Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Louise Barry (Healthwatch Cheshire), Superintendent Peter Crowcroft (Cheshire Constabulary), Chris Hart (Cheshire East Social Action Partnership), Steven Michael (Cheshire East Health and Care Place Partnership), Dr Lorraine O’Donnell (Cheshire East Council), Jayne Traverse (Cheshire East Council), Clare Watson (Cheshire CCG), Caroline Whitney (CVS Cheshire East), Dr Andrew Wilson (Cheshire CCG).

Mark Groves (Healthwatch Cheshire) attended as a substitute.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

Councillor S Corcoran declared a non-pecuniary interest by virtue of his wife being a GP.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2021.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2021 be confirmed as correct record.

In accordance with paragraph 2.24 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules and Appendix on Public Speaking, set out in the Constitution, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to put questions to the committee on any matter relating to this agenda. Each member of the public will be allowed up to two minutes each to speak, and the Chair will have discretion to vary this where they consider it appropriate.

Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days’ in advance of the meeting.

There were no public speakers.

To receive an update on the work of the Cheshire East 0-25 SEND Partnership and the development of the SEND Strategy, 2021-24.

The Board considered a report detailing progress with the work of the Cheshire East 0-25 SEND Partnership and the development of the SEND Strategy, 2021-24.

The Board welcomed the report and agreed that they would like an annual update and would like consideration given to aligning the report with the Children & Families Committee.

RESOLVED that:-

(1)  The update relating to the SEND Strategy, 2-21-24 and associated action plan be noted.

(2)  Progress made against the vision, values and actions contained in the strategy be provided in an annual report.

To receive and note the Director of Public Health Annual Report 2020/21.

The Board considered the Public Health Annual Report for 2020/21.

The report provided an overview of the challenges faced by the Public Health Team, and the milestones achieved during the pandemic. It also highlighted the inequalities in Cheshire East and the evidence supporting partnership working to create healthier lifestyles.

The Board welcomed the comprehensive report and provided comments and questions in respect of the following:

·         How the Board could help promote health and wellbeing through green spaces;

·         Could working in partnership with planning on the impact of new housing designs improve the quality of life;

·         Whether there were specific reasons behind the high figures for deaths from circulatory diseases in Audlem and Middlewich.

It was agreed that more detailed information on circulatory diseases would be provided outside the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the Director of Public Health Annual Report be noted.

To receive a verbal update on Test, Trace, Contain, Enable.

Dr Matt Tyrer gave an update on the Test, Trace, Contain and Enable system.

It was reported that following the recent National Policy updates there would be communications issued to support any changes. It was reported that since the last Health and Wellbeing Board there had been a mixed picture in respect of covid cases which had seen the highest rate in Cheshire East since the pandemic began due to the Omicron variant.

The rate of cases in the older age group had fallen, but there had been an increase in the primary and secondary age groups. It was reported that this was the overall picture nationally.

Testing was still being offered to communities, along with help to support local businesses, and the roll out of the vaccination programme continued.

RESOLVED:-

That the update be noted.

To receive a verbal update on the work of the Cheshire East Place Partnership.

This item and the Cheshire East Integrated Care Partnership update were considered together.

The Board noted that there had been a delay in the establishment of Integrated Care Systems (ICS) from 1 April 2022 to 1 July 2022, however this had provided additional time to work through plans, proposals and supporting structures.

The Executive Group continued to meet weekly to ensure that it covered all the required elements for the successful transition towards an Integrated Care System and enable open discussion and strategic thinking on the direction of travel for Cheshire East Place. The most important factors were to maintain the momentum supporting the strategic vision and associated work whilst identifying who would have the capability to deliver that moving forward.

The Board were informed that the Executive Group were supported by three dedicated workstreams focussed on Integrated Planning, Finance and Governance. These covered areas such as overarching system architecture, decision-making, delegations to scope of services and the interface between Cheshire East Place and the ICS and Integrated Care Board moving forward.

This would enable the development of appropriate governance arrangements that would support collaborative decision making and establish clear lines of reporting for the Cheshire East Place Partnership arrangements around performance, accountability and assurance in readiness for the implementation of the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System after 1 July 2022.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To receive a verbal update on the Cheshire East Integrated Care Partnership.