Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Alaisdair Brown, Brent Murray, Vanessa Taylor, Sheran Loran, and Cllr Ashleigh Robinson.

Melvyn Ingleson attended as sub for Sheran Loran.

Emma Dickens attended as sub for Brent Murray.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on the 27 March 2023.

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 27 March 2025 be approved as a correct record.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No interests were declared.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Board.

All agenda items were considered in public.

The Board will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting. 

No deputations or petitions were received.

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

No public questions were asked.

Regular update - This is an opportunity for partners to update the board on progress made and actions taken by their organisations to improve the health and well-being of the people who work for them and the Kirklees population as a whole.

Contact:  Cllr Beverley Addy, Portfolio Holder for Public Health

Cllr Beverley Addy, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board, invited Board members to provide an update on how organisations are currently promoting healthy activities and supporting staff well-being. Partners were encouraged to share any progress, initiatives, or challenges in these areas.

Cllr Addy advised that she recently had a productive meeting with officers from the Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board. Leeds colleagues shared details of their mentoring programme, which aimed to connect individuals with mentors from within the community to foster personal development which will enhance the understanding of diversity.  This initiative had previously been discussed by the Board, and members expressed an interest in exploring the potential to implement a similar programme locally. Cllr Addy explained that such a scheme would support community engagement and contribute positively to the Board’s wider objectives around inclusion and wellbeing.

The Board was informed of the recent appointment of a dedicated officer who will serve as the Lead for the Place Partnership for a period of 18 months. This role will focus on advancing the physical activity and “Moving More” agendas, aligning closely with priorities outlined in the Director of Public Health (DPH), annual report.

RESOLVED: 

That Board members continue to provide regular feedback on promoting healthy activities and supporting staff well-being within their organisations.

Verbal update on the ongoing changes to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) landscape.

Contact: Vicky Dutchburn, Accountable Officer, NHS, West Yorkshire ICB, Kirklees Place.

Vicky Dutchburn, Interim Accountable Officer for the Kirklees Integrated Care Board (ICB), provided an update to the Health and Wellbeing Board on recent developments within the ICB landscape. The Board was advised that at the end of March 2025, notification was received from the Department of Health and Social Care NHS England, indicating that there would need to be a 50% reduction in the workforce. This reduction would apply to ICBs operating both at the local (place) level and across the West Yorkshire regional level.

A deadline was set to achieve this reduction by Quarter 3 of this current financial year, which necessitated a rapid and significant pace to reduce the workforce by 50%.  The reduction would apply not only to staffing levels but also to overall running costs.

The Board was informed that since April, work is being undertaken to respond to the notification. It was acknowledged that this will be a challenging process, requiring significant effort to meet the targets set by Quarter 3.

Referring to the presentation, the Board was provided with an updated position on the work undertaken to date, and the work that is ongoing.  The information presented outlined the proposed future structure of the health and care system.

The structure would include:

• National teams (subject to workforce reductions)
• Regional teams
• Integrated Care Boards at place level
• Providers

Strength is being built into the blueprints for future provider alliances and collaborations.

It was highlighted that there are four key elements to this, and while these components are being undertaken in isolation and progressing on different timescales, they are all interdependent on each other to move forward. For example, the national and regional teams have been advised that their changes will not be in place until 2027.

The Board was informed that the core ICB is transitioning towards a Strategic Commissioner model. As part of this shift, many service delivery functions will either be transferred to other organisations or be discontinued. The Strategic Commissioner will focus on work already being undertaken in partnership, with an emphasis on understanding the local context, developing long-term plans, commissioning services through appropriate partners to deliver the strategy, evaluating impact, and maintaining a continuous improvement cycle.

With regard to future roles emerging from the strategic blueprint released in June, partners across West Yorkshire have reviewed and interpreted the blueprint and made some assumptions. This has informed the identification of key functions and roles required to support delivery, ensuring alignment with regional priorities and the evolving commissioning landscape.

