Julie Webster, Director of Public Health introduced the report which provided the Board with the emerging recommendations of the forthcoming 2020/21 Public Health Annual Report. Members were advised that the report was a statutory report produced independently by the Director of Public Health. The 2020/21 report detailed the enduring health inequalities in Wirral, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on those differences in health outcomes and the recommended actions needed to improve everyone’s health.

Further information was provided on the details within the report, which would report on the key statistics within the borough including the 9 year difference in life expectancy from East to West as well as those compared nationally where many were worse than the England average, whilst also acknowledging the positives such as smoking prevalence in adults in Wirral being the third best performance in the country. Additional issues to be covered included fuel poverty and benefit claimants, the increase support required to children and young people and the importance of prevention and working with partners. The final report would be published in September 2021 and be presented back to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The issue of housing standards was raised, and the Director of Public Health outlined the work ongoing on this include the Healthy Homes Initiative, and reported that further detail would be included in the final report.

Resolved – That the report be noted.