Agenda item

For information: To receive feedback and note any actions arising from a joint meeting between the Future Oxfordshire Partnership and the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

Members considered a report updating them on actions to address the common areas of concern identified at joint workshop between the Future Oxfordshire Partnership and the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board. Rosie Rowe, Healthy Place Shaping Lead, Oxfordshire County Council, in presenting commented that the areas of concern identified included: obesity, access to green space, active travel, air quality, retrofit of housing, promotion of behavioural change in support of climate change, engagement with the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care System, (BOB ICS), Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership and social prescribing.

The report had originally been written for the Partnership’s meeting in July and, therefore, following its cancellation there were now several additional updates to bring to the attention of members.

In relation to the engagement of the new ICS with climate action, a lot of activity was underway as part of the Pathways to a Zero Carbon Oxfordshire (PaZCO) workstream to produce actions that would set out detailed and specific deliverables to achieve Net Zero targets.

A paper on social prescribing was scheduled to go to the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board in due course. This would set out a strategy for Oxfordshire designed to help people with health needs that could be addressed through activities within their own community.  It would also demonstrate the link between health and place.

The Partnership was also informed that as the local ICS started to mature, the intention was for there to be more place-based working (with the potential for further joint workshops as part of the ICS Place Partnership).

Professor Fitt stated that he had been unsure what the long term future of Health and Wellbeing Boards were in the context of the wider policy developments but commented that they had been useful forums for the sharing of knowledge amongst partners. Ms Rowe responded that her understanding was that Health and Wellbeing Boards would continue and that the Integrated Care Partnership Strategy would be based upon their plans. Dan Leveson, Oxfordshire Director of Place, commented that the work around the development of places had begun within the ICS and that he intended to avoid unnecessary duplication and work within existing strategies wherever possible.

Councillor Rouane thanked Ms Rowe for the report, stating that he had found the joint workshop very useful in stimulating creative thinking and that as a result he had followed up on several issues concerning South Oxfordshire.

The Chair welcomed the report and commented that it was very important that the necessary routes existed for the NHS and local authorities to work together for the benefit of resident’s health and wellbeing – the need to plan for access to green space and encourage its use by the public being one example. Councillor Leffman also referred to the importance of green space and the need to focus upon a prevention agenda by both local authorities and the NHS. Further joint meetings could be useful.

In relation to the retrofitting of housing, the Chair referred to the workforce shortage of people with appropriate retrofitting skills and knowledge to really address the scale of the issue. Ms Rowe commented that this could in part fit into the work that the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership was developing. However, some measures and support to assist people with their energy costs were quite straightforward, for instance the advice service funded by Oxfordshire local authorities.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the Future Oxfordshire Partnership and Oxfordshire’s Health & Wellbeing Board note the action being taken to address commons areas of concern.

2.     That the Boards note that they will continue to discuss common issues of concern either through specific joint workshops or through potential future Integrated Care System structures established to support place working in Oxfordshire.