Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder explained that she had resigned as a Trustee of the Care Network.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder

AGREED       

A)   To note progress made in developing the scheme since February 2017.

B)   That Cambourne and Cottenham centres remain on review to give them opportunity to improve with a more stable structure in place.

C)   To support the future long term vision for the Active & Healthy 4 Life scheme.

D)   That an annual report is presented to the Portfolio Holder in the 1^st quarter following each year end.

The Programme Manager introduced this item, which detailed the progress made in developing the Active & Healthy 4 Life exercise referral scheme since February 2017. She explained that the best time to provide an annual report on the scheme would be in the summer, following the year end in March. It was noted that:

·         There had been 282 referrals in 2016/17, which was an increase of 40%

·         There had been 125 completions in 2016/17, which was an increase of 357%

The Programme Manager reported that the aim of the scheme was to improve people’s health and specific health conditions by increasing physical activity.

Cambourne

It was noted that a new instructor had been appointed and it was hoped that this would result in an increase in referrals and completions.

Cottenham

It was noted that there was a regular instructor running the classes, but there was a need for a more proactive relationship with the local health professionals.

Gamlingay

Whilst this centre had enjoyed a record year of 43 referrals and 28 completions, the first half of the current financial year had achieved much lower referrals and completions compared to last year.

Promotion

Councillor Tony Orgee suggested that the scheme could be advertised in parish magazines, as well as with parish clerks. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder hoped that the scheme could also help to tackle social isolation. She offered to help promote the scheme, possibly through a photo opportunity.

Evaluating the benefits of the Scheme

The Sports Inclusion Officer reported that the aim was to compare patients’ data before and after undergoing the scheme, so as to provide evidence of its benefits. It was noted that exercising regularly reduced the likelihood of developing medical conditions. The Director of Health and Environmental Services explained that a business case would be required to secure extra funding and more staff resources.

Charges

It was noted that making a service free created a problem if the Council then had to charge for it at a later date. The cost of £3 per session was considered to be affordable.

The Heath and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder requested that officers provide a verbal update at the next portfolio holder meeting.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder

AGREED       

A)    To note progress made in developing the scheme since February 2017.

B)   That Cambourne and Cottenham centres remain on review to give them opportunity to improve with a more stable structure in place.

C)   To support the future long term vision for the Active & Healthy 4 Life scheme.

D)   That an annual report is presented to the Portfolio Holder in the 1^st quarter following each year end.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder

AGREED

A)   To note the evaluation of and feedback from Parklife 2017

B)   To ask councillors to recommend any businesses that could offer corporate sponsorship for the events

C)   To recognise the efforts of Council officers and employees from Cambridge Sports Lake Trust in making this event such a success

The Development Officer presented this report, which reviewed the Parklife 2017 event.

Sponsorship

The Development Officer explained that this year only £200 of sponsorship had been secured, which represented an ineffective use of officer time. Larger businesses had established relationships with the organisations that they sponsor, whilst smaller businesses were not able to commit to sponsoring the event due to the current economic uncertainty. However, it was noted that a number of organisations had provided events for free, in order to advertise their services.

The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing explained that many councillors had a very good relationship with local businesses and this could potentially lead to the securing of sponsorship for future events.

Pre-booking

This had proved to be successful. The Development Officer explained that there was a small admin fee for this service, but people were less likely to turn-up if they had booked the service for free.

Budget

The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing recommended that the budget remain at £10,000 for the event.

Feedback

It was noted that 49% of the 233 respondents had rated the event at “excellent” and 45% as “very good”. Nobody had rated the event as “poor”.

Attendance

It was reported that 64% of those attending were from South Cambridgeshire, which was the highest ever proportion of those from the District attending this event. 22% were from the city of Cambridge and 14% from East Cambridgeshire.

Officer time

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recognised the large amount of officer time that was committed to the event and the fact that some officers chose not to take back the hours in flexi-time. She further recognised that the Council ran the event in partnership with Cambridge Sports Lake Trust, whose employees had also committed many hours to the event.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder

AGREED

A)   To note the evaluation of and feedback from Parklife 2017.

