Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillors Shuttleworth, Councillor Sykes, Councillor Mushtaq, Gerard Jones, Kelly Webb, Stuart Lockwood, Harry Catherall, Simon Blair, Davig Jago, Paul Clifford, Dr. Alistar Craig, Nasir Dad.

Urgent business if any to be introduced by the Chair

There was no urgent business.

There were no public questions to consider.

The Minutes of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 11^th January 2024 are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th January 2024 be approved as a correct record.

A summary of insights from doorstep conversations with residents, where health and wellbeing issues were raised.

The Thriving Communities Lead provided the board with a summary of insights from doorstep conversations with residents, where health and wellbeing issues were raised. The purpose of the report is to provide insights from the doorstep engagement work and consider how this might inform the priorities and work of the Board going forward.

The doorstep engagement team has operated in Oldham from August 2020, supporting engagement with residents around a range of issues including Covid19, the Don’t Trash Oldham campaign and most recently the Cost of Living crisis.

The conversations were primarily focused on residents’ wellbeing, bringing in specific focus areas as the conversation progressed. The Board were provided with a summary of the insights around the theme of Health & Wellbeing during the period of July 2022 to August 2023.

During this time the focus of conversations was on the cost of living crisis, and a methodology was used to target those areas of the borough where residents were most likely to be impacted. The nature of the conversations will also be influenced by the time of day visits were made, the majority being during the day Monday – Friday. 28,399 conversations were held during this time and although finance and jobs was the largest topic of discussion, health and wellbeing was also a relatively common theme with 619 households raising related issues during that time.

Most common sub-themes within Health and Wellbeing were; Mental Health, General Health and Health Services. The pattern of issues raised was broadly similar across districts, although General Health was raised most often in West. The most common single issue was Long-term conditions, followed by loneliness and Mobility issues. Under the Health Services theme the most common issues was difficulty accessing GP services.

Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board commended the work done, specifically in relation to having in-person contact with residents.

The Board also noted that the insight gained from the Doorstep engagement work is not only useful in providing support where required in real time, but is useful to plan and strategise for the future in ensuring the needs of residents are met.

RESOLVED that, the Engagement Team Insight be noted by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

An update to the Health and Wellbeing Board about the work of the Oldham Poverty Action Network over the last 12 months.

The Health and Wellbeing Board were provided with an update on the work of the Oldham Poverty Action Network over the last 12 months.

The Oldham Poverty Action Network launched in October 2022 bringing together the existing strands of anti-poverty work in the borough, with the recommendations and the Lived Experience members of the Poverty Truth Commission.

The Network is made up of VCFSE groups, public sector partners, Greater Manchester Poverty Action and people with Lived Experience of Poverty. The Network has been coming together monthly to co-design and develop ‘test and learn’ workstreams based on the recommendations from the Oldham Poverty Truth Commission under the headings of:

1.     Building out from the cost-of-living response

2.     Hope and Aspirations: Creating routes out of poverty

3.     Building a joined-up approach to poverty alleviation & prevention

Task groups have been created for each of these 3 priorities.

The first task group (Building out from the cost-of-living response) are focused on Comms Campaigns that connect with people experiencing poverty and how they can get help and support. And the Oldham Community Advice Network – Digital Referral System, Connecting people seamlessly to the right support and advice.

The second task group (Hope and Aspirations: Creating routes out of poverty) are focused on Creating supported volunteering opportunities and developing the pathways into volunteering and employment.

The third task group (Building a joined-up approach to poverty alleviation & prevention) are focused on developing an Oldham Systems Conditions Forum and developing Community Leadership and Voice and Influence.

The Board discussed the Second Taskgroup in great details, focusing on developing the pathways into volunteering and employment. Members of the Board suggested there is often too much Jargon in Job Adverts and Person Specifications for Local Authority Roles which overcomplicates the recruitment process. Simplifying these would make roles more accessible, increase the candidate pool and subsequently address workforce shortage issues faced by the council. Cllr Brownridge offered her support in trying to address this issue.

Members of the Board commended the person-centred approach taken by the Poverty Action Network. Officers stated that they had established a blueprint for working with people with lived experiences that may be useful to other services and that they have an Oldham Framework for community engagement.

RESOLVED that, the Poverty Action Network Overview and Insight report be noted by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

An update on the progress of the GM Live Well programme and the Oldham accelerator proposal around place-based prevention budgets

The Thriving Communities Lead provided the board with an update on the progress of the GM Live Well programme and the Oldham accelerator proposal around place-based prevention budget.

The Board heard that ‘Live Well’ is a mayoral manifesto commitment and a key part of Greater Manchester’s response to tackling health and wellbeing inequalities. The GM ambition is that over the next two years and beyond, the ten localities across Greater Manchester, and the VCFSE sector, will work together to develop a sustainable Live Well ecosystem which will help residents to maintain and improve their health, wellbeing, resilience and social connections.

In December 2022 GM localities were invited to put forward proposals for Live Well accelerator projects to be included in a solicited National Lottery Bid to draw in resource to support this work (a total of £1m over 2 years). Oldham put forward a proposal around the development of Place-based Prevention Budgets which was approved by the Health & Care System Leaders Group and Public Service Reform Board.

In the Autumn 2023, GM received the outcome of the National Lottery bid which supported the proposals. However, we are still awaiting the formal grant agreement with GMCA and funds to support the project.

The intention is to create the infrastructure to draw together existing funding from within the system, to be held by a local partnership and distributed by joint commissioning and funding decisions. The Council intend to involve community partners and residents in decision making, and where possible transfer decision making power to communities.

Members of the Board welcomed the report and approach set out, but stressed that a lot of work would need to be done in establishing new powers for Local Authorities to spend pooled funding.

RESOLVED that, the GM Live Well report be noted by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Presentation to follow

The Health and Wellbeing Board heard an update from Changing Futures on the work they are doing. Changing Futures are funded by The National Lottery and The Department of Levelling Up and have currently secured funding until March 2025.

The Officers that work with Changing Futures have lived experience of disadvantage and therefore are able to build up relationships with service users. The Case load is kept relatively low to allow for more time to be dedicated to individuals who need support.

The Board heard of some of the achievements of Changing Futures including successfully collaborating with partners and excellent feedback received from service users. They were also provided with some case studies to evidence the good work being done.

Members of the Board commended the work being done to help the most disadvantaged residents of Oldham. 

Several Members of the Board also stressed the importance open communication between partners and service providers to ensure no duplication of work and that there are no gaps in services available.

RESOLVED that, the Changing Futures report be noted by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Oldham Safeguarding Annual Report 2022-23 to be noted by the Health and Well Being Board.

RESOLVED that the Oldham Safeguarding Annual Report be noted by the Health and Wellbeing Board.