Members of the Board are asked whether they have any personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any application on the agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

Members of the Board were asked whether they have any personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any application on the agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

The following declarations were made:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tom Anderson, Simone White, Karen Prior, Mike Maier, Sir David Henshaw, Mike Maier, Abel Adegoke, Warren Ward, Karen Howell, Michael Brown, Tim Welch, Dr Faouzi Alam, Sue Higginson and Janelle Holmes.

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2021.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2021 be agreed.

The Chair reported that no public questions, statements or petitions had been submitted.

The Head of Integrated Learning, Skills and Employment introduced the report of the Director of Children, Families and Education which set out the Lifelong Learning Services’ developments, summary of delivery and learner achievements in the 2019/20 academic year which was its first full academic year funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. It was outlined that the report had been submitted to Children, Young People and Education Committee in September 2021 and referred to Health and Wellbeing Board to emphasise the role it played in the wider determinants of health. Further detail on the service was provided to the Board including the work delivered with the third sector including volunteering, employability and mental health & wellbeing.

The Board heard from Kerry Corrigan who had enrolled in the Lifelong Learning programme in 2020 studying Understanding Mental Health and Wellbeing, English and Functional Skills Level 1, Teaching Assistant Level 1 and Teaching Assistant Level 2. The Board heard how Kerry had been supported by the tutors through her study journey, including throughout lockdown when she was loaned a laptop to continue her course, and following completion was now volunteering at her daughter’s school to gain the necessary experience and put her learning into practice.

The Board welcomed the presentation and thanked Kerry for providing the important lived experience. The Director of Public Health emphasised the opportunity through the health and wellbeing strategy to create links across the sector and utilise the Lifelong Learning Service as part of health provision when appropriate for someone accessing health services who would benefit from the service.

Resolved – That

(1)  the report be noted.

(2)  the services’ planned improvements be supported, and the contribution made to improving the lives of adults in Wirral’s more deprived communities during 2019/20 be recognised.

The Head of Legal Services introduced the report of the Director of Law and Governance which provided the latest updates and proposals from the Community, Voluntary and Faith (CVF) Sector Reference Group. The Chair and members of the CVF Reference Group outlined the reports submitted to the Board on behalf of the Group, which detailed proposals in relation to local infrastructure and environmental development.

The Board was informed of the existing work taking place in Wirral in relation to environmental activities including the work of Grow Wellbeing, which displayed the positive impact greenspace has on health and wellbeing and formed part of the evidence for the proposals detailed in the report of the Reference Group. A further update was provided on the Family Hub model with real life examples of the benefits it had already brought to Wirral outlined to the Board including bereavement support and educational achievements.

The Board expressed its support for the work that was taking place in Wirral and the exploration of its further development. The benefits of aligning community groups with health practitioners was recognised including the role of social prescribing, and it was proposed that the preventative work being undertaken in Children’s Services aligned with the work of the Reference Group and that further information be shared with the Group.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The Director of Public Health introduced the report which provided an update on the Marmot Community Programme, led by Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership and Directors of Public Health, working in partnership with the Institute of Health Equity (IHE), University College London, summarising the key messages and areas for action to achieve progress in reducing inequalities, identified by the Institute of Health Equity in their interim report for Cheshire and Merseyside and which it was reported would be used to shape the Wirral Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The working group previously established by the Board to develop the strategy would consider its length of time, its focus on the wider determinants of health, the inclusion of high level outcome framework indicators to monitor progress and its alignment with partnerships such as the Integrated Care Board, Lifelong Learning and Community Safety Partnership. The Working Group would be meeting frequently over the coming months to enable it to develop this work in time to report back to the Health and Wellbeing Board in June 2022.

Resolved – That the continued development of Wirral’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy, based on the recommendations of the Public Health Annual Report 2021, detailed in Appendix 1, and the findings, recommendations and actions developed by the Institute of Health Equity Marmot Community programme for Cheshire and Merseyside be supported.

The Lead Commissioner for Integrated Services introduced the report of the Director of Care and Health which set out the content of the Better Care Fund forward plan for 2021/22 and sought to demonstrate how national conditions had been met. The Board was informed that submitting the plan to NHS England was a mandatory requirement, and that following a ‘light touch’ approach in 2020/21 in light of the system pressures caused by Covid-19, a full response was required for 2021/22. The Board was informed of the detail of the plan as well as the key Council strategies it linked in with including the Early Intervention and Prevention agenda and Mental Health Strategy.

The Board welcomed the demonstration of learning from experiences and use of focus groups. Further information was sought in relation to Disabled Facilities Grants which would be shared with members of the Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The Head of Early Years introduced the report of the Director of Children, Families and Education which provided an overview of the early years sector in Wirral, including the importance of the earliest years of life, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children, their parents/carers and the early years sector and also set out partnership plans for Covid recovery and embedding a robust Early Years Strategy to support children under 5 to fulfil their potential.

