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 of the statutory partners will be shown more clearly; strengthened focus on children with special educational needs and disabilities; improved linkages between sections about Havering as a place; more focus on safety and crime; more focus on attendance in education; more on support available for parents; importance of very young children understanding their voices will be heard; more concrete action on tackling disproportionality; broader focus on inequalities; strengthening the section on the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

There was no new funding associated with the delivery of this plan, so these activities (many of which are already underway) would need to be met from existing resources, which include the general fund, the Dedicated Schools Grant, and the Public Health Grant.

In response to a question about the historic shortfall in health visitors and nurses, it was stated that the council has committed to spend enough money to meet the minimum levels of health visiting, but it may be necessary to revisit estimates of the number of children in Havering. School nursing is underfunded.

In response to a question about how young carers can be identified and supported, it was stated that the support of education colleagues will be important in identifying this group of people.

It was suggested that leads in other areas such as Living Well and Ageing Well could consider creating a plan similar to this one.

It was AGREED:

-       That the contents of the Integrated Starting Well Plan and the approach that has been taken to its development be noted by the Board; and

-       That the suggested five Starting Well JSNA recommendations - each of which is aligned to one of the five priorities within the Plan – be included in Havering’s refreshed Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.  

-       That it be proposed to leads in other areas that they consider undertaking a similar process to come up with five ‘wishes’ of their own.