Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Apologies were received from Toby Sanders, Chief Executive, NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board; Nicci Marzec, Director of Prevention, Office of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner; Naomi Eisenstadt, Chair, NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board; Chief Superintendent Steve Freeman, Northamptonshire Police;  Jo Moore,  Chair of Kettering Community Wellbeing Forum and Jess Slater, Chair of East Northants Community Wellbeing Forum.

The Chair thanked the previous Chair for all his assistance during his term of office.

The Chair introduced the Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Mr Rob Porter as a new member of the Board.

The Chair also thanked Dr Shaun Hallam for his service.

None received.

The Chair invited those who wished to do so to declare interests in respect of items on the agenda.

The Voluntary Sector Representative, Debbie Healey declared she was the Chair of the Mental Health Foundation.

RESOLVED that:  the Health and Wellbeing Board approved the minutes from the previous metting held on 21 March 2023.

RESOLVED that:  The Health and Wellbeing Board notes the action log.

The Chairman reported that as no nominations had been received, she asked if Councillor Macauley Nicholl was happy to continue in the role of Vice-Chiar.  Councillor Nicholl replied that he was.

RESOLVED that:  Councillor Macauley Nicholl continue in the role of Vice-Chair

At the Chair’s invitation the Strategic Lead for Private Sector Housing, North Northants Council introduced the report (copies of which had been previously circulated) which provided details of the total spend on the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) for 2022-2023. A change was made to the agenda with this report being presented earlier than previously agreed at the request of the presenter.  The Chair confirmed these were mandatory grants and could be utilised for a variety of adaptations from minor adjustments to major works such as extensions The maximum grant was £40,000.00. 

During the COVID-19 crisis many contractors were not able to attend properties.  The department had now reduced the waiting list to 12 weeks and 6 families and they were   working with the occupational therapy team to clear their lists.  The team would continue to make efforts to improve this.

In answer to queries on the report the following was confirmed:

• Two local MPs were assisting by lobbying government to receive more  funding. 
• Provision had been made for residents who had received grant funding in excess of £6000 to refund the grant in the event the property is sold. (There was also an opportunity to work with social services to receive some funding from them.
• Means tested thresholds could not be changed.  The majority of applications  were for amounts under £40,000.  Extensions could exceed this and if money was spent in-year it could provide some evidence to look at funding streams elsewhere to make up for any shortfall. 
• There was a need to increase the discretionary amount because there were a small number of cases where applicants did not qualify but could not fund the adaptations themselves.
• More complex cases were coming through from families where there was a need to keep their children with them by providing an adaptation in the home.
• Work was being undertaken with social landlords with the potential for a home improvement agency where some of these cases could be combined.
• The majority of private landlords were unwilling to provide funding for adaptations in the home.  Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) could be provided for council tenants but not housing associations. 

RESOLVED that:  The Health and Wellbeing Board notes the update on the DFG allocation and spend across North Northamptonshire Council for 2022-2023 full year.

(The Strategic Lead for Private Sector Housing, North Northamptonshire Council left the meeting at 2.25pm)

At the Chair’s invitation the Chief Finance Officer Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board presented the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board 5-year joint forward plan (copies of which had been previously circulated) which provided an overview of the Joint Forward Plan, national and local priorities, key multiple impact interventions and their prioritisation and how the approach to creating conditions for success was developed. 

Members of the Board also noted the following:

• The Deputy Chief Executive, Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust stated he had been working on this for some time.  The alignment part of the forward plan was critical so that people could work their way through it.  The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) would also be refreshed so that the assumptions made in it could be reviewed.
• Data was now required to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.

• The Chief Finance Officer Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board stated they would make the plan a live document which would be refreshed annually.  Several delivery plans fed into the document which included metrics to demonstrate the KPIs were being met.

RESOLVED that:  The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the Summary of the Integrated Care Board 5-year Joint Forward Plan.

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At the Chair’s invitation the Director of North PLACE Development introduced this report (copies of which had been previously circulated) which gave an overview of the development of North Northamptonshire PLACE through an oversight of a New Sense of PLACE model, Support North Northamptonshire (SNN) – Voluntary and Community Sector Collaborative approach and the North Health and Wellbeing Strategy development. 

In answer to queries on the report the following was confirmed: 

• It was recognised that there is a need for a cohesive, coherent and integrated message to be communicated to all the residents of North Northants.
• There is a need for the local authority to own the concept of PLACE, CREST values and Live Your Best Life to be integrated into all our interactions with the public .
• It was also noted that where short-term care of up to one month was required, employers could be encouraged to allow flexibility for family members to fulfil this role.
• The chairs of the Community Wellbeing Forums were thanked for their continued work and were encouraged to seek support from Board members to assist them to overcome any obstacles. Subject leads should also be nominated within each Forum

• The Chief Finance Officer Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board stated the majority of the system work was being undertaken in addition to people’s substantive roles.  Their enthusiasm was appreciated, really important and should be maintained. The work behind the scenes results in residents receiving the services they need.

