The following apologies were reported to the meeting by the Chair

Louise Barnett, Chief Executive, Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital Trust

Mark Brandreth, CEO, Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Nicky Jacques, Chief Officer, Shropshire Partners in Care

Megan Nurse, Non-Executive Director MPFT

Ros Preen, Director of Finance and Strategy (Shropcom)

      The following substitutions were also notified:

      Ben Hollands, substituted for Megan Nurse.
Chris Preston substituted for Louise Barnett.

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

Members were reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

Jackie Jeffrey Chief Officer, Citizens Advice Shropshire, representing VCSA declared a pecuniary interest, as she held a contract under the Better Care Fund.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 12 November 2020 (attached) and 14 January 2021 (to follow).

Contact: Michelle Dulson Tel 01743 257719

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th November 2020 and 14^th January 2021 be approved as a correct record.

To receive any questions, statements or petitions from the public, notice of which has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 14.  The deadline for this meeting is 9.30am on Tuesday 2 March 2021.

None received.

Regular update reports to the Health and Wellbeing Board are attached:

STP Update

Report to follow.
Contact: Nicky O’Connor, Shropshire STP

Better Care Fund

Report to follow.

Contact: Penny Bason, STP Programme Manager/ COVID Community Response Lead
Tanya Miles, Director of Adult Services, Housing & Public Health, Shropshire Council

STP Update

Nicky O’Connor, Shropshire STP, presented an update, drawing out the key points of the report that had been circulated focussing on the development of the Integrated Care System (ICS).  It was reported that a white paper setting out proposals for health and care integration had been published by the Government on 11th February 2021 setting out the legislative framework. The purpose of the proposals and the delivery plan including the ten pledges were outlined by Nicky O’Connor.

Julian Povey, Shropshire CCG, felt that more detailed discussion was needed regarding the White Paper stressing that the Health and Wellbeing Board needs to know role of the different Boards and also further detail regarding the AQP list to be able to feed back into this issue. The Chairman agreed that an item be scheduled for a future meeting to look at the issues raised and added that the Health and Wellbeing Board would need to have an input into the ICS and contribute to the shaping of the proposals.

The Chairman reported that Councillor Dean Carroll had joined the meeting. Councillor Carroll confirmed that he did not have any disclosable pecuniary interests to declare.

The Chairman agreed that as there was a separate item later on the agenda in relation to Covid-19, this part of the update would be picked up at this point.  

David Evans, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin CCG provided an update in relation to the implementation of the NHS 111 programme noting that there had been a positive impact with lower rates of attendance of patients at Accident and Emergency Departments.

RESOLVED: That the STP Update be noted.

Better Care Fund

Penny Bason provided an update in relation to the Better Care Fund (BCF), noting that guidance was received in December to confirm that there was no requirement to submit plans for assurance in 2020-21 and that the funding would be placed in a section 75 agreement with appropriate governance. Penny Bason added that the scheme, BCF spend and Partnership Agreement still required approval from the Board.

RESOLVED:   That the final Section 75 Partnership Variation Agreement be noted and the BCF spend for 20/21 be endorsed by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Report attached.

Contact: Sean McCarthy, Armed Forces Covenant Lead, Shropshire Council

        Sean McCarthy, Armed Forces Covenant Lead, presented the Armed Forces legislation report. He explained that the key principle of the Armed Forces Covenant was to remove disadvantage to Armed Services Personnel and Families who have little or no choice in where they live and work.

        It was reported that the Armed Forces Covenant was working its way through parliament and the new legislation will require all public authorities, when exercising its public functions relating to Education, Healthcare and Housing, to have due regard to a number of factors, as outlined in the report.

        Penny Bason noted that she would act as a link from the Board with the Armed Forces Covenant. 

RESOLVED:

1.     That the HWBB note and consider the impact of the proposed legislation.

2.     That the Armed Forces Covenant Lead will update the HWBB when further information about the legislation is released.

Report to follow.

Contact: Rachel Robinson, Director of Public Health, Shropshire Council

Rachel Robinson, Director of Public Health gave an update on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) noting the four key elements: Best Practice, Geographies, Delivery Model and SEND.

Karen Bradshaw, Director Children’s Services noted that she welcomed the focus on SEND and the appointment of a full-time analyst post as this had been identified as a key priority in the local area.

In response to a comment regarding the use of the voluntary sector for grants, Rachel Robinson clarified that this was for the voluntary sector to hopefully use the evidence in the JSNA to support accessing grants, and that the knowledge and work of the voluntary sector in understanding the needs of the population was crucial to developing the JSNA. 

Councillor Dean Carroll stated that this was an intensive piece of work completed alongside the challenges of Covid-19 and thanked all officers involved.

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted. 

Report attached.
Contact: Simon Ross, MEA

Simon Ross, Marches Energy Agency gave a presentation in relation to Healthy Homes Shropshire Project (copy attached to the signed minutes) and explained that a funding bid worth £210,954 had been submitted to support 1200 extra households in Shropshire struggling with a cold home.

In his presentation, Simon Ross outlined the key aims of the project and detailed previous case studies from the Keep Shropshire Warm project. He added that the project was seeking a trustee who could help develop this more strategically.

The Chairman wished Simon Ross well with the bid and welcomed an update at a later date.

RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

A verbal update will be given.

Contact: Rachel Robinson, Director of Public Health, Shropshire Council

Rachel Robinson, the Director of Public Health for Shropshire provided an update on flu immunisations reporting that the uptake within Shropshire was very good and the increased uptake of the vaccine and social distancing measures had impacted on the rates.

Rachel Robinson, the Director of Public Health for Shropshire provided an update on Covid-19 within Shropshire.  It was reported that rates had fallen since the January meeting, however, Shropshire was still above the national average. It was explained that Shropshire had one of the highest rates of testing in the West Midlands and there were a variety of local testing sites operating for those who were asymptomatic which was part of the Governments Road Map. 

Rachel Robinson, in response to a question from the Chairman in relation to asymptomatic testing and whether businesses will be able to have staff tested as more people return to the workplace explained that this was to be rolled out gradually and she would welcome support from the Board to get a strong message out about the need for asymptomatic testing to reduce rates in Shropshire. 

In response to a question concerning the wider impact of Covid-19, Rachel Robinson explained that they were starting to look at this by developing a long-term plan to address next 2 – 3 years which was due to be circulated soon with the Board involved in the process.

Responding to comments regarding the need for increased accessibility to lateral flow testing, Rachel Robinson, noted the challenge due to rural nature of the county and there were some pop up sites where walk in was available, but most sites need appointments to be booked in advance.

David Evans, Accountable Officer for Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin CCG, provided an update on the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination noting that in less than two months over 175,000 people had been vaccinated.  He thanked all that had been involved to make this happen which had been a significant achievement with Shropshire listed as 8^th in the ranking for over 65s vaccinated and Telford listed first.

The Chairman thanked Rachel Robinson and David Evans for their updates.

RESOLVED:  To note the report and updates given.

It was noted that this would be the last meeting for Joint Chairman Dr Julian Povey and Councillor Lee Chapman. On behalf of the Board Councillor Dean Carroll thanked both for their involvement with the Board and wished them well for the future.