Issue - meetings

Report by Maggie Rae, Corporate Director

The JSA has been circulated to Cabinet members only and available on request to other members of Council and the public and available electronically with this agenda and on: 

http://www.intelligencenetwork.org.uk/joint-strategic-assessment/

Cabinet will be advised of the views of the Council’s Health Select Committee which will be considering the JSA at its meeting on 14 March.

Cllr Keith Humphries, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection, presented the Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) for 2012/13. He gave a presentation on its key points, the changes made since the last one to incorporate feedback and its relationship with other themed JSA’s.

This overarching JSA contained a summary of the main issues for Wiltshire across a range of themes. It documented a needs assessment of strategic issues and priorities for Wiltshire for the next three years.

The JSA had emerged as the assessment tool on which all commissioning decisions for the County were based including a wide range of areas such as health and wellbeing, economy, children and young people, community safety, housing, transport, environment, resilient communities, leisure and culture.

The JSA would provide valuable knowledge about Wiltshire for not only the Council, but also partner organisations to enable evidenced based organisational planning and timely commissioning decisions to build resilient communities for Wiltshire.

Cllr Peter Hutton, Chairman of the Health Select Committee reported that the Committee had at its meeting on 14 March in considering the JSA, was happy to endorse the document and its use in commissioning and strategy.

The Committee had commented that it would like to see a continuation of child poverty being tackled seriously and to include information on active ageing with an emphasis on promoting good health. The Committee also noted and welcomed the influx of 8,000 military personnel to Wiltshire. The Committee would be considering an annual report on the JSA.

Cllr Keith Humphries welcomed the comments of the Health Select Committee which he was happy to take on board, pointing out that it was very much a live and evolving document.

Resolved:

That Cabinet note the production and publication of the Joint Strategic Assessment 2012/13 and supporting documents and endorse its use in commissioning and strategy.

Reason for Proposal

To ensure that our strategies and plans are evidence based and that the Joint Strategic Assessment provides this evidence base for all thematic partnerships in Wiltshire.