Agenda and minutes

Venue: Courtyard Room - Hammersmith Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Bathsheba Mall, Committee Co-ordinator 

Items
No. Item

141.

Appointment of Vice Chair

The Board is asked to appoint a Vice Chair for the 2018-19 Municipal Year.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That Vanessa Andreae be appointed Vice-Chair.

 

142.

Minutes and Actions pdf icon PDF 244 KB

(a)  To approve as an accurate record and the Chair to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Health & Wellbeing Board held on 21 March 2018; and

 

(b)  To note the outstanding actions.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2018 be noted. 

 

 

143.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Larry Culhane, Glendine Shepherd, Dr Tim Spicer and Sue Spiller. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Adam Connell.

144.

Declarations of Interest

If a Member of the Board, or any other member present in the meeting has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

 

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Member must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

 

Where members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Members who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

 

Members are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee. 

Minutes:

None.

 

145.

Social Isolation and Loneliness pdf icon PDF 291 KB

This report summarises the work undertaken so far by the Health and Wellbeing Board and partners to develop a strategy and action plan to address social isolation and loneliness in Hammersmith and Fulham.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Julien Danero-Iglesias provided an update on work undertaken on Social Isolation and Loneliness (SIL). A Board priority since November 2017, this initiative would consider ways of developing a community asset-based solution to reduce SIL in the Borough. Officers had met with different groups and stakeholders to improve their understanding of the impact of SIL on residents, mapping existing provision and identifying gaps.

 

A workshop had been held on 12 June at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith facilitated by We Coproduce, a local charity. 70 representatives from various organisations based or operating in the borough attended. It was agreed that SIL affected everyone and that building connected communities was key. The next step was to create a core group of volunteers to determine how to progress the work within the community. Feedback from the workshop was very positive, welcoming the drive to address SIL and the opportunity to network. Approximately 20 people from the workshop had volunteered to be on the proposed core group. The Board was asked to endorse this and facilitate future work.

 

Councillor Coleman said the office of Tracy Crouch MP, Minister for Loneliness in the DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) had shown interest in the Board’s community asset-based approach and was minded to use H&F as a good practice case study for their new strategy to be published in the autumn.

 

Councillor Coleman asked whether the HWB should do as the government and truncate the phrase “social isolation and loneliness” to “loneliness”. While there was a need to be inclusive, there were two distinct issues. Isolation was not necessarily negative but loneliness was.

 

Members felt that the two matters combined could have a severe impact and it was worth considering the different ways in which both social isolation and loneliness could be addressed.

 

SIL had a different impact on BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) groups, for example. Somali women were already isolated from existing support structures. SIL experienced by people with mental health problems would also be different as their conditions acted as a barrier that could prevent them from accessing support. Councillor Quigley said that research conducted for the Disabled People’s Commission (DPC) suggested that one barrier was the individual’s state of mind and a perception that a person felt alone, regardless of their actual circumstances. Councillor Coleman suggested this be discussed further with the government and the Campaign to End Loneliness.

 

Councillor Coleman welcomed Ruth Redfern, the council’s Community Engagement Lead, who had been appointed to develop ward working in the Borough. A prototype pilot project was planned in four wards. This would take an inclusive and diverse approach, working with existing partnerships. 

 

Members felt that the SIL core group should have a clear structure to shape aims and objectives and retain a tight focus e.g., by setting three key priorities. It was agreed that before contacting those who were interested in forming a core group the form, the structure and remit of the group be further considered.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 145.

146.

Developing the 2018/19 Work Plan pdf icon PDF 132 KB

This report suggests priority areas for the 2018/19 work programme.

Minutes:

The Board other discussed other possible thematic areas of work, as set out in the report, alongside SIL.

 

Food could be viewed as a central theme as part of a broader public health issue. Obesity, healthy eating, nutrition for older people and children, children not knowing how to cook and inter-generational activity were all issues that revolved around food.

 

The example was given of schools not feeling they could include cooking in the curriculum. Steve Miley expressed interest in exploring this and offered to raise the issue with headteachers. Vanessa Andreae said the Board should review related concerns such as the number of fast food shops in the Borough. Anita Parkin recommended that the Board did not target the most obvious issues such as childhood obesity but produced a summary of what else was going on locally, for example malnutrition of people with dementia. There were possible “quick wins” that the Council could address, such as refusing or curtailing planning applications for fast food shops. Part of the Mayor’s London Plan restrictions was that fast food restaurants could not be opened within 400m of a school site.

 

Lisa Redfern led a short discussion about mental health, a fundamental HWB theme which formed a central commitment of the Administration’s manifesto. The Council had already discussed becoming a dementia-friendly Council and mental health had key connections with SIL and healthy nutrition.

 

Ruth Redfern reported that increased mental health related incidents had been discussed with the police. This was a potential conversation for the HWB Chair to have with the Community Safety Partnership as to what could be done corporately. Steve Miley reported that mental health for young people dealing with the combined pressures of social media and exams was also a priority for the Council and that the Youth Council and the Youth Mayor could contribute to this work.

 

It was generally agreed that SIL and food could be considered as broad horizontal themes, with links to dementia and mental health (the latter with a focus on young people).

 

Janet Cree and Vanessa Andreae said that maintaining focus was essential. Priorities should not be too broad and nebulous, particularly if the HWB strategy was being replicated. Mental health for young people was a preferable focus. They would also continue CCG work on dementia provision.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the overarching themes of social inclusion/loneliness and food be pursued, and further consideration be given to mental health and dementia.

147.

Dates of Future Meetings

The following dates have been scheduled:

·         Wednesday, 12 September 2018

·         Wednesday, 21 November 2018

·         Wednesday, 30 January 2019

·         Wednesday, 20 March 2019

Minutes:

 

The next meeting is Wednesday,12 September 2018.

 

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