Gene Ashe, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service Helen Barnett, Bracknell Regeneration Partnership Mary Purnell, Berkshire East Primary Care Trust

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1 Bracknell Forest Partnership Board 21 November am Council Chamber, Fourth Floor, Easthampstead House, Bracknell Present: Chief Inspector Dave Gilbert, Thames Valley Police Russell Reeve, Town and Parish Councils Caroline Titley, Bracknell Forest Homes Timothy Wheadon, Bracknell Forest Council In attendance: Lisa McNally, Consultant in Public Health Ganesh Selverajah, Bracknell Forest Council Katharine Simpson, Bracknell Forest Council Genny Webb, Bracknell Forest Council Apologies: Gene Ashe, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service Helen Barnett, Bracknell Regeneration Partnership Mary Purnell, Berkshire East Primary Care Trust Action Points Minute Item 1 Action Points from Last Meeting The notes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record. Matters Arising The credit union was seeing increasing take up The membership of the Partnership s Communications Group had been reviewed and a more proactive approach was being developed to cascade messages regarding the town centre A number of people had expressed interest in becoming a Trustee of Bracknell Forest Voluntary Action 2 Public Health Update Lisa McNally, Consultant in Public Heath, gave a presentation in respect of the work taking place locally in the Public Health arena. The presentation included an overview of the Public Health Structure within Berkshire, an overview of the work taking place to tackle a range of health issues including smoking, alcohol, obesity, health checks and immunisations and an update on the development of a new Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Bracknell Forest. The Public Health function in Berkshire was delivered through six local authority

2 based public health teams supported by a Shared Berkshire Public Health Team which included the Director of Public Health as well as a number of back office functions including information analysts. In addition to the day to day delivery of services, each local authority public health team held strategic responsibility for particular areas of public health work on a Berkshire wide basis. The Bracknell Forest Public Health Team had strategic responsibility for Berkshire s strategic approach to tobacco, unplanned urgent care and alcohol. In an effort to improve the number of people participating in stop smoking programmes a private provider had been contracted to provide additional support to the Quit Smoking programme and this was starting to pay dividends. Across Berkshire the quit rate had increased by 17%, one of the highest rates in England, and Bracknell Forest had a 65% success rate amongst those who had signed up to the programme. The National Stoptober Campaign had been well received across Berkshire with 4107 people signing up during October including 655 in Bracknell Forest, the highest per capita number of any unitary authority area. Alcohol related injuries and illnesses placed a significant burden on heath services across the country and work was taking place to engage with the wider community about the health effects of alcohol consumption. As part of this work a pre- Christmas campaign was taking place in partnership with pharmacies to encourage people to give greater thought to the amount that they are consuming both in terms of calories and alcohol units. Obesity was being tackled through a number of activities. Obesity in adults continued to be targeted through referrals to Weight Management Programmes however a new contract had enabled the widening of the number of agencies who could refer people to the programmes. The new contract had also enabled the standardisation of screening and better data collection. Work was also taking place to engage with whole families to encourage them to adopt healthier more active lifestyles. To encourage children and young people to walk more the Beat the Street campaign would be launched in the New Year. Children and young people would be issued with electronic cards which they could use to collect points by swiping them at terminals across the Borough. Those collecting the points would then be entered into a competition to calculate who had walked the furthest. An approach that had been successful in other countries. The Public Health Team were working intensively with General Practices to increase the delivery of full health checks to eligible adults aged between 40 and 74 years old. This had included the loan of testing equipment which meant that GPs were able to provide instant test results and the implementation of an Award programme. As a result of this work there had been a significant improvement in the take up rates. In a desire to make the Borough s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment more accessible, the Public Health Team were working to produce the first JSNA in the UK which would combine: An interactive web based format Ward level analysis A monthly blog highlighting and interpreting key local and national developments Mapped data from the first ever Public Health Survey of 1800 residents

