Agenda and minutes

The Chair opened the meeting, welcoming members of the Board, those presenting items on the agenda, and those observing the meeting in person and via the webcast to the first meeting of the new municipal year, 2022/23, of the Scrutiny Board (Adults, Health and Active Lifestyles).

The Chair also thanked former Board members Councillor Cunningham, Councillor Dowson and Councillor Latty for their contribution to the Board during the previous municipal year. 

Before continuing with the formal items of business, members of the Board were invited to introduce themselves.

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25* of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(* In accordance with Procedure Rule 25, notice of an appeal must be received in writing by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting).

There were no appeals.

1.  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2.  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3.  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

  No exempt items have been identified.

There were no exempt items.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

No formal items of late business were added to the agenda, however supplementary information in respect of Item 10 ‘Sources of Work’ had been provided to members of the Committee and would be published to the Council’s website. (Minute 10 refers)

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies had been received from Councillor Hart-Brooke and Councillor Kidger.  No substitute members were in attendance. 

(1)  To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2022.

(2)  To note the meeting notes of the consultative meeting held on 26 April 2022.

RESOLVED –

(a) That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2022 be approved as an accurate record. 

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(b) That the meeting notes of the consultative meeting held on 26 April 2022 be noted.

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services on the appointment of co-opted members to the Scrutiny Board (Adults, Health and Active Lifestyle).

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which sought the Board’s consideration for the appointment of co-opted members in line with the arrangements detailed in the Council’s Constitution. 

In considering the report, members of the Board were reminded of Healthwatch Leeds’ nomination of Dr John Beal as a non-voting co-opted member. 

RESOLVED –

That Dr John Beal, representing Healthwatch Leeds, be appointed to the Scrutiny Board as a non-voting co-opted member for 2022/23:

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services presenting the Scrutiny Board’s terms of reference.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that set out the Board’s Terms of Reference for Members’ information. 

The report also set out details relating to the Health and Care Act 2022.  This included some implications for the Council, specifically relating to local authority health scrutiny powers and functions relative to the new Secretary of State intervention powers introduced through the Act. 

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the Board’s terms of reference be noted.

(b)  That the likely future impact of the Health and Care Act 2022, as set out in the report and will be reported to the Board in due course, be noted. 

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services associated with the discharge of the Boards special responsibility to fulfil the council’s statutory health scrutiny function.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that set out details associated with the discharge of the Board’s special responsibility to fulfil the Council’s statutory health scrutiny function and scrutinising any matter relating to the planning, provision and operation of local health services. 

The report presented:

(1)  The Department of Health guidance ‘Local Authority Health Scrutiny’ (2014) to support local authorities and partners deliver effective health scrutiny.

(2)  Draft Terms of Reference for the Health Service Developments Working Group – to provide a forum for health partners to present proposed service changes or developments at an early stage to help determine the level of engagement and/or consultation with the Scrutiny Board.

(3)  Details of the West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and sought the Boards nomination for two members to serve as the Board’s representatives on the Joint Committee for 2022/23. 

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the content of this report, alongside the associated appendices, information and guidance presented, be noted.

(b)  That the re-establishment of the Health Service Developments Working Group, in line with the Terms of Reference as presented at Appendix 2, be agreed.

(c)  That Councillor Marshall-Katung and Councillor Harrington be appointed as the Board’s representatives to serve on the West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) for the municipal year, 2022/23.

(d)  That the existing JHOSC arrangements as detailed in the report, and that may be subject to further review and amendments as a result of the local implementation of the Health and Care Act 2022, be noted.

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services on potential sources of work for the Scrutiny Board.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report on potential sources of work and areas of priority within the Board’s terms of reference. The following information was appended to the report:

·  The Best City Ambition

·  Leeds Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2016-2021)

·  A summary of the Council’s 2022/23 budget proposals relevant to the remit of the Scrutiny Board (Adults, Health and Active Lifestyles).

The following were in attendance:

·  Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships

·  Councillor Salma Arif, Executive Member for Public Health and Active Lifestyles

·  Cath Roff, Director of Adults and Health

·  Victoria Eaton, Director of Public Health

·  Shona McFarlane, Deputy Director, Social Work and Social Care Service

·  Steven Baker, Head of Active Leeds

·  Rob Newton, Associate Director of Policy and Partnerships, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

·  Joanna Forster Adams, Chief Operating Officer, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

·  Dr Lucy Clement, Liaison Officer, Leeds Local Medical Committee representative

Apologies had been received from Councillor Helen Hayden, Executive Member for Infrastructure and Climate. 

NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group and Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust had also sent apologies, with no suitably senior representatives available to attend.  Board members expressed their disappointment in this regard. 

The Chair invited those present to introduce themselves, then to outline key issues and potential areas of work for the Scrutiny Board to undertake during the current municipal year.

In summary, the following key areas were highlighted as potential areas of focus:

·  Continued oversight of the Integrated Care System development and progression.

·  Impact of the cost of living crisis.

·  The health and housing breakthrough project linked to the Best City Ambitions.

·  Health inequalities – including a specific focus on gypsy and travellers’ health outcomes.

