Meeting documents

BCC Cabinet
Monday, 22nd October, 2018 10.30 am

  • Meeting of Cabinet, Monday 22nd October 2018 10.30 am (Item 10.)

Minutes:

Mr B Roberts, Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care (HASC) Select Committee and Mrs L Wheaton, Committee and Governance Adviser attended the meeting to present the recommendations from the Child Obesity Inquiry undertaken by the Select Committee.

 

Mr Roberts introduced the report by thanking those who had given up their time to talk to the Inquiry Group as part of their evidence gathering and highlighted the following:

 

  • The Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan published in 2016, aimed to reduce England’s rate of childhood obesity within the next 10 years.
  • The inquiry had tested how well Buckinghamshire were doing at tackling the issue. 
  • It was a complex issue but it was hoped that the recommendations highlighted would give the Council a greater role in facilitating change.
  • There had been a lack of a coordinated action plan with targeted interventions to help reduce child obesity in Bucks.
  • The report focused on healthy eating rather than physical activity as this had recently been driven by the "Active Bucks" initiative.
  • The inquiry group heard from Public Health colleagues about their statutory duty to deliver the National Child Measuring Programme as part of the evidence gathering.
  • A number of different areas within the Council could help facilitate and deliver change e.g. the Fostering team and Members, in their role as community leaders
  • The inquiry group heard from a Head teacher who had invested in refurbishing their school kitchen and the challenges they faced.

·         Mr Roberts also stated that if Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) became a statutory subject in schools, the PSHE Leads should be represented on the Healthy Communities Partnership subgroup. 

·         Building on early years and school-based initiatives and involving parents was also key in supporting children to make healthier food choices.

Cabinet raised and discussed the following points:

  • The importance of parental involvement from a young age, before they enter school.
  • It was made clear that the County Council did not have the resources to provide ambassadors to champion healthy lifestylesbut could work with schools to make sure the right messages were being communicated.  Schools themselves would have to take more of a lead in delivering the programme.  A Member suggested the use of School Governors as ambassadors.
  • More emphasis to be put on physical activity and Mr Roberts confirmed that if Cabinet accepts the recommendation to set-up a subgroup then the work of Active Bucks would be part of this..  Initiatives such as Simply Walk to be highlighted and using Local Area Forums (LAF) to help drive it forward.
  • It was reflected that it was a national issue with big financial and health costs.  Further work needed with parents before school age, role of health visitors to be considered and working with districts to ensure that access to leisure centres and sporting events were open to all.

 

Cabinet responded to the recommendations as follows:

 

Rec

Focus

Cabinet Response

1

1: That the Council develops a vision for tackling child obesity – "Everyone’s Responsibility" to include:

 

Setting-up a Healthy Communities Partnership sub-group to develop a co-ordinated "Child Healthy Eating Action Plan" with a 1-2 year delivery plan which aligns with the Government targets to reduce child obesity.

 

Agreed

2

2: That progress on delivery of the action plan be reported to the Health & Wellbeing Board on an annual basis.

 

Agreed

3

3: (As Corporate Parents)

To develop a healthy eating/cooking section in the induction pack for all Fostering and Adoption Families and signpost to support services.

 

Agreed

4

(As Corporate Parents)

To introduce a dashboard metric to show the proportion of children in care who are obese and overweight with regular reporting to the Corporate Parenting Panel on progress on specific action plans.

 

Agreed

5

To ensure that the work of the Prevention at Scale pilot be used to shape and inform the work of the Healthy Communities Partnership.

Partially agreed

 

6

To explore other innovative approaches to the National Child Measurement Programme, including Manchester’s approach and consider the feasibility and benefits of such approaches for Bucks, whilst continuing to deliver the NCMP in accordance with national protocol.

Agreed

7

To develop a "suite of projects with costs" which can be used by the Local Area Forums as part of their Local Priorities Funding discussions. The project list could include a series of cooking workshops for most deprived children to providing gardening tools and seeds for a community allotment. 

 

Agreed

8

To act as the co-ordinator/facilitator of the Healthy Pupils Capital Programme to ensure the money is allocated and used to make a difference.  Provide guidance to schools on how the money can be used, based on the Government’s guidance.

Agreed

9

To write a letter to the Department for Education in support of introducing the new voluntary healthy rating scheme for primary schools as soon as possible and for it to be used by Ofsted as part of the inspection criteria.

Agreed

10

To support schools to deliver the PSHE curriculum in a consistent and coherent way across Buckinghamshire.

Agreed

11

a)    To create "Child Healthy Eating" ambassadors within the Early Years setting and in schools (with the help of the Early Years Providers and School Liaison Officers) who can drive the key messages around the health benefits of providing healthy food to their local communities

 

b)    To develop strong messages for specific communities, for example, Mosques, Churches, GP surgeries, Hospitals (pre-natal and antenatal clinics and maternity wards), Libraries, Parish and Town Councils;

 

c)    Work with the PSHE Leads in schools to devise a training module for Head teachers and School Governors around the importance of healthy eating/cooking and heathy choices in schools in conjunction with those who can deliver this.

 

Partially agreed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agreed

 

 

 

 

 

Partially agreed

 

Mr Appleyard, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills stated that it would be on the agenda for future discussions and visits with schools.

 

Mr Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources stated that in relation to recommendation 8, it had been discussed at the Assets Strategy Board in July 2018 and would be followed up, reviewing a list of appropriate projects including improvements to school kitchens.

 

Mr Roberts and his inquiry team were thanked by Cabinet for their work.

 

RESOLVED: Cabinet responded to the recommendations as set out in the table above.

 

Supporting documents: