Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were submitted from Karen Buckley, George Framalicco, Charles Margetts and Helen Watson.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 October 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 12 October 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest received.

To answer any public questions

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this Board.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Board or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any member questions

There were no Member questions.

To receive a report on Social Care Futures.

The Board received a presentation about the future of social care in Wokingham Borough and were advised that a presentation would be made to Council in January.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·       Social Care Futures was a vision of how the provision of social care could be different in the future.  A charter describing how this could be achieved had been produced.

·       The Board viewed a video which provided an introduction to the Social Care Futures vision.

·       Social Care Futures was a national movement and was led by people with lived experience of social care, to help do things differently.

·       Officers had been working with a small group of residents who drew on social care support, to develop a Social Care Future Vision.

·       Callum Bell, service user, provided an update on his experience.  He stated that the current Front Door System could be quite complicated, especially if you were moving between geographical areas.  He also highlighted the difficulties he had faced when leaving college and suggested that there should be something in place like an Education, Health, and Care Plan to assist those leaving education.  Callum indicated that his mum had, had to help him with the process, which had involved a number of different partners.  At the time he had felt as if he had fallen through the cracks.  Hilary Lovie, Co-production and Engagement Officer indicated that people often found times of transition to be a period of great anxiety.

·       Callum outlined some of the existing challenges around transport.  He stated that the current concessionary disabled persons bus pass system was unhelpful to those who were working or looking for jobs, as you could only travel outside peak periods.  Many of the bus routes were not frequent enough.  For instance, Callum indicated that he lived in Arborfield.  Whilst service was good to Reading it was a poor service to Wokingham.

·       Callum praised the support provided by Optalis in getting into the workplace.  However, interviews could be made easier for those with learning disabilities.  Employers needed to be encouraged to change their interview practices and to possibly offer trial shifts.

·       Callum welcomed being involved in Social Care Futures.

·       The Social Care Futures Group met monthly.  Regular feedback was provided, and ideas were shared on how to make improvements locally.

·       The Big Gathering had been held in July which had been attended by over 100 residents.  This had been held to grow the Social Care Futures movement and had been very successful.

·       Jay Dudakia, service user, indicated that he worked for Optalis one morning a week.  He lived with his family and received support to undertake his job and the things that mattered to him.  He also used the short break service to give him and his family a break.  Jay commented that he had been involved with Social Care Futures from the start and attended the Group meetings.  He felt that participants were treated with respect, that his views mattered, and that he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

To receive the Local Transport Plan – Consultation.

Robert Curtis, Transport Planning Team Manager, and Stephen Bailey, Senior Transport Planner, presented the Local Transport Plan – Consultation.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·       The Department for Transport had removed the requirement to produce a Local Transport Plan every three years.  However, the Local Transport Plan 3 had been adopted in 2011 so was quite out of date.  Some time had been taken in drafting Local Transport Plan 4.

·       Whilst there were significant changes from Local Transport Plan 3, many of the themes such as congestion and environmental issues, remained the same.  Nevertheless, there had been a national shift in wanting to see greater use of cycling and walking, greater electric car use and increased public transport usage.

·       Officers were wanting to hear peoples’ views and any issues that they had.  Robert Curtis highlighted Callum’s reference in the previous presentation to buses running at the wrong times and the disabled bus pass being operational at inconvenient times.

·       The Local Transport Plan had three key themes – to create healthy and safe places, grow the economy, and reduce the environmental impacts.

·       The public consultation would run from 18 December 2023 for 9 weeks.  One to one engagement would also take place with groups.  Officers sought the Board’s support in gathering the views of those who were hard to reach.  In past consultations there had been little response from young people, those from different ethnic backgrounds, those with educational needs, or carers. 

·       Councillor Conway thanked officers for their work.  He indicated that the Executive had approved the Plan going out to consultation.  He went on to comment that the development of a representative citizens panel was possibly a long-term aspiration.  Different parts of the Council may be able to assist in reaching different groups within the community.

·       Councillor Bray commented that reducing the impact of roadworks, particularly when they were not instigated by the Council, and working with the utility companies, could be better addressed in the Plan.  Robert Curtis indicated that there was ongoing work around roadworks.

·       With regards to engaging with young people, Councillor Bray suggested that officers engage with the Youth Council, the SEND Youth Council and the Children in Care Council.  She also suggested that parents could be better reached by sending a letter via the schools (including independent schools), nurseries and early years settings.  The Board was informed that for the Reading Road consultation Engage had lowered the engagement age to 13 years old.  The My Journey team also engaged with many schools.