·  Implications of the commitment to Leeds becoming a Marmot city.

·  Exploring barriers to accessing the Council’s Leisure Centres.

·  Social Care reform – including fair cost of care reform, charging reforms, and the re-introduction of the Adult Social Care inspection regime

·  Introduction of the Liberty Protection Safeguards.

·  Health impact of climate change.

·  Learning from COVID and the Council’s long-term trusted relationship with its communities

·  Elective (planned) care recovery within health services – waiting lists and waiting times.

·  Non-elective (emergency) care and patient flow.

·  LTHTs new hospitals programme.

·  Responding to and managing increases and changes in demand for mental health services – for example adolescent eating disorders and primary care referrals. 

·  Workforce Strategy – including workforce challenges, wellbeing and diversity.

·  The role of health estate and investment in estate in providing the right care in the right place for patients

·  Health equity in physical and mental health. 

·  Targeted accessibility to mental health services.

·  Using patient experience within services.

·  Capacity and access to GP services and the relationship between primary and specialist (secondary) care services.

·  Service access criteria and expedite letters.

·  The Council’s Physical Ambition

·  Active travel

·  Engagement with the Care Quality Commission as the health and care regulator.

·  Focusing on specific areas of influence and outcomes.

·  Supporting people to maintain a healthy diet and healthy weight.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To receive a joint report from the Director of Adults and Health, the Director of Public Health and the Director of City Development that presents an update on progress in delivering the council and city priorities in line with the council’s performance management framework.

The Director of Adults and Health, the Director of Public Health and the Director of City Development submitted a joint report that provided a summary of performance information within the remit of the Scrutiny Board, covering Adult Social Care, Public Health and More Active Lifestyles

The following were in attendance:

·  Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships

·  Councillor Salma Arif, Executive Member for Public Health and Active Lifestyles

·  Cath Roff, Director of Adults and Health

·  Victoria Eaton, Director of Public Health

·  Shona McFarlane, Deputy Director, Social Work and Social Care Service

·  Steven Baker, Head of Active Leeds

·  Anna Frearson, Consultant in Public Health – Healthy Living and Health Improvement

·  Janice Burberry, Head of Public Health (Children and Families)

·  Rob Wood, Intelligence and Policy Manager, Adults and Health

In considering the performance details presented, the Board discussed a number of matters in more detail, across Adult Social Care, Public Health and More Active Lifestyles, including the following:

Adult Social Care

·  The not unexpected, negative impact of COVID on many performance areas across Adult Social Care, while recognising comparative and benchmarking data will not be available until October 2022.

·  The re-set of services for carers to help encourage uptake. 

·  Understanding and communicating the social care offer within some communities across Leeds. 

Public Health

·  Performance data starting to demonstrate the emerging impact of COVID across a range of public health measures, including life expectancy overall and across specific groups.

·  General worsening of performance across population health indicators, alongside significant increases in the prevalence of severe mental health within adults, with the increased prevalence of obesity within Reception aged children being the starkest change on record. 

·  Activities related to healthy weight across all age ranges, the Council’s healthy weight declaration and associated action plan. 

·  The health inequalities gap between least deprived communities and most deprived communities in Leeds and the general disproportionate impact of COVID in more deprived areas. 

·  Improvements within operational service performance, including the increase in the number of NHS Health Checks completed. 

More Active Lifestyles

·  Encouraging recovery across Active Leeds, with levels of activity rates near, and in some cases exceeding, pre-COVID levels.  Performance levels also compared well against other local authorities locally, regionally and nationally. 

·  Recovery to pre-COVID activity levels currently slower within deprived communities and groups, also highlighting the inequalities between some of the least deprived communities and most deprived communities in Leeds.

·  Levels of active gym memberships and physical activity as part of the social prescribing offer.

·  The range of barriers that may impact on people being physical activity. 

At the end of the discussion, the Chair thanked those present for their input and contributions to the discussion. 

RESOLVED –

That the contents of the report be noted.

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2022/23 municipal year.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented a draft work schedule for the municipal year, 2022/23. Reflected in the work schedule were known items of scrutiny activity, such as performance and budget monitoring, as well as other areas of work recommended for progression by the former Scrutiny Board at the end of the previous municipal year, 2021/22.

In presenting the report and draft work schedule for 2022/23, the Principal Scrutiny Adviser reflected on the Board’s wide-ranging remit, the number of partner and stakeholder organisations within scope and the earlier contributions and discussion on areas which the Board could focus on during 2022/23 – advising that many areas could be considered under the following broad themes:

·  Health Inequalities

·  Workforce

·  Mental Health

There was general agreement around the identified themes, alongside the evolving partnership arrangements resulting from the future establishment of Integrated Care Boards and associated place-based arrangements. 

RESOLVED –

That the Chair liaises with the Principal Scrutiny Adviser to consider how best to prioritise and incorporate identified areas of work into the work schedule, with a view to bringing an updated version to the Board’s next meeting for consideration and approval.

Tuesday, 19July 2022 at 1:30pm (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 1:00pm)

Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 1:30pm (pre-meeting at 1:00pm)