Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health which sought the views of the Committee on recommended changes to the current Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JLHWS) 2022-2032 as part of the current review.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the report the following discussions took place:

(i)           A member raised concerns that reference to some key health issues was proposed to be removed from the commitments in the JLHWS, such as vaccinating 1 and 2 year olds, and ensuring that there were opportunities for all 16-17 year olds to gain education, employment and training. The member questioned how progress in tackling those issues could be tracked if they were not part of the commitments. In response it was explained that rather than removing those issues from the strategy altogether, the approach was to refine the wording in the commitments and make it more concise. These issues would still be addressed in the Delivery Plans that accompany the Strategy. It was agreed that when the Health and Wellbeing Board Annual Report was presented to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee in future it could include the Delivery Plans. It was also noted that by simplifying the wording in the commitments it gave more flexibility to tackle emerging issues such as vaping. Some of the issues the member referred to relating to children sat better in the Children’s Partnership strategy rather than the JLHWS.

(ii)         A member emphasised the importance of ensuring that the final period of a person’s life was as comfortable as possible and queried what was being done to help those people. The member submitted that there was a lack of focus on helping people adjust to life after retirement from work. In response reassurance was given that this was where the life course approach and the Dying Well section of the JLHWS played a role. The Staying Healthy Partnership Board sub-group covered all ages. Consideration was also being given to having more focus in Leicestershire on healthy ageing and the member welcomed this.

(iii)        A member raised concerns about sedentary lifestyles and the need to get people to exercise more. In response it was acknowledged that this was an important issue that needed to be tackled. The amount of screen time people had was also a problem not just because they tended not to be exercising whilst watching a screen, but also because of the mental health impacts from some of the content on the screen. Therefore, it was hoped that the Strategy would help tackle this issue.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the revised Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy be noted;

(b)        That the comments now made by the Committee be reported to the Health and Wellbeing Board at its meeting on 25 September 2025.