Future roles for the ICB:

-         The ICB will be the strategic commissioner for West Yorkshire, convenor of the Integrated Care System, and integrator of providers and services:

-         Strategic commissioner – the ICB will ensure that services are planned and delivered in a way that meets the needs of the population both now and in the future. It involves a systematic approach to defining and measuring outcomes, using data and intelligence to make informed decisions about resource allocation and service delivery.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This paper is for information to provide members of the Health & Wellbeing Board assurance of the work being undertaken to ensure sufficiency of provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Kirklees. 

Contact: Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director, Learning and Early Support

Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director, Learning an Early Support, presented the SEND Sufficiency Strategy to the Board for information.  In summary, the Board was advised that the strategy reflects Kirklees’ ongoing commitment to ensuring sufficient and appropriate learning places, and where possible, for children and young people to be educated locally. The approach prioritises placing children in educational settings that best meet their individual needs, from early years through to post-16 opportunities, including employment and training.

The Board was informed that it is recognised that further work is required to strengthen provision for children and young people with social, emotional, mental health needs and those with autism. This is a priority area within the broader SEND Sufficiency Strategy, with ongoing efforts to ensure appropriate and high-quality placements are available to meet these specific needs.

The Strategy takes a long-term, data-informed approach to forecasting demand for learning placements. This includes using live data from Education, Health and Care Plans to anticipate future needs, enabling planning from early years through to secondary education and post-16 pathways. For example, understanding the needs of children currently in reception allows for forward planning as they transition through the education system.

The Board was advised that the SEND Sufficiency Strategy complements the ongoing work under the Safety Valve Programme, which is part of a government agreement. The strategy focuses not only on ensuring there are enough learning places for children and young people in Kirklees, but also on the quality of provision.

Progress has already been made, including the rebuilding of two new schools with modern facilities and increased capacity.  Work will be starting imminently on the Joseph Norton rebuild and work is beginning and planning permission has been received for Woodley School and College.

In addition, work is being undertaken with mainstream provision, working with schools in clusters to ensure they feel better equipped to meet the needs of the children and young people in mainstream local schools.  Focus has been on investing and growing additional resource provisions, which complement mainstream but give some additional capacity for particular types of specialisms. Included in the strategy is alternative provisions for children who might have medical needs which prevents them from attending school.  While there is still work to be done, it is important to look forward and the strategy sets the ambitions for the next three to five years.

Referring to the document, the Board was advised that the next steps it describes a SEND Sufficiency Group, which meets monthly. This group builds on the data underpinning the strategy to support future planning and commissioning. Towards the end of the document, a summary is provided to assist the system in identifying areas of need, highlighting where demand is increasing, where reductions may be appropriate, and where further development is required. This may include areas such as Alternative Resource Provision and specialist placements.

RESOLVED:

That Jo-Anne Sanders be thanked for providing an update on the Kirklees SEND Sufficiency for Kirklees 2025-2028.

This paper highlights to the Board the Kirklees Director of Public Health (DPH) Annual Report 2024/25, entitled Physical Activity Matters.

Contact: Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Executive Director for Public Health and Corporate Resources, Lucy Wearmouth, Head of Improving Population Health, Owen Richardson, Data and Insight Enablement Lead for Public Health, and Martin Gonzalez, Public Health Manager.

Lucy Wearmouth, Head of Improving Population Health and Martin Gonzales, Public Health Manager, presented the Director of Public Health Annual Report, on behalf of Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Executive Director for Public Health.

In summary, the Board was informed that the Director for Public Health chooses the focus of the annual report, which is an independent professional statement about the health of the local community and is separate to the political decision-making process.   The report aims to be a vehicle to start conversations and system change.  It is a key resource to inform the stakeholders of priorities and also to recommend actions to improve and protect the health of communities.

The Board was informed that this year’s report is titled Physical Activity Matters, with a particular focus on understanding inequalities related to physical activity. The aim is to develop a system-wide understanding of physical activity, including the factors that influence participation and the associated disparities across different population groups.

