Venue: MP701 - Town Hall Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services
Tel: 020 7364 5554 E-mail: rushena.miah@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS PDF 118 KB
To note any declarations of
interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from
voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local
Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring
Officer.
Minutes:
There were no declarations of pecuniary
interests.
|
2. |
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 253 KB
To confirm as a correct record
the minutes of the Health & Adults Scrutiny Sub-Committee
meeting on 8 July 2019.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee reviewed the minutes and actions
of the previous meeting held on 8 July 2019.
The following actions remained OPEN with the following comments:
HASSC
08.07.19
Item 2
|
Officers to provide the Committee the Framework for
the Charging Waver Panel, details of the support provided to help
people avoid debt and county court judgements.
2 Sep
update: The committee clarified that they
requested the Numbers of people involved and more information on
the support provided prior to CCJs.
|
HASSC
08.07.19
Item 2
|
Officers to provide the Committee with the number of people
claiming Attendance Allowance and Personal Independence
Payments.
2 Sep
update: Actual numbers of people getting
attendance allowance prior to and after charging
requested.
|
HASSC
08.07.19
Item 2
|
Officers to provide the Committee with the survey results from
REAL.
|
HASSC
08.07.19
Item 2
|
Officers to provide the Committee with the financial data
showing the amount being raised from charging and the amount being
spent to administer charging since the inception of the charging
policy.
2 Sep
update: The Committee requested a further
breakdown of figures to show where the costs of charging are coming
from and the number of people paying what amounts
requested.
|
HASSC
08.07.19
Item 2
|
For
Members to inform Officers which additional measures they wish to
scrutinise.
2 Sep
update: The Committee requested that the
Lead Member attend the next meeting to discuss charging-related
issues with scrutiny members.
|
RESOLVED:
1.
The minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2019 we approved as an
accurate record and signed by the Chair.
2.
For officers to follow up on open actions.
|
3. |
REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
|
4. |
Addressing Childhood Obesity in Tower Hamlets PDF 263 KB
Presented by Katy
Scammell, Associate Director of Public Health.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received the
report of Katy Scammell (Associate Director of Public Health), on
addressing childhood obesity in Tower Hamlets.
Discussion following the
presentation:
- Councillor
Wood made an observation that physical activity was not encouraged
enough in the Borough and that the borough lacked
‘quality’ play spaces. Officers said that there was an
ongoing programme targeted at refurbishing public play spaces.
Councillor Wood said he was aware of the programme but it looked to
be replacing old equipment rather than reimagining the
spaces.
- Members
acknowledged that it was important for the council to intervene to
improve young people’s weight management early on as research
had shown untreated childhood obesity could result in lasting
irreversible damage in adulthood.
- Officers
confirmed that there was not a specific programme targeted to
children with special educational needs but this was something that
was raised during engagement activities and some support would be
included in the 2020 Action Plan.
- Public
Health was funding a Healthy Families programme and a Holiday
Hunger Programme.
- Members
asked for clarification on why children were having six meals a
day. Officers explained that community insight research had found
that children were often consuming their regular meals during the
day, then fast food after school, then a high calorie
‘snack’ at their after school faith lesson or club and
then a final meal at home. They also said research needed to be
conducted to find out why children felt so hungry after
school.
- It was
noted that Tower Hamlets was relatively late in tackling the
proliferation of fast food outlets which had resulted in young
people forming a habit of buying fried chicken after school.
Members asked whether the council would consider financial
incentives to help catering business make a switch to healthier
ingredients.
- Officers
said Public Health funded a healthy food scheme that worked with
caterers to produce healthier food. One recommendation from the
evaluation of the programme was to target the scheme at fast food
outlets. Officers said they were not aware of research from other
local authorities that showed financial incentives were effective
but they had learned from the scheme that business could save money
by changing way they prepared food and by reducing portion
sizes.
- It was
suggested that the uptake of fast food amongst school children
could be linked to the amount of pocket money they received. A
Member said that if on average a child received around £10
pocket money a week, their options were limited to fast
food.
- It was
noted that there was a school meals working group and discussions
from the meeting would be taken back to that group.
- Officers
explained that the programmes were not ready to be mapped to
certain wards as they were still in the early development
phase.
- It was
noted that the logic models would form the basis of the action
plan. Members were invited to get in touch with officers if they
had further input into the action plan being developed.
- Members
requested that the action ...
view the full minutes text for item 4.
|
5. |
Development of a Physical Activity and Sport Strategy PDF 240 KB
Presented by Lisa Pottinger, Head of Sport and
Physical Activity.
Minutes:
The Committee received the
briefing note of Lisa Pottinger (Head of Sport & Physical
Activity), on the development of the Physical Activity and Sports
Strategy.
- Ms
Pottinger summarised the local picture and steps to be taken in the
next six months. She emphasised that the new plan would work
alongside existing strategies and plans such as the addressing
childhood obesity action plan.
- Engagement
activity had taken place with the Mayor, Lead Member, voluntary sector organisations, online and via
community workshops.
- She said
officers were in the process of finalising the first draft of the
strategy. Key drivers behind the strategy included driving health
change, shaping places and the environment and developing youth
interest in sport.