B)   To ask councillors to recommend any businesses that could offer corporate sponsorship for future events.

C)   To recognise the efforts of Council officers and employees from Cambridge Sports Lake Trust in making this event such a success.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder

AGREED

A)   To allocate staff time from within the Portfolio to develop a Parish Toolkit on Reducing Social Isolation.

B)   To support the allocation of £20,000 towards timebanking in 2017/18 on the understanding that this funding will be used commission a third party to support up to two parishes to establish new timebanking and evaluate the schemes.

C)   To use the existing budget to carry out a Faith Audit, in partnership with the Diocese of Ely, into Social Isolation Initiatives.

D)   To use existing resources to fund a two-year pilot of the Through the Door (social prescribing) Project with Granta Medical Practice.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET

A)   To agree to adopt the Tackling Social Isolation Task and Finish Group’s Vision for a Social Network Village of the Future.

B)   To further support timebanking in the district, following future evaluation of the work the Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder is currently progressing with staff.

C)   To continue to support parishes to work in clusters where it makes sense to do so.

D)   To continue to promote community car schemes and works with partners to ensure greater community transport coverage for the north villages.

E)   To work with local hospitals and village groups to ensure that patients leaving hospital are supported locally when they get home.

F)    To promote opportunities for volunteering.

G)   To encourage the use of the communal rooms in sheltered housing complexes.

H)   To encourage retirement villages with appropriate housing design and activities.

I)     To commit to working with partners to evaluate any of the initiatives that are implemented, along with the programme as a whole.

The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing presented this item, which outlined the findings of the elected member Tackling Social Isolation Task and Finish Group. She explained that some of the recommendations could be agreed by the Portfolio Holder, whilst others would have to be considered by Cabinet on 16 November 2017. The Portfolio Holder considered each of the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations in turn.

Social Network Village of the future

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder understood that the communal rooms in the Sheltered Housing Schemes could be used for this, but explained that it would require the agreement of the local residents and the rooms might require refurbishment. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recommended that Cabinet approve this.

Parish Toolkit on Reducing Social Isolation

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder expressed her support for this initiative, but she acknowledged that officer time would be required to produce such a toolkit. The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing assured the meeting that the resources were in place to deliver this. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder agreed this recommendation.

Timebanking in the District

It was noted that a timebank was already operating in Cambourne. The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing explained that £20,000 had been allocated towards timebanking in 2017/18. Councillor Tony Orgee suggested that a pilot be carried out in a small and a large village. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recommended that Cabinet approve this.

Parishes working in clusters

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder explained that clusters were not necessarily geographic and could be determined by topic. It was agreed that local knowledge was essential to identify which parishes could work together. It was noted that more work could fall on parish councillors from May 2018 when the number of District Councillors were being reduced from 57 to 45. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recommended that Cabinet approve this.

Community car schemes

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder announced that she was keen to promote improvements in transport. The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing explained that the District’s northern villages did not have access to a community car scheme and this initiative could rectify this. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recommended that Cabinet approve this.

Faith Audit into Social Isolation Initiatives

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recognised that faith groups did much to reduce social isolation and she supported this recommendation from the Task and Finish Group to co-ordinate their work.

Pilot of social prescribing Project with Granta Medical Practice

The Head of Sustainable Communities and Wellbeing proposed that the suggested one-year pilot of this scheme be increased to two years by appointing an officer to work on this project part-time. The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recommended that Cabinet approve this.

Supporting patients coming home from hospital

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder recommended that Cabinet support this initiative that aimed to improve co-ordination between hospitals, GPs and local community based support.

Promoting volunteering

The Health and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Portfolio Holder is invited to maintain a Forward Plan, focussing on future decisions to be taken at his Portfolio Holder meetings.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder asked for reports on the following issues for the next meeting:

·         Verbal update on Active & Healthy 4 Life Scheme

·         Community Safety update

·         Health and Wellbeing Strategy

·         Healthy new towns

·         Update on Member Development

Councillors are asked to bring their diaries.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 January at 2pm.