The Board was advised that the report is not intended to provide solutions. Instead, it outlines a set of proposed next steps and is expected to be published online shortly. Once available, the report will be shared with Board members. Ongoing work will continue to provide deeper insight into local communities, with the aim that the collective findings will inform and drive local system-wide actions.

The Board was reminded of the importance and of the wide-ranging benefits of physical activity. While the report does not include a formal definition, physical activity in this context refers to any form of movement that involves energy expenditure, essentially, moving the body.

Physical activity plays a vital role in the prevention and management of many health conditions, including cardiovascular and mental health, and in reducing the risk of chronic diseases. There is also the broader added value of physical activity in enhancing individual wellbeing and fostering social inclusion and bringing people communities together.  The report aims to reflect these wider social benefits.  A quote from Dame Sally Davies, former Chief Medical Officer sums it up.  “If physical activity was a drug, we would refer to it as a miracle cure due to the great many illnesses it can prevent and help treat”.

The Board was informed that the report includes the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance on how much physical activity different groups of people need to take each week.  This is across the life course ranging from children and young people, adults, older people, people with disabilities, and pregnant women.

For example, people aged 5 -18 years should aim for 60 plus minutes per day across the week, and adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity per week.   This is both informal and formal physical activity. 

For adults, aiming for 150 minutes of moderate activity per week can be quite overwhelming as a definition.  It is therefore important to emphasise that some exercise is good, more is better for the people who are most physically inactive. Just doing some physical activity can have health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Board is asked to sign off the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) 2025-28, prior to publication on the Kirklees Council web site.

Contact: Owen Richardson, Data and Insight Enablement Lead for Public Health.

Owen Richardson, Data and Insight Enablement Lead, provided a brief update on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA), which was presented to the Board for sign-off. By way of background, the Board was reminded that Health and Wellbeing Boards in England have a statutory duty to publish and maintain an up-to-date statement of pharmaceutical service needs for their population. This assessment is reviewed and updated every three years.

In September 2024, the Board was presented with a timeline for that process.  In February 2025, a draft copy of the PNA was shared with the Board prior to going out to 60-day consultation which took place during March and April 2025.  In total there were four responses to that consultation.  Nothing was raised in the consultation that required any significant changes to the draught version that was previously shared.  The conclusions remain valid based on the consultation.

The Board was informed that the information being presented is the final version of the PNA which includes all the information regarding the consultation, and it incorporates the changes to the pharmacy provision that have occurred since the draft.

Subject to approval by the Board, the PNA will be published by 22 September 2025 to ensure continuity with the expiry of the current version.

RESOLVED:

That the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment for 2025-2028 be approved by the Board.

To provide an update to the Board on the Kirklees Joint Strategic Assessment (KJSA).

Contact: Owen Richardson, Data and Insight Enablement Lead for Public Health.

Owen Richardson, Data and Insight Enablement Lead presented information on the Kirklees Joint Strategic Assessment (KJSA).  The Board was informed that the Health and Social Care Act (2012) requires Health and Wellbeing Boards, working through local authorities and the previously Clinical Commissioning Groups to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) of the health and wellbeing of their local communities.

Public Health England as it was at the time, defined the purpose of a JSNA as a “systematic method for reviewing the health and wellbeing needs of a population leading to agreed commissioning priorities that will improve the health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce inequalities.

The Board was informed that guidance at that time suggested that a JSNA should:

-       provide assessment of health and social care needs

-       include place-based population health analysis

-       adopt a system wide approach to health inequalities

-       create an evidence base for local strategies and commissioning

The Board was informed that, although the national guidance underpinning the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) remains unchanged and has not been updated, it continues to be in effect. In Kirklees, the Health and Wellbeing Board has delegated responsibility for the production of the JSNA to a steering group.