It was reported that pre-Covid, work had been undertaken to produce an Early Years Strategy to address anomalies in the previous Ready for School programme and to integrate the outcomes of co-production with key stakeholders including parents and carers into the strategy. Whilst Covid-19 had delayed the development of the strategy, the work identified as priorities had been ongoing and the report detailed this work, including tackling health inequalities. The Board further received a presentation on the work of the Early Years’ Service throughout and since the Covid-19 pandemic, this included detail on:

·  The My Child Can online resource used to engage parents and share information and advice, the website for which had been visited 1.3 million times from March 2020 to March 2021 and the social media platforms having 5,900 followers.

·  Wirral’s Parenting Journey with work undertaken to identify points in time when they should access advice and support.

·  The First 1001 Days Pathway initiative which would be led by voluntary organisations and link in with the Marmot Programme

·  The ‘Start the Conversation’ Communication and Language Pathway which had been co-produced with families

·  The development of a Wirral Early Years Strategy 2022-25

The Board welcomed the presentation and assurances that much of the ongoing work was fitting into the overarching Health and Wellbeing Strategy as it emerged. It was reported that Brook had identified a delay in maturity for children transitioning from primary to secondary and the Chair requested a further report on the impact of covid on socialisation and peer support.

Resolved – That

(1)  the partnership response to delivering early years support and services to children under 5 and their parents/carers throughout the pandemic be noted.

(2)  the development of the Early Years Strategy be noted and the next steps for its launch, implementation and delivery be noted.

The Assistant Director for Education introduced the report of the Director of Children, Families and Education which gave an overview of the Wirral local area response to the findings from the joint local area inspection into the effectiveness of the local area in implementing the special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) reforms as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.

The Board was informed of the findings of the inspection, with some of the strengths identified including vulnerable young people being helped quickly and needs identified well, children with physical disabilities identified early and swift actions put in place to support their educational needs and early help professionals are well trained with the necessary support available. The Board was also informed that there were areas requiring improvement, with issues in assessment pathways and delays in the completion of Education, Health and Care Plans and the annual review process, as well as issues with communication and co-production with parents and carers. The inspection also highlighted the lack of joint commissioning of services in the area and effective strategic oversight to ensure effectiveness of plans, as well as differences in the quality of provision for SEND across the area and disparity of offer in different schools.

Work was undertaken in the weeks following the inspection to address some of the areas of concern highlighted and these were summarised to the Board. These included:

·  Needs analysis and data – effective partnership working in collaboration resulting in the identification of a dedicated resource to support development of a robust data set across the Council and CCG

·  Assessment and planning – ongoing development of a new and inclusive pathway around the concept of three waves of support

·  Co-production and communication – development of a new local offer website for parents and carers co-produced with parents, carers, young people and partner agencies

The Council’s response would be monitored by the Department for Education, Care Quality Commission and OFSTED, and regular updates would be brought back to the Health and Wellbeing Board with young people, parents, carers and schools invited to contribute. The Board recognised the value of co-production and the need to work together across the system with the Health and Wellbeing Board being seen as a valuable forum for that discussion to take place.

Resolved – That

(1)   the actions carried out to date, and the proposed actions to be included in the development of the Written Statement of Action to be submitted to Ofsted be endorsed.

(2)  the Director of Children, Families and Education be requested to submit a progress report to the Board at the start of the 2022/23 municipal year.

The Chief Officer of NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group introduced the report which provided an update on the development of the Integrated Care System and the associated changes to the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). It was reported that subsequent to the publication of the report, a number of changes had been announced which were brought to the Board’s attention. This included the establishment of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) being delayed to 1 July 2022 and the appointment of Graham Irwin as the designate Chief Executive of the ICB, who would be lead the interview for the appointment of the Wirral Place Director with a closing date of 15^th February. The Board was assured that the delay to the introduction of the ICB had no effect to the Clinical Commissioning Group workforce employment commitment, but the transfer would now not happen until April 2022.

The role of the Board within the new arrangements was clarified, with it retaining its statutory functions whilst also shaping the strategic direction in relation to improving health and care outcomes for residents.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The Head of Legal Services introduced the report of the Director of Law and Governance which provided the Board with its current work programme and gave opportunity to propose additional items for consideration at future meetings.

On a motion proposed by Matthew Swanborough, seconded by Councillor Yvonne Nolan, it was –

Resolved – That

(1)  the work programme be noted.

(2)  a report on the impact of the formation of the Integrated Care System be added to the work programme for consideration in July 2022.