Guy Kilminster to present the opportunities around the bid for Economies for Healthier Lives.
Minutes:
Guy Kilminster, the Corporate Manager for Health Improvement at Cheshire East Council attended the virtual meeting and gave a verbal report on how the health of people could be improved through economic development in Crewe.
He advised the Board that a funding opportunity had been identified in early December and that agreement had been reached for officers to work on a submission bid for this funding with a submission deadline of 15 January 2021. Conversations with Dr Charles Jarvis had taken place and it was felt important to involve the Board with the bid due to the potential alignment with work being undertaken around the TIP and the ambition of economic and regeneration of Crewe.
It was noted that funding of £1,700,000 was available from the Health Foundation with the intention that only four projects with a maximum award of £500,000 up to a period of 3 years per project would be offered this funding. He highlighted the key objectives of the programme which included:-
• improving the capacity and capability of economic development and public health professionals to take joint action to use economic development to improve health;
• developing a better understanding of the mechanisms through which economic development interventions affect health outcomes;
• supporting the development of metrics to monitor the health impacts of economic development interventions;
• building understanding of how to translate the evidence base into practical action;
• capturing learning from the programme to be used to inform and change practice across the UK through wider dissemination by the Health Foundation.
It was clear there was an issue with improving health through economic development and currently there were no toolkits in existence which would aid the process. The Board were advised that this was an opportunity to fund up to 4 projects as well as developing a suite of tools and matrix that could be used across the country by others going through a similar process. In addition if successful the funding could be used to undertake work that was unable to be fulfilled under the terms of the TIP. A suggestion was put forward that capacity should be placed into the economic development team either through the creation of a single post or joint posts to work with economic development colleagues and the Board. It was also suggested that the Cheshire East Social Action Partnership be involved in the engagement with the community aspect. This bid would provide an opportunity to use any potential funding to use Crewe for a pilot study as to how the health and wellbeing of the population could be improved through economic development, through the TIP, through the Future High Streets Fund and any other investment.
The Chairman welcomed the opportunity to bid for funding which would assist in assessing the long term impact on economic regeneration which wasn’t always present in some of the projects put forward. He felt that programme ‘dovetailed’ well into the Towns Fund however he was concerned at the limited amount of funding available in contrast to the amount of work requested and the competitive nature of the bidding process.
Further comments were made in respect of the consultation and engagement process with the community, the Board and Council which in the past had been a barrier as well as suggested the financial allocation put forward regarding this area of the bid which potentially needed to be increased. Members welcomed the fact that this was an opportunity to address and improve the social and economic issues faced within Crewe. In addition Dr K Mullan MP, advised he had previous experience working on a project with the Health Foundation and would be more than happy to give his feedback from his perspective. Finally the Board endorsed the suggestion made by Dr R Gomez that reference to the bid should be included within the TIP.
It was agreed that Members if they had any further feedback should be emailed to Guy Kilminster by 12 noon on Wednesday 13 January 2021.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted and any feedback in relation to the document circulated be emailed to Guy no later than 12 noon on Wednesday 13 January 2021.