Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

There were no members of the public or the press present at the meeting.

The Chairman reported that a sponsorship form was being passed around for anyone wishing to sponsor representatives of Speak Up for a 26 mile walk.

It was also reported that an e-mail had been sent to Members with regard to the NICE Public Health Draft Guidance on Obesity.  The Chairman and Vice-Chair had met and discussed putting forward positive comments.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the Chairman and Vice-Chair submit a positive response on behalf of the Select Commission.

(2)  That a copy of the response be circulated to Select Commission Members.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19^th April, 2012, were noted.

- verbal update

Councillor Wyatt, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, gave the following update:-

-        The next Board meeting was on 6^th June, the main item of business being the draft Health and Wellbeing Strategy.  It would then be considered by Cabinet in June and be in place for the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) authorisation

-        The CCG was undertaking examination of a number of documents in advance of the authorisation.  There would also be a recruitment exercise for a Chief Officer for the CCG and other HR issues with regard to existing NHS staff

-        HealthWatch was an extremely complicated issue.  It was Rotherham’s plan to have HealthWatch operating by October, 2012

-        John Wilderspin, Department of Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards Implementation, had written stating he wished to visit Rotherham to look for examples of good practice.  He wanted to attend a Board meeting to meet Board members, discuss the relationship between Select Commission, CCG and the wider health community

Discussion ensued with the following comments made/highlighted:-

o       The Council’s Audit Committee had considered the differing Risk Assessment arrangements between the NHS and Council.  The Committee had recommended that there be named officers who were responsible for Risk Assessment and work to draw the 2 closer together

o       There was a well established NHS Audit Committee

o       Audit and governance, certainly in respect of CCG Audit Group, was 1 of the major documents which had to pass the test in order to achieve authorisation as well as having to demonstrate the strong working relationships between all the agencies in particular the Local Authority and Health

o       The Local Authority Audit Committee Chair also chaired the Joint Audit Committee Group

Councillor Wyatt was thanked for his update.

The Chair presented the proposed work programme for 2012/13.  In pulling together the programme, there needed to be a retrospective look at what had been achieved in 2011/12 with any outstanding issues carried forward.  The main focus included development area projects with the Centre for Public Scrutiny and a review of Continuing Healthcare.

Discussions had already taken place with the Cabinet, Strategic Leadership Team and Select Commission Chairs to identify some strategic priorities for the work programme that would involve joint working across both the Executive and Select Commissions which included:-

-        Fuel Poverty

-        11 most Deprived Areas

-        Troubled Families

-        Welfare Reform

-        Role of local Members in their Communities

-        Reducing Health Inequalities

-        Special Educational Needs and announced Legislative Changes

At its meeting on 25^th May, 2012, the Overview and Management Board had requested that a joint review of the Health and Improving Lives Select Commissions take place on Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

The review into Continuing Health Care was continuing and hoped to be completed by the end of July.

The Chair asked for suggestions from Members bearing in mind the restricted staffing resources that were now available:-

o       Waiting times – operations, A&E – monitor trends

o       Access to Health Services

o       Sexual Health Services

o       Commissioning

o       Discharge Policy

Resolved:-  That the Chairman and Vice-Chair report the above to the Overview and Management Board.

Alison Iliff, Public Health Specialist, presented the consultation by the Department of Health on Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products that would close on 10^th July, 2012.

The purpose of the consultation was to seek the views of interested people, businesses and organisations on a policy initiative that would require the packaging of tobacco products to be standardised, the aim being to improve public health by reducing the use of tobacco.  Any actions to take further policy action on tobacco packaging would be taken only after full consideration was given to consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information.  Legislation would be required if it was decided to pursue a policy.

The following points were highlighted:-

-              Standardised packaging was currently not in place anywhere in the world; Australia had passed Legislation and would come into effect as from 1^st December, 2012

-              The Government wanted to consult on whether the public felt it was a good idea, whether they felt it would reduce smoking/the uptake of smoking in young people and prevent relapses from those who had quit

-              The Tobacco Control Alliance had responded to the consultation based on the template response produced by ASH (Action on Smoking and Health).  However, the Alliance had felt it needed to question and comment on the evidence review that accompanied the consultation

-              Although the Alliance supported the standardised approach, it felt manufacturers would find other ways to promote their product.  It was suggested that Legislation should be considered to prevent the tobacco industry undermining the plain packaging

-              A number of research studies had been undertaken giving standardised packets of cigarettes to smokers of all age groups with the results showing it would reduce the use of tobacco products.  However, standardised packaging was not in place anywhere in the world and the studies had not been able to replicate the fact that if everyone had a standardised package would it matter? Would it actually stop people smoking if there was no difference between all the packaging?  The Alliance felt this had not been addressed or recognised and was a weakness

-              Standardised packaging would take away the misunderstanding regarding the differing strengths of different cigarettes

-              Plain packaging would not distract from the health warning but it should be larger type?

-              The Alliance did not have anyone with the expertise in trade and competition law so had only responded based on what it had read

-              The Alliance did not believe there would be any detrimental effect in the short term to packaging manufacturers as it would still need to be produced and manufactured.  Longer term, if the Policy was introduced and succeeded in the way it was intended, then smoking would reduce and there would be an impact

-              All cigarette packets contained an invisible embedded marking that Trading Standards and HRMC could detect with hand held devices.  The marking would still be in place in plain packaging and, therefore, identification of counterfeit products should not be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

1)         Health, Welfare and Safety Panel

            One Member plus a substitute

            Meets quarterly on a Friday

            (next meeting on 15th July)

(2)       Recycling Group

            One Member

            Meets quarterly on a Tuesday at 10.00 a.m.

            (next meeting 19^th July)

Resolved:-  That the Select Commission’s representatives for the 2012/13 Municipal Year be as follows:-

Health, Wefare and Safety Panel

Councillor Wootton

Councillor Dalton (substitute)

Recycling Group

Councillor Beaumont

- Thursday, 12th July, 2012 at 9.30 a.m.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting be held on Thursday, 12^th July, 2012 commencing at 9.30 a.m.