RESOLVED that:  the Health and Wellbeing Board noted the overview on the development of North Northamptonshire Place.

At the Chair’s invitation, the Director of Public Health, North Northamptonshire Council introduced the report (copies of which had been previously circulated) which provided a breakdown of the allocation of  North Northants Council Health Inequality Additional Allocation (HIAA) funding to improve health inequalities across the local system, how the one-off funding allocation had been spread across a range of projects that supported early intervention and prevention across North Northants, the extent to which Trauma In Practice  activity would be developed and led by the Project manager once they were in post, an update on the programme which was initially planned for delivery over a three-year period and how work was ongoing to identify potential future funding for routes for this beyond year one.

In answer to queries on the report the following was confirmed:

• Funding was from the previous financial year.  Work will be carried out to bid for additional future funding 
• Due to changes in funding, prioritisation of funds for next year cannot be finalised. The funding process is currently in pilot form.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the use of funds and provision of data to support this will assist in securing future funding. The Director of Public Health confirmed that the 5 year strategy focusses on making health inequalities part of every decision made.
• The Integrated Care System is still in its infancy and clarity in decision making was still needed. As it matures, open communication will ensure it improves.
• The importance of ongoing evaluation was noted as opposed to evaluating on an annual basis.

RESOLVED that:  the Health and Wellbeing Board noted the update on the use of the Health Inequalities (HIAA) funding allocation across North Northants Council.

RESOLVED that:  the Health and Wellbeing Board note the stocktake report.

At the Chair’s invitation the Public Health Principal introduced the report (copies of which were previously circulated) which provided the Board with details on the progress of the Children and Young People’s (CYP) Health and Wellbeing Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for North Northamptonshire. 

In answer to queries on the report the following was confirmed:

·       There would be a JSNA product which would be owned by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

·       A deeper dive would be undertaken into the breakdown of the groups that had responded. 

·       A JSNA for Special Educational Needs (SEN) was to be commissioned.

·       The JSNA would be connected to Local Area Partnerships (LAPs) and they would undertake some focus groups around the LAPs to gain an understanding of their needs by canvassing the views of those engaged with the LAPs and using that to inform future plans. 

RESOLVED that:  The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the update on the progress of the CYP JSNA for North Northamptonshire.

At the Chair’s invitation, the Consultant in Public Heath - Drugs and Alcohol introduced the report (copies of which had been previously circulated) which provided an update on the newly formed Northamptonshire Combatting Drugs Partnership.  It set out the action plan and new 10-year drug and alcohol strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’.  The National Strategy recognised the importance of a system-wide approach.

In answer to queries on the report the following was confirmed:

·       West and North Northants Councils are looking at tobacco control as it is an aspiration to have a joint strategy for Northants.  This was currently in development and the paper would go to the Director of Public Health. 

·       The involvement of a clinician from Kettering General Hospital would support the aim of the partnership to address issues around substance misuse. 

·       The Consultant in Public Health would take away the suggestion that Solve It be included.

·       It was noted that as part of the needs assessment they had mapped all organisations directly working with and contributing to the issue.  The action plan identified the organisations that would be consulted.

RESOLVED that:  The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the update on the Northamptonshire Combatting Drugs Partnership.

At the Chair’s invitation the Assistant Director for Adult Services introduced this report (copies of which had been previously circulated) which detailed the End of Year performance against the metrics in the Better Care fund Plan for 2022 – 2023.

She highlighted that they had not been able to disaggregate the data between North and West Northants Council but they were hoping to be able to do so for the following year. 

The Health and Wellbeing Board wished to pass on its thanks to the teams and colleagues in the Trusts for all their hard work and noted that to be achieving on all the indicators was a sign of the good work of social care and acute hospitals.

In answer to queries on the report the following was confirmed:

• The planning document would be brought to the next Board meeting.
• It was important the Board reviewed the documents to ensure they received the scrutiny they deserved.
• It was also noted members of the Board would like to have the papers in time to be sent out prior to the next meeting if they were to be adequately scrutinised.
• How to use the Better Care Fund moving forward was something they wished to review. 
• There would not be a quick fix.  They committed to review how they had invested in some of the iCAN items
• There was a challenging forum that would bring everything together but this was emerging.  Key priorities that required delivery were identified  and they would need to robustly review the manner of that delivery.

RESOLVED that:  the Health and Wellbeing Board:

1)    Noted the information on the 2022/23 Better Care fund End of Year performance including performance against the metrics in the Better Care Fund plan for 2022 – 2023; and

2)    The Health and Wellbeing Board signed off the Better Care Fund (BCF) 2022/2023 performance template submitted to NHSE.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 4.40pm.