Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing which seeks to develop the Oldham Live Well scheme.

The Cabinet received a report of the Director of Public Health, which informed Cabinet that implementing the Live Well scheme would present an opportunity to accelerate and intensify work already started in Oldham to shift towards a preventative approach whereby residents will get the support they need, in the way they need it, in their own communities.

The Cabinet’s membership was reminded that, launched in May 2024, Live Well was Greater Manchester’s (GM) movement for community-led health and wellbeing. It aimed to support healthier, happier and fairer communities by growing opportunities for everyone to Live Well, providing everyday support in neighbourhoods. Oldham has been using a similar approach for some time, through building and supporting a strong Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector, developing a place-based approach to public services and a range of activities intended to support strong, resilient communities. The submitted report outlined an Oldham Live Well approach and the governance to implement this locally, utilising the implementation funding from Greater Manchester, which represented a total of £844,000.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option 1 – To accept the implementation funding and conditions to roll out Live Well in Oldham. This option was preferable as it enabled Oldham to build upon the range of work developed over previous years (as outlined at Section 2 of the submitted report) and the Council’s strong desire to more towards a system with prevention and community empowerment at its heart. The funding made available will enable both investment in the VCFSE sector and consolidate the authority’s district approach through the strengthening of key hubs and spaces. This would, it was hoped, broaden the approach, whereby the Borough’s Neighbourhood teams can collaborate to support residents. This would also align with the Council’s wider reform agenda.

A key disadvantage to accepting the Live Well funding and its requirements was that currently this funding was non-recurrently available for one financial year only. Future non-recurrent or recurrent investment was unclear and it was predicated on Localities and Greater Manchester demonstrating the value proposition for Live Well.

Option 2 – To decline the implementation funding that has been made available to roll out Live Well in Oldham. The advantage to this option would be reducing the demands on council capacity to enact the initiative, however, the disadvantages, it was felt, far outweighed this advantage. Live Well was a flagship approach for Greater Manchester which had funding attached to it. Oldham could be reputationally damaged should it decline this opportunity to test approaches to community led wellbeing.

Option 1 was the preferred Option.

Resolved:

That the Cabinet:

1. Accept the Live Well Implementation Funding, including the conditions of funding, outlined in the submitted report and agrees that the grant funding is allocated to Public Health to enact. 

2. Delegates authority for the execution of all decisions regarding utilisation of the funding from the Live Well Implementation Fund to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Wellbeing. 

3. Delegates authority to the Director of Public Health, in conjunction with the Director of Legal Services and the Director of Finance, or their nominees, to vary existing contracts (and any associated collaborative commissioning agreements), issue grant agreements or award contracts stemming from a compliant procurement process. 

4. Delegates authority to the Director of Legal Services, or his nominee, to carry out all necessary legal formalities linked to the actions delegated to the Director of Public Health, including the execution of contracts. 
5. Agrees to the formation of the Live Well Partnership Board to support the implementation of a Live Well approach in Oldham, to accelerate and intensify the existing focus on supporting residents in our communities in partnership with a resilient VCFSE sector.