Agenda and minutes

Venue: MS Teams

Contact: Shelley Humphries  Tel: 01902 554070 email: shelley.humphries@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Marsha Foster, Katherine Birch, Professor David Loughton CBE and Katrina Boffey.

 

2.

Notification of substitute members

Minutes:

Dr Ranjit Khutan attended on behalf of Katherine Birch and Melvena Anderson attended on behalf of Marsha Foster.

 

3.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

 

4.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 327 KB

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

Minutes:

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of 13 January 2021 be approved as a correct record.

 

5.

Matters arising

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.]

Minutes:

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

 

6.

Health and Wellbeing Together Forward Plan 2020 - 2021 pdf icon PDF 243 KB

[To receive the Health and Wellbeing Together Forward Plan 2020 – 2021.]

Minutes:

Madeleine Freewood, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, presented the Health and Wellbeing Together Forward Plan 2020 – 2021. It was noted that, due to the need to focus on the Covid-19 Outbreak Control Plan, the Public Health Annual Report had been deferred to the July meeting.

 

Any requests for agenda items should be forwarded to Democratic Services or Madeleine Freewood, Stakeholder Engagement Manager.

 

Resolved:

That the Health and Wellbeing Together Forward Plan 2020 – 2021 be received.

 

7.

Local Outbreak Engagement Board Update

[To receive a verbal update on the findings of the Local Outbreak Engagement Board.]

Minutes:

Dr Kate Warren, Consultant in Public Health, delivered the Local Outbreak Engagement Board update presentation.

 

In terms of daily cases in Wolverhampton, it was reported that numbers had been very low since beginning of March and were continuing to reduce over time despite the lifting of some restrictions.

 

It was reported that case rates continued to be highest in working age adults but had decreased in all age groups, particularly the older adults; this was a result of both the lockdown restrictions and vaccination programme.

 

Regional case rate statistics showed that the Wolverhampton case rates were currently amongst the lowest in the West Midlands and the current case rate was 20.5.

 

There were no consistent geographical hotspots and case rates appeared very similar across the City.

 

It was reported that hospital admission rates were very low and currently there were only four patients in New Cross Hospital being treated for COVID-19, with none on ventilators.

 

The Winter peak of mortality had now subsided, and the overall level of deaths was currently not in excess of the level usually seen at this time of year.

 

The vaccination programme had been rolled out at pace, and good coverage levels had been achieved so far. Disparities had been observed and partnership plans were in place to address these.

 

Members of the Board paid tribute to John Denley, Director of Public Health

and his team and thanked them for their dedicated work in response to the pandemic. The partnership work between all agencies was commended and the importance of targeting those living in less affluent areas was emphasised. 

 

It was noted that plans for Phase 3 of the vaccination programme were starting but dates for the delivery were not set as it was currently a work in progress.

 

Resolved:

That the Local Outbreak Engagement Board Update be received.

 

8.

Wolverhampton Covid-19 Outbreak Control Plan pdf icon PDF 298 KB

[To note the refreshed Outbreak Control Plan for Wolverhampton.]

 

Minutes:

John Denley, Director of Public Health, presented the refreshed Wolverhampton Covid-19 Outbreak Control Plan report accompanied by a presentation. The presentation provided a visual overview of the progress achieved so far, lessons learnt since the first version of the Plan was published in June 2020, and how Wolverhampton planned to collectively ‘reset, recover and relight’ through the next stages of the national Roadmap.

 

The seven key themes within the refreshed plan were outlined and the challenges faced when delivering these proposals were discussed.

 

The Director of Public Health responded to questions asked and the response strategy to the emergence of new variants was outlined.

 

Councillor Ian Brookfield, Leader of the Council, stated that he was confident with the refreshed plan and thanked the council and partners for their work on this.

 

Concerns were raised about the length of time it was taking for laboratories to respond on cases regarding variant mutations. The Director of Public Health explained that the issue was being addressed and response times should improve.

 

Resolved:

That the refreshed Outbreak Control Plan for Wolverhampton be noted.

 

9.

Introduction to Community Wealth Building pdf icon PDF 1 MB

[To receive an update on Community Wealth Building.]

Minutes:

Stuart MacDonald, Associate Director of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), delivered a presentation on Community Wealth Building. The presentation provided an overview of the current economic problem and how community wealth building sought to address the issues of austerity, financialisation and automation.

 

Community wealth building was a people-centred approach to local economic development, which looked to increase the flow of wealth back into local economies and places, by giving more control to local people and businesses.

 

The Associate Director discussed different types of Community Wealth Building approaches within the UK and responded to questions asked.

 

Councillor Ian Brookfield, Leader of the Council, emphasised the importance of rebalancing wealth in the community and welcomed future work with the CLES.

 

Resolved:

That the Introduction to Community Wealth Building update be received.

 

10.

Other Urgent Business

[To consider any items of business by reason of special circumstances (to be specified) that in the opinion of the Chair are matters of urgency.]

 

Minutes:

The Board were advised of a Wolverhampton LGBT+ virtual consultation that was taking place on 28 April 2021 at 7.00 pm. Details of the consultation and how to take part were circulated.