Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Public Health seeking the Boards consideration of short term funding solutions to enable the Leeds Let’s Get Active Scheme to continue and allow further evaluation of the project on health outcomes

Further to minute 34 of the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting held 30th September 2015, the Director of Public Health submitted a report as the basis for discussions on funding options for the short term continuation of the Leeds Let’s Get Active scheme and seeking agreement for continuation of funding.

Mark Allman, LCC Sport and Active Lifestyles, presented the report and outlined the success of the scheme as it continued to grow. He stated that 350,000 visits had now been made overall with nearly half of those being people previously declaring as being inactive.

Steve Zwolinsky of Leeds Beckett University referred to the quantitative and qualitative evidence produced so far through evaluation of the scheme. Data analysed could enable assessment of behaviours and service provision and allow for resources to be targeted appropriately to local services and/or communities most in need.

In conclusion, officers highlighted that funding for Leeds Let’s Get Active would cease at the end of March 2016 with no source of funding as yet identified to allow continuation beyond the end of April 2016. Closing the scheme in March would require an exit strategy to be implemented from the end of January 2016.

The report sought the Board's consideration of funding sources to allow the continuation of the Leeds Let’s Get Active (LLGA) scheme for the full research period commissioned by Public Health to be evaluated and reported upon, and the Board noted the preferred option of the continuation of the scheme at least until March 2017.

The Board discussed the following matters:

-  Whether a precise cost analysis of the benefits of the scheme had been undertaken. The response that an interim report was anticipated in summer 2016 was noted. Additionally, it was reported that funding had been secured until 2018 for a PHD student to assess the wider economic benefits of the LLGA scheme

(Matt Ward withdrew from the meeting for a short while at this point)

-  That LLGA was an innovative scheme commissioned by Public Health to tackle health inequalities in Leeds when public health functions transferred to the Local Authority

-  Prioritisation for the future would be a challenge, and LLGA was a project that provided data to help inform strategic investment. Detail on the impact of the possible withdrawal of the scheme was required. The response that it was difficult to quantify the impact of withdrawal or amendment of the scheme was noted - different users of the scheme with differing health needs would present different outcomes in either eventuality

-  Recognised the difficulty in expressing support for this scheme without full knowledge of the Public Health budget for 2016/17 and the National Health Service and Leeds CCGs budgets

-  The suggestion that the LLGA scheme be funded until the summer 2016 to allow further evaluation of the impact of the project on health outcomes within the context of overall budget provision was discussed. It was noted that in the present circumstances, this would require the HWB partners to commit to funding the scheme. Again, this would prove difficult without full knowledge of the local NHS and CCG budgets and would impact on the budgets available for other schemes in similar circumstances.

-  A cost analysis of the scheme was urgently required so that the value of the scheme could be assessed.

A suggestion that the Integrated Commissioning Executive (ICE - set up to support HWB) be tasked with consideration of supporting the scheme until the Leeds Beckett University evaluation could be completed was agreed. ICE is due to meet on 19/1/16 and a verbal report on the outcome of ICE deliberations could be made to the next HWB meeting on 20/1/16. Details of the LLGA cost and benefit analysis undertaken so far should be presented to ICE for consideration. However it was noted that full funding figures may not have been released by that date, in order to properly set the scheme in the wider funding context and balance it against other initiatives also seeking future funding support for the longer term.

RESOLVED -

a)  That the contents of the report and the comments made during discussions on the Leeds Let's Get Active scheme be noted

b)  To note the contribution the Leeds Let’s Get Active is making to the overarching ambition of the city’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy of ensuring that those who are the poorest improve their health fastest

c)  The Board, having considered funding sources to allow the continuation of the Leeds Let’s Get Active (LLGA) scheme for the full research commissioned by Public Health to be evaluated and reported upon, and having noted the preferred option of the continuation of the scheme ideally up to March 2017, requested

i)  That the Health Partnership Team ensure that a report on the LLGA scheme (to include cost and benefit analysis information collated so far) be presented to the meeting of the Integrated Commissioning Executive on 19th January 2016 for consideration; and

ii)  That Cath Roff as the Co-Chair of ICE be requested to present a verbal update on the outcome of the ICE discussions to the next meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board on 20th January 2016

d)  That subject to c) above, the Board requested that a fuller evaluation report is presented for consideration by the Board in October 2016 to allow discussion about the longer term funding of the scheme and the impact on health and wellbeing outcomes.