FOP and individual councils’ local planning responsibilities – a member questioned how duplication and conflict would be avoided. Officers responded that one of the objectives of monthly discussions between public health representatives and planners from around the county was to mitigate this risk. Responses were given to Local Plan consultations and councils were encouraged to include a requirement for developers to undertake Health Impact Assessment as part of major planning applications.

·           People and activation programmes- the Chair asked whether programmes to encourage healthy lifestyles and modes of travel were also being promoted within NHS organisations.  Officers confirmed that they were, and they had regular contact to promote this with NHS colleagues.

·           Problems with shared ownership homes – the Chair made the point that although poor standards of maintenance and the impact of this on health had been recognised within the Strategy in terms of issues for social housing, it was an issue that faced shared ownership as well as social renters. 

·           Climate change and health - the Chair asked whether things like cool rooms as part of climate adaptation were being factored into future plans. Officers confirmed that this was considered as part of heatwave and community resilience planning.

In response to a number of common points around delivery, the Panel was informed there had been good levels of engagement and agreement across, the public, voluntary and private sectors and it was expected that this co-production would help with delivery.

After further discussion it was

RESOLVED:

1.     That the Future Oxfordshire Partnership be recommended to endorse the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Oxfordshire.

2.     That the Future Oxfordshire Partnership be recommended to continue to support healthy place shaping as a strategic priority in enabling the regeneration of existing communities and the development of new communities.

3.     That the Future Oxfordshire Partnership note the feedback of the Panel to officers, which is that as next steps and the delivery plan for the Strategy are developed:

a.     A robust monitoring and performance framework needs to be put in place.

b.     There is a need to review commissioning structures to ensure commissioning is aligned to the outcomes and KPIs set out in the performance framework, (i.e., around use of the Better Care Fund and pooled budgets perhaps using an output based approach).

c.      That the importance of street design in encouraging healthy lifestyles should be recognised and foregrounded. The Panel would like to highlight the potential for street design codes rather than guides, in promoting high standards in design.

d.     There is a need to ensure a high degree of coordination between local authority and NHS partners as part of the financing of infrastructure to support healthy place making.

e.     That the potential impact of issues around the delivery and provision of primary care facilities such as local health centres and new GP surgeries on the delivery of the strategy be noted.