Agenda item

The Board was provided with an update on the progress of the Thriving Communities Programme that was funded largely by £2.69m allocated from the Greater Manchester (GM) Transformation Fund in 2018 as part of the GM Health and Social Care Transformation Fund to support devolution.  The aim of the Programme was to accelerate the Thriving Communities element of the Oldham Model and deliver the common objectives of health and social care integration through a three year programme focused on building upon our strengths and supporting groups in the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector; supporting people earlier in the care pathway; and driving the shift to increasing earlier intervention and prevention.  The next steps for the Programme in the context of the Council’s wider transformation programme was further considered.

Highlight updates were provided in respect of the Social Prescribing Network that bridged the gap between medical care and the community; the five Social Action Fund projects of VCFSE-led projects tackling loneliness and isolation; the ‘Fast Grants’ scheme which had supported a range of activities from sports, arts and crafts and gardening to mental health support groups and singing groups, and which had contributed to the Covid response; the arrangements for the evaluation of the Thriving Communities programme; and inputs into the Covid-19 response.

It was noted that Thriving Communities funding from the GM Transformation Fund is non-recurrent meaning that the Social Prescribing Network, the Social Action Fund projects and funding for Fast Grants was time limited.  The evaluation findings would advise future decision making in respect of activities within the Programme and would be key in making the case for further investment in social prescribing and community activity, the work being undertaken to explore other levers for funding and investment into these areas being advised.  Considerations linked to the wider transformation programme included the sustainability of Thriving Communities where its embedding within wider service transformation as part of the transformation programme was key, ongoing investment into VCSFE capacity to enable alignment with, for example, key priorities such as poverty and community wealth building as well as place-based working, and revised governance arrangements to ensure responsibility for delivery and implementation of both Thriving Communities and Place Based Working was sustainable and joined up.

In response to a query, it was advised that the ‘Wellbeing leisure’ Social Action Fund project offered a range of activities to a wide range of age groups.  The positive response over the past 12 months to on-line provision was noted, the positive impacts for people in terms of tackling isolation and encouraging participation that might not otherwise have happened in usual in-person activities being further noted. 

With regard to the Social Prescribing Network and the monitoring of success, the Board was advised that patient reviews to assess the impact of social prescribing were undertaken at 3 and 6 months.  Linking to Place Based considerations, it was advised that social prescribing was already arranged on the basis of the five Areas and that the further aligning of staff from, for example housing providers and social care staff, should benefit the offer as a result of the greater connectivity.

RESOLVED that

1.            the progress made with delivery of the Thriving Communities programme to date and the proposal to bring the Programme together with the wider Communities strand of the Council’s transformation programme be noted;

2.            the Board receive the final Thriving Communities Programme evaluation report in March 2022.