Agenda item

To consider the report of the Big Leeds Chat Working Group outlining an assessment of the progress of the 10 Big Asks identified by the public through the Big Leeds Chat (BLC) 2021. It shows that both plans and actions are in place for the majority of the Asks. There is understandable variability in the governance and public presentation of progress. It is also clear there are Asks which are either not met or only partially met.

The report of the Big Leeds Chat Working Group outlined an assessment of the progress of the 10 Big Asks identified by the public through the Big Leeds Chat (BLC) 2021. It showed that both plans and actions were in place for the majority of the Asks.

In attendance were;

·  Hannah Davies, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Leeds

·  Paul Bollom, Head of Health and Care Development

The Chief Executive of Healthwatch Leeds, introduced the item and outlined the ambition to have the voice of the people at the heart of all levels of health and care planning. The Board was also reminded of the work undertaken across the city as part of the Big Leeds Chat 2021 where 40 events were held city wide. The 10 ‘Asks’ reflected the recurring themes of the events and previously the Board had felt it important to identify a lead for each ‘Ask’. Events had been held in an open conversation format, distanced from formal survey models. Notable events that took place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic were a joint event at the Civic Hall and two public conversation events run by Healthwatch at Kirkgate Market. 

The Head of Health and Care Development outlined each of the ten ‘Asks’, noting that some reflected the impact of the pandemic and more recently the cost of living crisis. He added that, in summary, when you asked people about their health, invariably they bring up the wider determinants of health, such as access to transport and greenspace, as much as they focus on the delivery and access to health and care services. The 10 ‘Asks’ were:

1. Make Leeds a city where children and young people’s lives are filled with positive things to do.
2. Make Leeds a city where there are plentiful activities in every local area to support everyone’s wellbeing.
3. Make Leeds a city where people can connect with services face-to-face when they need to.
4. Make Leeds a city where people feel confident they will get help from their GP without barriers getting in the way.
5. Make Leeds a city where each individual community has the local facilities, services and amenities they need.
6. Make Leeds a city where fears about crime and antisocial behaviour are no barrier to enjoying everything the community has to offer.
7. Make Leeds a city where services acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health and where a varied range of service- and community-based mental health support is available.
8. Make Leeds a city where there are affordable activities that enable everyone to stay healthy.
9. Make Leeds a city where green spaces are kept tidy and welcoming, because services understand the vital role, they play in keeping people well.
10. Make Leeds a city where everyone can get around easily on public transport, no matter their location or mobility needs.

The Board had challenged each Ask area to consider 4 questions, detailed at page 54 of the report and a video was played for Members which provided feedback to the Board on these topics and cross-cut a number of the Asks. The video focused on SCOT FC, a local grass roots football team and demonstrated benefits for feeling part of a community, positive impact for children, community mental health and cost effectiveness. The programme had also involved Get Set Leeds and Active Leeds.

For some areas there was very clear plan and action plan to implement, but there were some ‘Asks’ where challenges remained:

·  For Ask 2 - ‘A city where there are plentiful activities’ –There was no single plan or oversight, making evidence for what had been done to address the challenge difficult to gauge.

·  For Ask 5 – ‘Each individual community has local facilities’ – Visibility of communication and feedback to the public regarding progress and plans for action was less clear, and although there were activities happening, such as, community anchors and priority wards, further community engagement pathways were to be developed.

·  For Ask 10 – ‘Transport’ – A deep dive assessment of transport strategy had been conducted to address accessibility to move around the city which noted some positives; work was ongoing to improve the quality and enhance the overall travel experience and reduce car usage.

The next steps were outlined as, finalising the public facing programme reports, feedback to communities over Autumn 2023 and to link the ‘Asks’ to the development and launch of the refreshed Health and Wellbeing strategy.

The Board discussed the following matters:

·  The Health Partnerships Communications Team was converting the conversations into summaries to release and share back with the 43 Big Leeds Chat communities. It was noted the LCP geographical areas will be useful routes to provide feedback for the public.

·  The importance to repeat the Chats in 2023 was noted, which could use the outreach to communities model, as had been done for the Big Leeds Chat 2021. Feedback can be gathered by asking opinions on how people feel about the 10 headline topics when compared to previous submissions and how they think future consultation should be implemented.

·  The Board noted the challenge to improving public transport and the need for transparency of the conversations providers were having with communities on removing barriers to access and addressing gaps or variation to provision. Work was ongoing regarding pre-9.30am access to public transport for older people with a letter sent to the WYCA Mayor urging removal of this restriction. Getting around the city suburb to suburb was identified as a key issue for outer areas.

·  Some of the ‘Asks’ were very clear, but caution as to how terminology was used was highlighted. The Ask about “individual community” was very broad, so expectations may need to be managed.  It was noted that some of the ‘Asks’ remained vague until the mechanisms for progress for an area had been developed.

·  As an increased number of GPs were working part time, the figures for whole time equivalents were requested with the desire that allocation should be proportionate to population within LCP areas. It was outlined that provision was determined by the Primary Care Network and there were other survey results which were equally important, such as, how a practice operated in its community. Although there were service challenges, 70% of appointments were face to face, 50% of appointments were same day appointments and 20,000 Leeds residents were seen by a GP daily.

·  It was noted that although a lot of the aspects of the ‘Asks’ were out of the Board’s remit and control, the Board and partners did have influence. The 10 Community Committees could be utilised to provide both feedback information on progress with Asks and consult further with communities to develop best practise.

·  Small projects were also noted to potentially have a wide scope of positive impact for communities with an example given as the installation of trees along Harehills Road and the difference that had made for people’s wellbeing.

·  The red, amber and green rating system used to track the progress of each ‘Ask’ was agreed to be reviewed to further monitor progress indicators.

·  Although access to NHS dentistry and GP services had not been raised as one of the ‘Asks’ it was expected to be a key priority for people for the next cycle of the Big Leeds Chat.

A notable project to progress ‘Ask’ 1 was the Leeds Bear Hunt which had been sponsored by local organisations and was a low-cost family day out. There was a “best dressed bear” competition scheduled for the 2^nd of August 2023 in Merrion Gardens.

RESOLVED –

a)  That the progress made in meeting the 10 Big Asks identified through the Big Leeds Chat and address gaps in action or reporting, be noted.

b)  That the feedback approach to communities outlined in the paper including linking feedback to the refresh of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, be agreed.

c)  That the wider use of the Big Leeds Chat approach as an ongoing dialogue for engagement between decision makers and the public, be supported.

d)  That the work to establish greater ongoing dialogue and feedback with the public on the Big Leeds Chat 10 Ask areas developing a relational, conversational and co-production approach, be supported.

e)  That the bringing forward of a further iteration of an engagement approach building on the achievements of the Big Leeds Chat, be supported.

(Councillor J Dowson joined the meeting during consideration of this item)