To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 November 2023, as a correct record.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held 7 November 2024 be approved, and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered

There were none.

There were none.

The Portfolio Holder, and Chairman, presented an update on the services within his portfolio. The number of people in temporary or emergency accommodation had been static since December 2023, at 103. This was a reduction from the level in March 2022, of 139. Quercus Housing were actively acquiring 8 homes in Edenbridge, 1 home in New Ash Green, and 2 homes in Sevenoaks town for affordable housing. The Hyde Housing and Town & Country had been accepted as preferred partners and become registered providers for the District. Town & Country would be delivering 14 new homes in Hextable.

The Annual Rough Sleeper Count was held in November 2023 in partnership with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, and was attended with the official Homeless Link Verifier, the Leader of the Council, and the Portfolio Holder for Housing & Health. Improvements to three pitches at the Hever Road Gypsy & Traveller Site were completed in November 2023, and they were moved into by new applicants in December.

The mobilisation of the One You Kent service at the Edenbridge Memorial Health Centre continued at pace. Having secured external funding to provide this service, an officer began their role on 18 December, and was training to start delivering the service. A second officer was set to begin in January 2024. The externally funded Health Inequalities Project in Swanley and Northern Parishes was ongoing. A two-part bid and proposal for the Interventions Lodging Model had been submitted to the Dartford, Gravesham, and Swanley Health Care Partnership, who had submitted it to the Integrated Care Board. The outcome of this submission was expected before the next meeting of the committee.

There were none.

To note the minutes of the meeting of the Health Liaison Board held on 10 January 2023.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held 10 January 2024 be noted.

The Health & Communities Manager advised Members that the representative from Head In The Game was unable to attend the meeting last minute due to a safeguarding case.

Resolved: That consideration of the item be deferred to a future meeting due to the absence of the Head In The Game representative.

The Health Team Leader presented the report, which updated the Committee on the Health & Wellbeing Action Plan 2023-24 for Quarter 2. The Plan covered 50 actions under the three pillars of Wider Determinants of Health, Health Behaviours, and Places and Communities. Of these actions, 41 were actively being worked on, 4 were starting, 1 had not progressed, and 4 were lacking data. Work was ongoing for further developing the plan for 2024/25, in collaboration with partners, including the public sector, voluntary and community groups, and schools to gather new perspectives and ensure there was no duplication. The officer outlined some of the cases within the report.

The One You service at Edenbridge Memorial Health Centre was holding its first face-to-face healthy lifestyles programme on 23 January. 15 people had registered so far. A bid had been submitted for funding for the Swanley Health Inequality Project. A monthly Health & Wellbeing Workshop for Council staff had been formed.

In response to questions, the officer explained the circumstances for actions that were missing information. As a partnership plan, the organisations responsible for the actions had been approached, and this would be discussed at an upcoming meeting with them. However, it was emphasised that the Council had no power to demand data from the organisations. If they were unable to progress their targets, then they would be reviewed to ensure the organisations were working towards realistic goals. The new draft Partnership Plan would be presented to Members for their feedback, which would include specific targets set within the Public Health Plan for the 2024-25 Action Plan. The information gathered from the Action Plan workshop on 16 January would also be included in the new action plan.

Members discussed the targets within the Action Plan. They expressed concern that the scale of some of the actions was inappropriate for a plan that covered the district. Whilst the work noted in the actions was positive, it did not impact the health problems of the district enough. Members discussed the possibility of introducing smart targets and/or outcome-based targets into the plan. The officer explained that outcome-based targets were a fundamental element of the plan, and that smart targets could be difficult, as changes to wider determinants of public health could take around 10 – 12 years to manifest. Changing public behaviours, such as through the Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan, took a significant amount of time. Funding constraints further limited the usefulness of smart targets in the short term. The actions further contributed to addressing the health problems of the district at scale by promoting partnership work between organisations.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

The Work Plan was noted as below:

June 2024

-         Allocations Policy Review

-         Sevenoaks District Health & Wellbeing Action Plan 2024/25

-         Housing Standards in the Private Rented Sector

-         Rural Exception Sites & Needs Update

September 2024

-         Dartford, Gravesham, and Swanley Health & Care Partnership Funding Update

-         Head in the Game update