Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all those present to the meeting and invited all attendees to introduce themselves.

There were no substitutions at this meeting.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and personal or personal and prejudicial interests.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board, held on 16 November 2020, be approved as a correct record.

The Director: Governance and Partnerships confirmed that the Forward Plan was up to date, and that all forthcoming actions were timetabled. 

Resolved – That the situation be noted.  

There were no questions from members of the public.

Report and Presentation by the Deputy Chief Executive.

The     Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director: Commercial submitted a report and presentation on progress against each of the seven themes in the North Lincolnshire Outbreak Prevention & Management Plan.  This included key areas of focus for the outbreak prevention and management in North Lincolnshire for the forthcoming period, and an outline of North Lincolnshire’s position in relation to risk alert level and local restrictions.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director: Commercial explained that North Lincolnshire Council was committed to working with local people to keep them safe, well, prosperous and connected. Successful prevention and management of local outbreaks was vital to break the chains of COVID- 19 transmission and enable people to return to and maintain a more normal way of life.

On 23 November 2020 Government published the COVID-19 Winter Plan. This plan set out the programme for suppressing the virus, protecting the NHS and the vulnerable, keeping education and the economy going and providing a route back to normality. The Government’s objectives were to:

 •          Supress the virus – bring the R number below 1 and keep it there. Measures included the use of restrictions.

•           Finding new and more effective ways of managing the virus andenabling  life to return closer to normal. This included:

o          Vaccines – following approval of the Pfizer BionNTech vaccine a UK wide vaccination programme commenced on 8 December 2020.

o          Treatment – effective treatments would continue to be vital to manage the virus even as vaccines are rolled out

o          Mass community testing – strengthened targeted community testing would support the identification and isolation of people who do not have symptoms but are unintentionally spreading the virus.

•           Minimise damage to the economy and society, jobs and livelihoods. This meant ensuring the right support is available for jobs and that early year's settings, schools, further education providers and universities continued their excellent work in ensuring a safe environment for students to learn.

A detailed presentation was then delivered on the epidemiological situation in North Lincolnshire.  This included the total number of cases, comparison date, the current R Value, and the rolling 7-Day Case Rate.

Resolved - That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the presentation and the Outbreak Prevention and Management Update.

Report by the Chief Operating Officer, North Lincolnshire CCG.

The Chief Operating Officer, North Lincolnshire CCG, submitted a report updating the Health and Wellbeing Board on the latest position of the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme.  The report covered the phase 1 model of the programme including the early priority cohorts and how they would be managed.

The Chief Operating Officer explained that all GP practices had been asked to collaborate to identify one suitable premises from which their Primary Care Network (PCN) Grouping would be capable of delivering the requirements of the Covid Vaccination Enhanced Service. It was anticipated that 3 further PCN sites which had been approved by NHS England would come online quickly to support the further roll-out of the vaccine.  These sites would provide good geographic coverage locally.

The Chief Operating Officer provided more up-to-date information on the roll-out, including locations and operational plans.  The Deliver Manager, Healthwatch North Lincolnshire, confirmed that they were supporting the roll-out and that initial feedback was very positive.

The Board discussed the report further, highlighting the need for consistent, effective communications, and thanking the front-line staff for their efforts.

Resolved - That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the contents of the Vaccination Programme report.

Winter Grant Scheme – Report by the Head of Early Help and Protection.

The Head of Early Help and Protection submitted a report updating the Health and Wellbeing Board on the local implementation of the government’s recently announced COVID Winter Grant Scheme.  A decision on implementing the Winter Grant Scheme had been taken by the Children and Families Cabinet Member on 9 December 2020. 

The Head of Early Help and Protection explained that the government had announced the introduction of the £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme - a package of extra targeted financial support for those in need over the winter period. The funding allocation for North Lincolnshire was £532,566, which was released in the first week of December 2020 and which would run until the end of March 2021.

Government guidance issued by the Department for Work and Pensions stated that ‘the objective of the COVID Winter Grant Scheme was to provide support to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic throughout the winter period where alternative sources of assistance may be unavailable’. The clear focus of the Scheme was to help those in most need with the cost of food, energy, water bills and other essentials.

Considerable flexibilities had been given to Local Authorities in determining their own local eligibility framework and approach, with the ability to deliver the scheme through vouchers or grants, or other mechanisms. As such, the Head of Early Help and Protection described how the council had working with schools, the local voluntary sector, and other local organisations to deliver the Scheme, and to use local knowledge and data to identify and prioritise support for specific vulnerable groups.

Cllr Reed spoke to support the scheme, stating that it was very good news for local people and it was an excellent example of organisations working together to benefit local communities.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board note and support the local implementation of the COVID Winter Grant Scheme.

Next Steps for Building Strong and Effective Integrated Care Systems Across England. 

a. Verbal Presentation by NHS England/ICS representatives

b. Consideration of a response from the Board to the ongoing consultation.  

The     Director of Strategic Transformation / Locality Director of Humber, Coast and Vale Integrated Care System (ICS) introduced the paper and consultation document, explaining that place-based partnerships allowed improvements in collaboration and service delivery.  The Director confirmed that the approach taken by the Humber, Coast and Vale ICS was very closely aligned with that set out in the documents.

The Board discussed the paper in detail.  The Chairman expressed a view that, whilst there was an acceptance that some commissioning and service development and delivery may benefit from a wider footprint, the concept of ‘place’ was understood locally as North Lincolnshire.  This view was echoed by other Board members, stating that the place of North Lincolnshire must always take primacy, in order to allow for local accountability, the retention of resources, local knowledge, and to build upon the excellent work that occurs within the North Lincolnshire geographic boundary.

Board members also expressed the view that there must be a greater understanding that genuine integrated care must go significantly beyond traditional NHS service planning and delivery.

The Director of Strategic Transformation agreed with the views expressed, highlighting examples where wide collaboration with a range of partners and sectors was already taking place, and stating that North Lincolnshire was absolutely recognised as a ‘place’.

Resolved – That suitable submissions be drafted and returned, reflecting the view that local organisations will support partnerships which add value, whilst ensuring the continued recognition of North Lincolnshire as a place which works for local communities.

18 January 2021, 3pm

The Chairman confirmed that the next Board meeting was on 18 January 2021 at 3pm, to be conducted via MS Teams. 

There were no other items to be discussed.