Agenda item

The Committee at its meeting held on 15 November agreed to the creation of a Task Group to consider the transition of Public Health to the Council.  A request was also made for an update report to the Committee to enable it to provide guidance to the Task Group on potential lines of enquiry.

Cllr Keith Humphries, Cabinet Member Public Health and Protection Services, and Maggie Rae, Corporate Director Public Health and Public Protection were in attendance to present the report.  The Committee was informed:

·         The transition was part of the Mental Health and Social Care Bill, approved in March 2012, to integrate Public Health into the community with the focus on transition of the service, not transformation. This would eventually see Public Health at the heart of Local Government strategic decision making.

·         Integration plans developed as part of the transition were amongst the best in the South West and were circulated to wider counties as part of best practice sharing.

·         The PCT Board and Healthwatch received regular updates with regard to the transition (the last being in November 2012), with sub groups established and chaired by the PCT.

·         The relevant staff under contract at the PCT were in the process of completing TUPE transfers to the council as part of the transition. The consultation period for this was nearing an end and currently HR and legal departments at both the PCT and Wiltshire Council reported no serious problems.

·         The physical relocation of staff was now complete.   Maggie Rae expressed gratitude to Julie Anderson-Hill for her contribution towards the successful transfer of sites. 

·         It was stated that despite some initial difficulty identifying the relevant budget accounts for shared services, etc., the Council had been able to confirm a budget of £11.8m inclusive of school nursing, which was later added following a central government clarification. The following year would include a 10% uplift bringing this amount to approximately £13.m which will again rise by 10% the following year to give an overall rise of approximately 21% over 2 years. This would be subject to a separate audit and will be signed off by the PCT board at the end of the year.

·         An update on IT and communications was then made detailing staff engagement exercises and updates to the board that have been made. It was said that an IT solution to accessing PCT and Council databases for shared staff had been identified, and was being utilised.

·         A communications plan had been developed and detailed how updates (including those to strategic management and councillors) were managed.  This could be made available for members to view if required.

·         The Exercise Referral Programme with GPs was proving to be a great success with Wiltshire one of the first counties in the country to show a drop in childhood obesity figures. The Wiltshire Council Legacy Board aimed to build on such successes.

Upon questioning the following clarifications were made:

·         The sub groups detailed within the management structure were required as each would review specialist functions. The groups had all been incorporated into existing resource allocations.

·         Public Health was committed to providing what was in the best interests of the public and would not be influenced by political pressures.  It was intended that the next generation of Public Health leads would be inspired to continue to speak independently and in the best interests of the public they served.

·         Public Health had been working with Environment Health since 2009.  Regular meetings were held between Health Protection, Environment Agency and Public Health to provide assurance and assessment of performance.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet member and officers for their attendance and welcomed the partnership engagement opportunity for the Committee

Resolved:     

1)    To note the progress report provided on the transition of Public Health to the local authority; and

2)    That the comments provided would be taken into consideration by the Public Health Task Group during its work.