Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the current municipal year.

Councillor David Brake was elected as Chairman for the 2020/21 municipal year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the current municipal year.

Mrs Clair Bell was elected Vice-Chairman for the 2020/21 municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Dr John Allingham (Kent Local Medical Committee), Louise Ashley (Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley ICP Senior Responsible Officer), Matt Dunkley CBE (Corporate Director, Children, Young People and Education, Kent County Council), Councillor Mrs Jenny Hollingsbee (District Council representative), Eunice Lyons-Backhouse (Local Healthwatch representative, Medway), Martin Riley (Medway and Swale ICP Senior Responsible Officer), Matthew Scott (Kent Police and Crime Commissioner), Ian Sutherland (Director of People – Children and Adult Services, Medway Council) and Wilf Williams (Accountable Officer of Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group).

To approve the record of the meeting held on 25 June 2019.

The record of the meeting held on 25 June 2019 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct, subject to Councillor Angela Harrison (District Council representative) being added to the list of Board Members present.

Members are invited to declare the existence and nautre of any interests in relation to any agenda item in accordance with the relevant Council’s Code of Conduct.

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

None.

Other Significant Interests

None.

Other interests

None.

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

There were none.

This report sets out the current position on the membership of the Kent and Medway Joint Health and Wellbeing Board (Joint Board). The report asks the Joint Board to consider appointing additional voting and non-voting Members as recommended by each respective Health and Wellbeing Board on 18 February 2020 and 26 February 2020.

The report also asks the Joint Board to consider appointing non-voting Members as recommended by the Kent and Medway STP Non-Executive Oversight Group in response to changes in the health landscape across Kent and Medway; by Members at the pre-agenda meeting held on 3 June 2020 to ensure continuity as changes in the health system embed and by Members at the Development Session in September 2019 in recognition of the importance in strengthening relationships and engagement between Councils at all levels.

Discussion:

The Policy and Relationship Advisor (Health), Kent County Council introduced the report which set out the current position on the membership of the Joint Board and asked the Joint Board to consider appointing additional voting and non-voting Members as recommended by each respective Health and Wellbeing Boards and by the Kent and Medway STP Non-Executive Oversight Group.  The proposed changes, which were set out at Appendix 2, reflected changes to the NHS landscape.

The President of the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) and Chairman of KALC’s Health and Wellbeing Advisory Committee, provided a short presentation to the Joint Board on the work of KALC, both generally and in relation to health and wellbeing, one of KALC’s priority areas.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·       Six month rule – in response to a question about the impact of Covid-19 and Councillor attendance at meetings (which required Councillors to attend at least one meeting within a six month period), the KALC Chief Executive confirmed that they had sent advice and reminders to all member authorities about the six month rule and how to manage the issue in the context of the pandemic.

·       Liaison between local town and district councils and Kent County Council (KCC) – The KALC Chief Executive confirmed that KALC held regular meetings with KCC, particularly around highways, transport, community safety and the environment.  Area Committees were the focal point to engage with Medway and parish and town councils and 2 representatives from each of the 13 area committees sat on the KALC Executive Board.

·       Purpose of KALC’s inclusion on the Joint Board membership – it was confirmed that KALC wanted to work together in partnership with KCC and Medway Council on health and wellbeing issues.

Decision:

The Kent and Medway Joint Health and Wellbeing Board:

a)    noted the current position on membership of the Joint Board as set out in paragraphs 2.4 and 2.5 of the report.

b)    confirmed its agreement to:

·       the appointment of the Clinical Chair of single Kent and Medway CCG, as a voting member of the Joint Board, and

·       the appointment of the Senior Responsible Officer of the four Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) as non-voting members of the Joint Board noting that this will be reviewed when the ICPs are fully mobilised

as set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report.

c)    agreed to re-appoint Dr Robert Stewart in his capacity as the Clinical Design Director of the Design and Learning Centre for Clinical and Social Innovation as a non-voting member of the Joint Board.

d)    agreed to appoint the following non-voting members to the Joint Board:

·       the Kent and Medway CCG Governing Body Member, Dr Bob Bowes for a further year to support the Clinical Chair of the Kent and Medway CCG;

·       the Director of Strategy and Population Health, Kent and Medway CCG, Rachel Jones;

·       the Director of Health Improvement, Kent and Medway CCG, Caroline Selkirk;

·       the Chairman of the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) Health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

This report provides an overview of the response and recovery strategy to protect Kent and Medway’s populations from COVID-19 impacts. It describes actions that Kent County Council (KCC) and Medway Council (MC), in partnership with key stakeholders, have taken to develop the COVID-19 Local Outbreak Control Plan (LOP).

