The Chairman will announce details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

The Chair reminded members of the action to be taken in an emergency.

(If any) – receive

Apologies were received from Anne-Marie Dean and Narinderjit Kullar. It was noted that Tara Geere would arrive later.

Members are invited to disclose any interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.

Members may still disclose any interest in any item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Committee held on 3 April 2024 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 April 2024 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report attached.

The report for this item has been withdrawn and will be re-submitted to the January meeting.

Report and appendix attached.

The chair agreed for this item to be considered after item 7, the Tobacco Harm Reduction Strategy.

Report presented by Lucy Goodfellow.

The report contained two recommendations for the Health and Wellbeing Board:

·         Note the contents of the Integrated Starting Well Plan and the approach that has been taken to its development; and

·         Adopt the suggested five Starting Well JSNA recommendations - each of which is aligned to one of the five priorities within the Plan - for inclusion in Havering’s refreshed Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

It was reported that the Starting Well Plan brings together key strategies responding to evidence and recommendations from JSNA, and feedback from children and young people. The aim is to enable children and families to lead happy, healthy lives. The plan also builds upon the council’s corporate plan, including that of the People and Place directorates. It also complements the Starting Well Improvement Plan. It is aimed at every child in the borough up to the age of 18, or up to the age of 25 for people with special educational needs or disabilities.

Five priorities have been identified. The first four aim for children and young people to be well, inspired, safe and heard. The fifth priority is to ensure children and young people in Havering are treated fairly. The Shout Survey (2022) provided information on the views of young people in the borough. The Havering Youth Wellbeing census of 2023 also informed these decisions.

The plan contains an action plan setting out some recommendations that were made in the Starting Well Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Chapter that was published earlier this year. This action plan will be refined in the final version of the document.

It was requested that five JSNA recommendations in particular are adopted for inclusion in the refreshed strategy when it is published.

1. To develop a joint strategy for adolescents’ mental health and wellbeing.

2. Early intervention to improve school readiness.

3. Statutory and voluntary partners to work together to consider ways of intervening earlier to prevent admission into hospital as a result of self-harm (aligned with the suicide prevention strategy for the borough).

4. Good quality engagement with young people to understand how we can better manage their transition from children’s services to adult services for those requiring ongoing care and support.

5. Partners to work collectively to decrease inequalities in educational outcomes for young people.

A consultation on the draft plan was conducted in October. The plan was also shown to the Youth Council, who were happy with the priorities that have been identified. The Youth Council had agreed to help produce a child-friendly version once the plan had been adopted by full council.

Consultation feedback showed a lot of agreement with the priorities identified. There were mixed responses over whether the plan was clear enough on how the council will work with partners to achieve these outcomes. The document is being adjusted in response to feedback, specifically in the following areas: the role  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report, presentation and strategy attached.

The chair agreed for this item to be considered before item 6, Havering’s Integrated Starting Well Plan.

Report presented by Kate Ezeoke-Griffiths and Natalie Naor.

The Tobacco Harm Reduction Strategy was developed this year in partnership with a range of partners. Tobacco is a major cause of ill health, early death, and inequality. The strategy is aligned with national policies as well as local policies, including the council’s corporate plan which aims to help residents stay well and lead healthy lives. This is a five-year strategy due to the government’s funding commitment for five years. The strategy covers tobacco reduction as well as vaping. The government aims to create a smoke-free nation by 2030. The government had introduced a Tobacco and Vape Bill to Parliament in the last few days. 

This strategy was a result of a Tobacco Harm Reduction Partnership including the NHS, the local pharmaceutical community, and other teams across the council. The partnership aims to oversee the development of the strategy, the implementation of the action plan, and the measurement of progress over time, using a set of indicators. The strategy has been informed by wider stakeholder events. The strategy has also been guided by a needs assessment which was conducted earlier this year. The vision of the strategy is to deliver a smoke-free future for Havering and improve the health and well-being of the local population as well as to achieve a smoke-free borough in line with the national ambition to reduce smoking prevalence to 5% or less. The prevalence of adult smokers in Havering is 12.4%. The prevalence is particularly high among mentally ill people, people in treatment for alcohol or drug misuse, and people in private or social housing or rental properties, and people in manual or routine occupations. Smoking is less prevalent among pregnant women, largely because of a specialist pregnancy service locally, which is now run by the NHS. The strategy focusses on groups with the highest prevalence of smoking: men, people with long-term or severe mental illness, and people in treatment for drug or alcohol misuse.

It was reported that vapes can be useful for quitting smoking but they are not advisable for people who do not smoke or for children, because the long-term impact is unknown. 25% of young people aged 11 to 15 nationally tried e-cigarettes in 2023. 9% of young people vape frequently. In Havering, 12% of pupils have experimented with vaping. The report authors welcome the new Tobacco and Vape Bill. Havering’s Trading Standards team are trying to increase the number of retailers who adopt the “challenge 25” approach.

It was reported that smoking costs Havering £256 million per year. People who are socially or economically disadvantaged are more likely to smoke and suffer the resulting income loss and harm to health. The strategy aims to help these groups. There is also an environmental impact to smoking, including deforestation and cigarette litter. There are four priorities to the strategy: prevention (raising awareness and providing training, working with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

None.

The next meeting is 4 December 2024 at 1pm.

The meeting originally scheduled for 4^th December was likely to be re-scheduled for January. A new date would be advised.