In 2015, the Board agreed to rebranding it to the Kirklees Joint Strategic Assessment (KJSA) to place greater emphasis on assets and the KJSA moved to become a web-based product.  An updated overview section is presented to the Board annually, with all other sections updated on a 2-to-3-year schedule.

All the work on the KJSA was paused in 2020, due to the pandemic, and there were limited updates in 2021.  In 2022, the majority of the content shifted to ‘archive section’ to be temporarily replaced by the OHID ‘A picture of health’ profile.  In 2023, work began redesigning, updating and relaunching the KJSA, reducing the number of sections and content volume and to bring it into closer alignment with the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

There is a new site structure which has six different sections, with the Health and Wellbeing Strategy in mind and thinking about the Health and Care Partnership Wells.  The sections are overview, people, place, wider factors, life stages and other priorities.

The Board was provided with a summary of progress against each of the sections and advised that in terms of next steps, the new website structure will go live within the next few weeks. It will include the completed sections and will have holding pages for the sections still under development. All sections will be completed by the end of 2025, and the steering group will agree the future updating schedule.

The Board was asked to continue to support the KJSA including its promotion and use in forming Commission and prioritisation decisions.

RESOLVED:

That the Board will continue to support the Kirklees Joint Strategic Assessment, including its promotion and use it in informing commissioning and prioritisation decisions.

The presentation sets out the background to the current Partnership Framework, establishes that Council officers are currently conducting a review, and poses a series of questions about the Framework for the Board’s consideration.

Contact:  Tom Whitehead, Policy and Partnership Officer 

Stephen Bonnell, Head of Policy and Partnerships, and Tom Whitehead, Policy and Partnerships Officer, presented the Partnership Framework review to the Board. Using the presentation slides, they outlined the purpose and structure of the Framework. The initial question posed was:

What is the Partnership Framework?

The information showed how existing partnership strategies contribute to the shared outcomes agreed across the system. It emphasised that these strategies are aligned with the overarching vision for Kirklees and are partnership-driven. The Board was informed that many of the outcomes can only be achieved through collaborative working and every organisation has a role in contributing to those outcomes.

The Partnership Framework consists of:

•       Vision

•       Shared Outcomes

•       Partnership Strategies

•       Setting out a high-level framework for collaboration and communicating about how we work together.

•       Primarily about collaboration between organisations (bilaterally and through partnership groups or programmes).

•       Every organisation has a role and impact on the vision, outcomes, and strategies.

How is the framework used?

The Board was informed that elements of the current Partnership Framework are used in areas of collective work, for example, the shared outcomes are embedded in the Health & Wellbeing Strategy.  The Framework helps to structure some strategic partnership conversations and demonstrates to external stakeholders (including funders) that there is a shared direction. 

The forthcoming multi-year funding agreement presents a timely opportunity for a strategic refresh. Key strategies such as the Health and Wellbeing Strategy require reassessment as much of the existing content is now outdated. This comes at a time of significant transition for the Council and its partners, including the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), both of which are navigating national policy changes.

In this context, effective partnership working is more important than ever. A key theme emerging from the recent Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge was a strong desire from partners to work more closely and strategically with the Council, and for the Council to adopt a longer-term, forward-looking approach.

In terms of the engagement plan:

-       Phase One – June to August 2025, gathering views internally and from partners. Seeking reflections on the current framework from partners; with opportunity to provide further feedback by email or one to one conversations by request

-       Phase Two – August 2025 to March 2026, finalising and agreeing a revised framework.  Using material gathered over the summer, designing and seeking further feedback to finalise a revised Framework, with final engagement through the Picture of Kirklees.

-       Adoption of the framework by March 2026.

The Board was informed that the starting assumption is the Partnership Framework, and its elements are not fundamentally problematic, however it is important to reflect on whether it should be iterated to address the current context and challenges. 

The core ambitions remain relevant and widely supported. There is, however, a need to review whether the language remains current, whether any elements are missing, and whether the framework could be rationalised and made more focused.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.