The report also sets out the governance arrangements and framework, through which KCC and MC will collaborate to deliver their statutory functions to protect their populations and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Discussion:

The Director of Public Health for Medway introduced the report which had been co-produced with the Director of Public Health for Kent and provided the Joint Board with an overview of the response and recovery strategy to protect Kent and Medway’s populations from Covid-19 impacts. It set out the Kent and Medway Local Outbreak Control Plan (LOCP), which covered eight key themes including governance, complex settings, arrangements for tracing and testing, outbreak management, how to support vulnerable populations and communications strategies.  The report also recommended that the Joint Board fulfil the role of the Local Outbreak Engagement Board (LOEB).

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·       Testing the LOCP – reference was made to the ongoing testing of the LOCP, using scenarios that were being experienced elsewhere to learn from those and how best agencies and communities should respond. 

·       Kent and Medway LOCP – reference was made to the fact that the Plan covered the whole area of Kent and Medway and this was commended as it helped partnership working with other agencies in the area that covered the whole geographic area of both Kent and Medway, such as one Clinical Commissioning Group and one Resilience Liaison Forum.

·       Strategic responsibilities of each local authority – clarification was made that the LOCP and LOEB would not absolve  each individual upper tier local authority’s from its own strategic responsibilities and reference was made to the additional layers of engagement and governance that would sit within the structures of both KCC and Medway Council to enable the two local authorities to discharge their specific public health responsibilities.

·       Communication – in response to a comment made regarding the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) and the LOEB’s role in communication strategies, the Director of Public Health for Medway explained that the KRF had responsibility through the Civil Contingencies Act in relation to the warning and informing elements of communication.  In addition to that, there were also local Kent Protect/Medway Protect campaigns to champion the work of the local authority to reach out to certain groups, businesses etc in a tailored approach.

·       Governance Structure – clarification was sort in relation to the governance structure at figure 1 of the LOCP.  In response, the Director of Public Health for Medway confirmed that existing gold command structures within each authority had been used.  He added that the role of the Health Protection Committee was set out in the framework within the LOCP and provided assurance that existing mechanisms for escalation would be used.  Communication and lines of engagement would be escalated through the governance structure when there was a need for wider consequential management, such as containment measures.

·       Education – concern was raised about how secondary schools would manage bubbles of students in year groups as well as the addition of  young people possibly being invited back in the Autumn to sit the exams they had not been able to in the summer months. In response, the Director of Public Health for Medway explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 134.

The report advises the Joint Board of the forward work programme for discussion in the light of latest priorities, issues and circumstances. It gives the Joint Board an opportunity to shape and direct the Joint Board’s activities.

Discussion:

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report which invited the Joint Board to consider the work programme in light of the latest priorities, issues and circumstances and made some recommended changes, as set out at section 2 of the report.

Members then raised a number of comments, which included:

·       Strategy Delivery Plan – The Policy and Relationship Advisor (Health), KCC explained that this was work done by NHS colleagues to translate the NHS Long Term Plan into a local health plan. This, together with the review of the Joint Board, provided an opportunity for the Joint Board to think about its own future and what it wanted to achieve going forward, considering the impact of Covid-19 and health inequalities experienced by some sections of the population.

·       Wider determinants of health – reference was also made to the opportunity the Joint Board had to address the wider determinants of health in partnership. There were many issues that cut across health and social care and it was considered that a development session to determine how best to take this forward and become effective system leaders should be explored.

·       Case for change: children and young people strategic framework – it was suggested that this work should also be refreshed in light of Covid-19 and in the context of health inequalities and wider ambitions and should therefore be deferred to the December meeting of the Joint Board.

·       The ESTHER Philosophy of Care – reference was also made to the rollout of the ESTHER Philosophy of care across Kent and Medway, which was person-centred care and had been requested by the ICPs. It was suggested the Joint Board should consider this further in relation to sustainable joint working of organisations around the person.

Decision:

The Joint Board agreed the work programme as set out at Appendix 1, subject to the points raised by Joint Board Members raised above being discussed at the next agenda planning meeting.