·       Philip Bell emphasised the importance of the consultation to the voluntary sector, who supported people to access care and support services.  He committed to help get the message out that the consultation was starting on 18^th December.

·       Alice Kunjappy-Clifton asked about materials in different languages.  She suggested a plug into the website to enable this. 

·       Sarah Webster commented that transport was an important building block for wellbeing.  She asked about specific interventions regarding poor air quality.  She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

To receive a Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust Performance update and Building Berkshire Together Update.

The Board considered the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust Performance update and the Building Berkshire Together Update, presented by Andrew Statham, Director of Strategy, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·       Andrew Statham indicated that he was the Director lead for the work on the new hospital.  He provided the Board with an update on the Building Berkshire Together project.  Work had quietened which was reflective of the national programme focus which was focused on ordering schemes in light of being asked to take on those hospitals with RAAC concrete, and a focus on repeatable design.

·       Securing alignment and support for a whole new hospital was important, and then understanding whether this could be constructed on the current site or what other possible sites were available. 

·       Work would be undertaken internally and also with the community to understand the potential impact to healthcare service users, to staff and partners, if the hospital did not remain on the existing site.

·       Issues had been identified in reaching all the communities that used the services, to hear their views.

·       There would be dates in January and February for site visits for Members to view the current estate.

·       Councillor Hare questioned whether it was the case that the current site had a lot of underground works, and if so if it was a limiting factor.  Andrew Statham commented that work was being carried out to understand what the site looked like and potential challenges.  The presence of the hospital’s repeatable design and how it could be done on a brownfield site with live working had to be carefully considered.

·       Dr Milligan questioned how sufficient space could be made on the current site to enable construction to be undertaken whilst services continued to be provided.  Andrew Statham agreed that there were complexities of building on a live site.

·       Councillor Bray agreed that redeveloping a hospital on a live site would be very difficult.  She questioned whether the rebuild would happen at all, such had been the delays in decision making at national level.  She would support the move to a new site.  Councillor Bray questioned when there would likely be more certainty, if at all.  Andrew Statham commented that the New Hospital Programme was clear on creating a long term capability and plan to rebuild hospitals, regardless of the political environment.  Local support would be required to highlight the importance of capital investment.

·       Work would be undertaken to understand the impact if the hospital was not located in its current location.  It was currently located next to the most deprived part of the community it served.

·       Councillor Bray asked whether leaving some facilities, for example an Urgent Care Centre, on the existing site and locating other facilities elsewhere, was a consideration.  Andrew Statham indicated that it would be but that what facilities were located where would need to be considered.

·       Ingrid Slade commented that Basingstoke and North Hampshire were also undergoing a consultation about moving their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

To receive a report regarding the establishment of the Berkshire West Health Protection & Resilience Partnership Board (West Berkshire, Wokingham, Reading).

The Board considered a report regarding the Berkshire West Health Protection and Resilience Partnership Board (“HPRPB”).

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·       The Local Authority had statutory responsibilities around health protection and emergency preparedness, including all activities seeking to prevent and reduce harm caused by infectious diseases, and minimise impact from environmental hazards such as chemicals and radiation.  The Director of Public Health worked on behalf of the local authority to discharge many elements of these responsibilities, working in collaboration with partners across the system.

·       Temporary working arrangements had been established in Berkshire West during the pandemic, which provided a mechanism for delivering against national guidance on health protection (with a focus on COVID-19).  There was now a need to establish a permanent governance structure to protect the health of residents across Berkshire West.   The Berkshire West Health Protection and Resilience Partnership Board had been established.   The Board would report into the Health and Wellbeing Boards and the United Executive of the ICS.

·       Councillor Bray asked about the mechanism of keeping the Board updated with the work of the United Executive.  Sarah Webster suggested an update from the Place Partnership at the Wellbeing Board’s March meeting.

RESOLVED:  That

1)    the establishment of the HPRPB, chaired by a Director of Public Health, to provide assurance that robust arrangements are in place to protect the health of residents across Berkshire West (including West Berkshire, Wokingham, Reading) be noted;

2)    the terms of reference for the HPRPB be noted;

3)    it be noted that the HPRPB will meet quarterly and produce an annual report to both the Unified Executive and the HWB to provide a clear analysis of risk, mitigation, and incidents.

To consider the Board’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

The Committee discussed the forward programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

·       An update from the Place Partnership would be brought to the Wellbeing Board’s March meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the forward programme be noted.