Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms 1 & 2, Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2XY. View directions

Contact: Miriam Wearing, Senior Democratic Services Officer  Tel: 020 8424 1542 E-mail:  miriam.wearing@harrow.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Attendance by Reserve Members

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

 

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

 

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

 

Ordinary Member

 

Reserve Member

 

Councillor Simon Brown

Councillor Krishna Suresh

 

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chair

To note the appointment of the Chair of Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group as Vice-Chair of the Board for the 2018-19 Municipal Year.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that Amol Kelshiker be appointed Vice-Chair for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

 

(a)          all Members of the Board;

(b)          all other Members present.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

 

Agenda Item  - Better Care Fund

Councillor Chris Mote declared a non-pecunairy interest in that his mother-in-law was in receipt of social care and was a patient at Northwick Park Hospital. He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

 

Councillor Janet Mote declared a non-pecuniary interest in that her mother was in receipt of social care and was a patient at Northwick Park Hospital. She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

 

Agenda Item 12 – Any other urgent business

 

Dr Genevieve Small declared a non-pecuniary interest in that the GP surgery where she worked was located in the vicinity of the Alexandra Walk-in Clinic and her practice provided services to the clinic.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 136 KB

That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2018 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2018 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

5.

Public Questions. Petitions & Deputations

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Board Procedure Rule 14.

 

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

 

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Monday 4 June 2018.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions, petitions or deputations had been received.

RESOLVED ITEMS

6.

Amendment to Board Membership pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance

Minutes:

The Board received a report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services which set out amendments to its Terms of Reference, specifically, deletion of the requirement for a Senior officer of Harrow Police to be a non-voting member of the Board.

 

It was noted that since the tri borough merger of Police services in Harrow, Brent and Barnet, the Borough Commander had indicated that he could no longer guarantee his attendance at Board meetings.  Members expressed concern at the loss of vital partnership working with the Police and the potential negative ramifications of this, for example on issues of safeguarding. 

 

The Chair stated that if the Borough Commander or a senior officer from Harrow Police could not attend future Board meetings, then they should be encouraged to send a reserve.

 

The Board unanimously agreed that this item be deferred pending further discussions with the Borough Commander and the Metropolitan Police service.

 

It was noted that Mina Kakaiya had left Healthwatch Harrow and had been replaced on the Board by Marie Pate.

 

RESOLVED:  To defer the item subject to further discussions with the Borough Commander and the Metropolitan Police Service.

7.

Child Poverty and Life Chances Strategy and Action Plan - Annual Report pdf icon PDF 495 KB

Report of Director of Public Health.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board received a report of the Director of Public Health which provided an update of the Child Poverty and Health Inequalities Strategy.

 

A Board Member stated that it was worrying that 32% of children in the borough lived in poverty.  Responsibility for tackling child poverty did not lie with a single Council department but was the responsibility of the Health & Wellbeing Board as a whole.  The Chair advised that the Council would be lobbying Central Government for a more equitable funding settlement for outer London boroughs. 

 

Following questions and comments from Board members, an officer advised that:

 

·                     Council officers had engaged well with the Action Plan;

 

·                     key actions and activities included the substance misuse service, the recovery and return to work pilot programme, and the STP (sustainability and transformation plan) for North West London;

 

·                     there was an Action Plan, a Strategy and a Review mechanism in place to tackle poverty in problem wards;

 

·                     Priority 2 was aimed at tackling financial exclusion, financial literacy and the provision of debt management advice;

 

·                     there were work streams for NEETS (young people not in education, employment or training) and those leaving care;

 

·                     the Council had a Domestic Violence Strategy, but this needed to explore a perpetrator programme where perpetrators were helped to manage their behaviour;

 

·                     the Council had signed up to paying the London Living Wage, ensuring that all its providers had also done so.

 

The Director of Public Health added that child poverty was a complex issue that would require a multi-agency, co-ordinated approach to tackle it.

 

The Divisional Director undertook to provide the Board with more information regarding the Council’s Domestic Violence Strategy.

 

A Member stated that lack of access to affordable housing was a major contributor to poverty in the borough.  Homelessness and poverty gave rise to both physical and mental health problems. He added that families with children should be prioritised in terms of housing and should be helped to remain in the borough rather than being housed out of borough.

 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

8.

Active Harrow Physical Activity & Sports Strategy Update 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 208 KB

Report of Director of Public Health.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health which set out the Active Harrow Strategy 2016-20.

 

Following questions from Board members, an officer advised that:

 

·                     the Harrow Marathon had been publicized in the Harrow People Magazine.  Officers had had met with local sports providers and were looking at the potential use of social media platforms as a means to publicise the Strategy and outreach work to connect with isolated groups;

 

·                     she would raise the issue of recurrent flooding of the outdoor football pitch at Headstone Manor with planning officers;

 

·                     more qualitative data would be included in future such reports;

 

·                     she would look into the possibility of providing a briefing regarding the Active Harrow Strategy at a forthcoming meeting of School Heads and Directors and information regarding the Strategy would be shared with Ward Councillors;

 

·                     both the Young Harrow Foundation and the Ignite Trust were members of the Active Harrow Strategy Group;

 

·                     the offer of help and support from the CCG to disseminate information through its Patient Participation Network, was noted.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

9.

Better Care Fund pdf icon PDF 411 KB

Report of Director of Adult Social  Services and Chief Operating Officer, Harrow CCG.

Minutes:

The Board received a report of the Director of Adult Social Services and the Chief Operating Officer of Harrow CCG, which set out progress on the Better Care Fund, quarter 4 of the 2017/18 plan.

 

The Board noted the extremely positive feedback from NHS England and congratulated officers for their hard work in implementing the plan.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

10.

Any Other Business

Which cannot otherwise be dealt with.

Minutes:

Following a question from a Member regarding whether there had been any changes to provision at the Alexandra Road Walk-in Clinic and whether there were plans to introduce additional walk-in clinics or GP practices in the vicinity of the Town Centre, an officer undertook to circulate this information after the meeting.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Member query be noted.