- A draft of
the Strategy was due to be completed in October and there would be
an accompanying Action Plan alongside the strategy.
Members made the following
comments:
- Cllr Andrew
Wood said that the strategy did not look like a strategy document
in that it did not have an executable plan with outcomes and
deliverable objectives. He suggested council officers should look
at the strategy documents of other London Boroughs for a
comparison. Ms Pottinger explained that colleagues from Waltham
Forest and Westminster Councils had consulted on the document but
she would note the comment.
- A Member
asked whether the strategy would emphasise the use of sport and
activity in community cohesion. Officers confirmed that this would
be incorporated into the strategy.
- It was
confirmed that the borough employed a sports development officer
whose role included providing sports provision for disabled
residents.
- Members
said that the GLL contract needed to be reviewed because users were
reporting difficulties in accessing the system or booking swim
classes.
- Members
welcomed the opportunity for the strategy to come back to the
Committee for comment before its formal publication. However in order to effectively scrutinise,
Members requested a benchmarking exercise take place between Tower
Hamlets and other neighbouring boroughs to find out levels of
inactivity and how much is spent on sport and physical activity.
Officers agreed to investigate and offered that the CIPFA on sports
spend could be shared.
- Members
queried whether private leisure centres could be used by school
groups during the daytime at reduced rates because schools had
reported that their budgets were stretched in this area. Officers
acknowledged that it was a challenge for schools to access
facilities but schools had already been provided with school rates
for provision. Officers said the new strategy could explore this
but Council Members would have to provide a steer on whether they
wanted provision to be completely commercial or completely
subsidised which may impact council revenue.
- It was
noted that there should be more water sport activities in the
strategy given the location and existing facilities in the
borough.
- It was
noted the council paid a levy towards Lee Valley Park. Members
advised that the borough was therefore entitled to use Lee Valley
facilities and this should be negotiated for and included in the
strategy.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
development ...
view the full minutes text for item 5.
|
6. |
Type 2 Diabetes - Update from Challenge Session PDF 483 KB
Presented by Chris Lovitt,
Associate Director of Public Health and Ibrahim Khan, Programme
Lead Public Health.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received the
report and presentation of Chris Lovitt (associate director public
health) and Ibrahim Khan (Programme Lead) regarding an update to
the type 2 diabetes challenge session.
In response to Member questions
Officers provided the following:
- The
recommendation for a one year follow-up for patients with
gestational diabetes or who are pre-diabetic was not met but
officers were hoping to introduce this in the next 6 months –
1 year.
- With regard
to engagement with the Bangladeshi community in particular,
officers reported that there was already an early detection and
communication plan in place to address this. The Community
Champions team were also responsible for providing different
community groups with advice and information. Their work would help
improve early detection rates.
- In response
to the recommendation to get more women only leisure provision,
officers explained that the Physical Activity and Sports Strategy
would address this.
- A Member
commented that there was confusion over terms such as
‘pre-diabetic’ or ‘insulin resistant’ in
the community and that there needed to be better dietary advice on
how to manage the condition. Officers explained that there were
community targeted healthy cooking classes delivered by public
health that were available to those who were diabetic, though these
were only available post diagnosis. Officers noted the need to have
a similar scheme pre-diagnosis.
- There was a
discussion around the procurement of the tier 2 weight management
programme and contracting status.
Officers explained that public health would look to first address
the outcomes and then decide an approach. There would be an update
on the framework and approach in January 2020. The Committee
requested to receive a briefing on this and officers agreed to the
request.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
work underway on type 2
diabetes.
ACTION:
- For
officers to provide an update on the procurement of the tier 2
weight management procurement framework.
- Officers to
show where the recommendations from the Challenge Session are being
covered in the Diabetes work programme.
- For
officers to provide an update on progress of the Diabetes Action
Plan before the next meeting.
|
7. |
Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2020 PDF 373 KB
Presented by Somen Banerjee,
Director of Public Health.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received the
report of Somen Banerjee (Director of Public Health) on the Health
and Wellbeing Strategy 2020.
In response to Member questions
officers provided the following:
- That the
‘I’ statements were co-produced with the community with
the aim of identifying emergent themes.
- A Member
asked whether the strategy had taken into account the high density
of the borough as a result of new taller tower blocks. Officers said the strategy was targeted at a local
level and would be responsive to local needs. It was noted that
Healthwatch had significantly contributed towards the development
of the strategy.
- Members
queried why public health felt the strategy required a fundamental
change of approach and whether previous targets had fallen off the
agenda or would be incorporated into the new strategy.
Officers explained that the health and care
landscape had changed significantly since 2016/17 for example the
Tower Hamlets Together partnership did not exist, co-production was
at an early phase and intelligence systems were disjointed. The new
strategy would be a more cohesive and co-produced
strategy. It was noted that several of
the former public health programmes would continue under the new
strategy.
- Members
requested that the Strategy be brought back to the Committee when
complete.
RESOLVED:
1.
To note the development of the Health and Wellbeing
Strategy 2020.
ACTION:
1.
For the Health and Wellbeing Strategy to be brought
back to the committee when complete.
|
8. |
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Minutes:
There was no other business.
|