3 The Public Health Team were keen to discuss with Bracknell Forest Homes the housing data in the JSNA as the starting point for identifying potential work areas. It was agreed that this would be followed up. In addition Reading University had been commissioned by Bracknell Forest Homes to carry out a piece of research on their Major Works Investment Programme and this could also provide an opportunity to identify areas of joint work. It was noted that the transfer of Public Health to the local authority had been transformational in Bracknell Forest moving it from an academic exercise to an outcome focused activity. Links were being made with partner agencies and joint working was taking place and this was an area that the Public Health Team were keen to develop further. The Board thanked Lisa McNally for her informative update. 3 Economic Development Update Ganesh Selverajah, Principal Economic Development Officer, presented a report providing an update on the work of the Economic and Skills Development Partnership (ESDP). The report included an overview of the aims and objectives of the ESDP, an update on the group s main activities and key achievements and a future look. The following points were noted: Work was taking place to develop links with key Chinese agencies as part of a strategy to encourage Chinese companies looking to expand into the UK to consider Bracknell Forest a place to relocate to A partnership between Schroeders and Oxford Innovations, supported by the Borough Council, had resulted in the opening of the Enterprise and Innovation Hub in Ocean House. The opening of the Hub which provides serviced office space to small businesses looking to expand has proved popular and it has now expanded to two floors of Ocean House To improve the interface between businesses and the Borough Council a virtual Business Team has been developed. The Team helped facilitate and expedite interactions between businesses and various council teams to provide businesses with faster outcomes Work was taking place to develop a business specific micro site that would run alongside the Borough Council s website The capacity of the track as the Reading to Waterloo train line approached London and the number of level crossings on the line were key factors in the ability to improve the train service from Bracknell. Progressing improvements to the line formed a key part of the Local Enterprise Partnership s Strategic Plan The ESDP would be reviewing the Economic Development Strategy in the New Year. As part of this work, consideration would be given to how it could be dove tailed to fit the Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership s Draft Strategy As part of the review of the Economic Development Strategy, the objectives of the ESDP would also be reviewed to ensure that it remained focused not only in terms of sustaining businesses currently located in Bracknell but also in terms of encouraging business growth

4 The Board thanked Ganesh Selverajah for his update. 4 Strategic Risk Action Plan Update The Board considered a report containing an updated version of the Strategic Risk Register. The Strategic Risk Register captured the overarching risks that may impact on the value and success of the Bracknell Forest Partnership as a whole and reflected the changes to risks presented by the changing national and financial landscape. It was noted that the risk rating associated with the loss of key individuals had been increased due to the impeding maternity leave of the Head of Performance and Partnerships and the unconfirmed nature of interim cover arrangements. The Board approved the updated risk register. 5 Legislation Risk Update The Board considered a report setting out the key risks, challenges and opportunities arising from new legislation developed by the coalition government. The risk analysis was undertaken by each of the theme leads where significant changes to legislation had been introduced or planned. For each area the key changes that would affect partnership working were set out along with key risks, planned actions to mitigate these risks, key opportunities and any actions planned to capitalise on these. It was reported that whilst the majority of updates focused on making the most of increased opportunities the Children and Families Bill had significant implications for those services that supported children and families. It was acknowledged that agencies had worked well together to mitigate the effects of the Welfare Reform Bill however more changes were expected and it was stressed that all agencies needed to remain alert to the wider impacts of these changes in the coming months. The Board noted the update. 6 Any Other Business Bracknell Forest Voluntary Action had appointed an Interim Manager and she would be invited to future meetings of the Board.

5 7 Items for Future Meetings Thursday 16 January 2014, 10am, Bracknell Police Station Reading Connect Community Empowerment Communications Update Ward Profiles LSCB Annual Report Future Meetings Sustainable Community Plan Refresh Communications update (6 monthly January July) Work Programme Update (6 monthly March September) Governance review (Annual May) Voluntary Sector Compact (Annual July?) Strategic Risk Action Plan update (6 monthly - May November) Legislation Risk update (6 monthly May November)