Agenda item

The Lead Cabinet Member for Housing introduced the South Cambridgeshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy and informed the committee that this would be reviewed considering the Covid-19 pandemic and the Council’s role in the recovery following this. It was anticipated that mental health and family stress would be more significant issues going forward.

The Leader of the Council thanked officers for their work on the strategy. She informed the committee that it was likely the strategy would need to be reviewed twice a year so that it could adapt to changing situations. The Leader emphasised that the Covid-19 pandemic had demonstrated the critical role of district councils in the delivery of health and wellbeing of communities, and that without these councils the challenges of Covid-19 would be far worse.

The Development Officer (Health Specialist) presented the Strategy to the committee and highlighted the following:

·       The emphasis of the strategy was on prevention.

·       Having a strategy for the district positioned health and wellbeing as a strategic priority in all the Council’s plans. It was emphasised that mental and physical wellbeing was threaded through a lot of what the Council did.

·       It was important to capitalise on the positive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as how communities had come together and the data sharing that had taken place between organisations. As a result of the pandemic, the number of people exercising outdoors had increased and this should be capitalised on by increasing and improving walking and cycling infrastructure. Due to the pandemic however, it was anticipated that a rise in obesity, substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health issues would be seen. It was too early to determine what services would be needed, but this would start to emerge in the coming months.

The committee considered and commented on the strategy:

·       Referring to the ambition outlined in the strategy of building communities close to where people worked, the importance of infrastructure and communications allowing people to live where they wanted to, was emphasised. It was queried whether consideration had been given to the potential for more people to be working from home in future. The Leader of the Council informed the committee that enabling people to live in high-quality housing close to where they worked, led to better productivity. It was recognised that employment and infrastructure needed to be delivered together, with housing following this.

·       Committee members were pleased to see activities for children included in the strategy and that awareness of physical and mental health was embedded in this.

·       Committee members highlighted the importance of avoiding duplication between organisations and was informed that officers were working closely with the County Council to avoid this. Officers from both organisations were working closely to look at schemes that would benefit young people across South Cambridgeshire, which included schemes for children who had been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

·       Committee members noted that safe cycling was not mentioned in future plans and suggested that the strategy should proactively engage with the County Council on transport.

·       It was noted by committee members that S106 contributions could be used to set up sustainable clubs in new communities and it was queried whether part of the strategy should be to set these up in existing as well as new communities. Officers advised the committee that this was a challenge as existing communities were not eligible for S106 funding; they were aware that this could lead to inequality. Committee members suggested a priority be added to the strategy for the Council to proactively engage with other authorities to deliver schemes in existing communities.

·       Committee members raised the importance of taking advantage of the small window of opportunity which had emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, to improve infrastructure for cycling and footpaths. The committee was informed by the Development Officer that feedback was awaited from university-led discussions which had taken place regarding this. The Chief Executive informed the committee that the Government had announced funding for cycling infrastructure, which would be delivered through the Combined Authority.

·       Members highlighted the importance of recognising the health and wellbeing needs of those with learning disabilities; it was suggested that more mention of this was needed in future versions of the strategy.

The Conservative Health and Wellbeing Lead suggested a section on self-help and support be included in the strategy. Councillor Ellington pointed out that while the strategy made no mention of deprived families, these were pepper potted across the district. She suggested that the strategy could do more to address the issues that were leading to young people self-harming.

The Development Officer informed the committee that:

·       In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Development Officer informed the committee that GPs had seen a rise in the occurrence of pressure ulcers amongst the over 70s who were self-isolating but who had previously been active. Through social prescribing there was an opportunity to improve the relationship between GP practices and local authorities. The Development Officer explained the potential role for the Council in linking up health services, such as for example providing patient transport to clinics.

·       The Council’s role was to ensure there were opportunities for people to seek help and encourage them to do so by participating in local clubs or groups.

·       She explained how Primary Care Networks were formed and that these did not necessarily make geographical sense. GP practices determined how PCNs were formed with the remit that each PCN should serve a population of 30,000-50,000 people.

·       The development of children living in poverty was a challenge and was largely dealt with by the County Council. South Cambridgeshire District Council provided some funding to Homestart which worked with families who were struggling across Cambridgeshire and assisted them with parenting skills.

·       Committee members highlighted that warden provision had been reduced significantly due to local government cuts and were informed that the Council was investing significantly in mobile warden schemes. Histon and Impington had an existing scheme which could be accessed by sheltered housing residents for a small fee.

·       The Development Officer explained the ways in which the Council could enable access to healthy food, such as by enabling opportunities for residents to grow their own through access to allotments. Provision of this in existing villages and not just new communities, needed to be considered. There were opportunities to influence healthy eating through the Council’s licensing policy, such as for example by not licensing fast food outlets within a certain radius of schools. The Development Officer suggested this may need to be a consideration in relation to Cambourne, Northstowe and Waterbeach.

In response to queries regarding contact tracing, the Chief Executive informed the committee that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government recognised that contact tracing needed to be done locally for it to be successful.

Committee members thanked officers for their work on the strategy which the committee noted.