Further to the meeting of the Committee held on 24 January 2019 (Minute 36 refers), the Acting Director of Public Health introduced a report providing further detail on the key challenges that Wirral faces in relation to overweight and obesity, the opportunities to help local people maintain a healthy weight and outlining a series of recommendations for action.

Obesity is one of the most serious and complex health challenges, with several different but often interlinked causes. There was no single effective solution in tackling obesity and action across agencies, sectors and with local people is needed to address it effectively.  Almost two thirds of local people are either overweight or obese and the impact of this is far reaching and has multiple implications.  Without effective action the health of individuals will continue to suffer, the health inequalities associated with obesity will remain, and the economic and social costs will increase to unsustainable levels.

It was noted that a number of actions required national policy and that Councils were well placed to lobby national government on behalf of local people and to deliver action locally.  At the local level, there was opportunity to go beyond educating people about healthy eating and to also tackle key local environmental drivers of obesity and to support people who are already overweight.  It was proposed that this Committee support a whole systems approach for the Council to work with stakeholders to develop an understanding of the reality of the challenge, consider how the system is operating, and where there are the greatest opportunities for change.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was considered to be well placed to lead this approach and several issues that could be explored via this approach that could lead to local action were considered within the submitted report. 

The Committee was also invited to consider supporting a Local Government Declaration on Healthy Weight for Wirral Council that would present a vison for the promotion of healthy weight and the improvement of the health and  wellbeing of the local population, recognising the Council’s need to exercise it’s responsibility in developing and implementing policies that promote healthy weight.  In response to a query, it was advised that Blackpool’s Declaration, provided to the Committee as an exemplar, had had varied success and was being refreshed with these outcomes in mind.

The link between mental health and obesity was noted, and comment made that healthy eating contributed to being in the right frame of mind.  While this had not been addressed directly in the submitted paper, the issue was being picked up in work with people with anxiety and depression. 

It was queried whether the quality of school meals was monitored and whether nutrition legislation was being followed.  While this could not be responded to at the meeting, the Acting Director advised of an approach received from Edsential and the offer they provided.  The quality of the Edsential offer was stressed by a Member referencing his experience as a school governor.  Noting that schools also used other providers to deliver school meals and had a big role to play in delivering healthy food, Members asked to be advised of the monitoring arrangements.  The Acting Director advised that work with schools was an area that Public Health wished to address and improve upon, looking to commission a Healthy Child Programme and to develop links with Edsential.

A Member noted that of the several issues put forward for exploration in the submitted report only the proposed Declaration had any indication of enforcement queried how healthy eating and measures to tackle obesity were to be ‘enforced’.  The Acting Director advised that the approach was about changing behaviours, and so it was important to create the right environment to help people make choices and be encouraged to eat healthily.  The importance of tackling obesity was stressed by a rise in Type 2 diabetes.

In response to a query concerning work to address takeaways through the planning system which had been supported by Members, the Acting Director advised that this remained a work in progress, but maybe not as quickly as would have been liked from a public health perspective.  In discussion, a Member noted that this approach had been a recommendation of the Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)  a  Committee working group be established to develop, through a series of workshops, an action plan to develop key areas of work to support local people to maintain a healthy weight;

(2)  the opportunities to promote healthy weight as identified within the submitted report be noted;

(3)  the proposed development of and commitment to a Local Government Declaration on Healthy Weight for Wirral be endorsed.