Agenda and minutes

Cllr. Richard Johnson was nominated by Cllr. Kevin Price and seconded by Cllr. Margery Abbot for the position of Chair. No other nominations were forthcoming. Cllr. Richard Johnson accepted the position.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to ask a question or make a statement to the Partnership. Please refer to the Public Participation section at the end of this agenda.

No public questions were received.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th March 2016.

The Minutes of the meeting of the 10^th March were agreed and signed as a correct record.

The Cambridgeshire draft JSNA will be published shortly. It will focus on migrant workers from A8 accession countries who have complex health and wellbeing needs. It will outline determinants that affect health and may suggest that migrant welcome packs be prepared and improved access to English literacy classes put in place to help improve access to local services.

A paper attached provides some background about local work in this area and the preparation of the JSNA.

The Council is keen to play its part in the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program and has been leading work locally to accept Syrian refugees in the City. Much of the work has been about identifying properties and ensuring they are in an appropriate condition to house our new arrivals. Arrangements have been made to provide the right levels of care and to ensure that their resettlement goes smoothly and that people have the best opportunity of integrating, including the provision of translation services and English Language training.

Tulat Raja from the Safer Communities’ Team will provide an update on the programme and identify some of the health and social care issues affecting this group of people.

This is an opportunity for members to feed their views into the considerations given to the draft JSNA by the Health and Wellbeing Board on 7 July 2016.

This item has been allocated 20 minutes.

Members welcomed the proposed JSNA report on migrant workers and refugees and looked forward to reading its findings.

Eddie Stadnick, Chief Executive Officer for Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum (CECF), outlined the Forum’s recent work in providing welfare advice and practical help to asylum seekers and refugees in Cambridge. Whilst Cambridge is not a dispersal area it was noted that people do turn up homeless and traumatised, living on subsistence incomes and looking for assistance.

It was said that Migrant Help, the body contracted by the Government to give support to migrants could only provide “patchy” services to vulnerable people and that this tended to be centred on larger populations in towns and cities, with rural areas losing out. The Migrant Help service promoted access to legal aid and advice but where applications were turned down it was not permitted to take forward an appeal, sometimes leaving people in dire circumstances.

CECF has recently been assisting 26 people in accessing legal aided immigration advice and had been referring younger people to Centre 33 for help. It was said that Cambridgeshire County Council was presently supporting 60 young people under 18 and that this number was likely to increase to 90 people at the end of the year. Concern was expressed about what would happen to these young unaccompanied people when they turned 18 – would they be thrown out of the country they had made their home at this point?

It was said that the Council has been playing its part in the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program and has been leading work locally to accept Syrian refugees in the City. Much of the work has been about identifying properties and ensuring they are in an appropriate condition to house new arrivals. Arrangements have been made to provide the right levels of care and to ensure that their resettlement goes smoothly and that people have the best opportunity of integrating, including the provision of translation services and English Language training. So far three families, including six children had been settled. Arrangements were presently being made to house a further two families in private sector accommodation, but it was said that private sector landlords seemed reluctant to get involved. Many were concerned that if they offered assistance that they may be subject to additional scrutiny and be required to complete extensive paperwork to meet any legislative responsibilities.

It was said that some refugees and asylum seekers in Cambridge required a high level of support because of their traumatising experiences, and many were suspicious of the state and tried not to talk about their experiences with officials. It was said that in some health care settings providers were reluctant to offer translation or an interpreting service, making it difficult for migrants to receive appropriate care. It was felt that the national circumstances were leading to an increase in local hate crimes and that this could be exacerbating the feeling of isolation for many migrants in the city.

Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum provides welfare advice and practical help to asylum seekers and refugees in Cambridge, which involves working in partnership with the statutory and voluntary sector to develop and deliver services to asylum seekers and refugees. Whilst offering resource materials for those working with asylum seekers and refugees the service does not provide immigration advice.

Eddie Stadnick, Chief Executive Officer for Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum, will discuss the Forum’s recent work with members.

The paper attached shows the programme for Cambridge Refugee Week.

This item has been allocated 20 minutes.

Eddie Stadnick, Chief Executive Officer for Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum (CECF), said that Refugee Week this year had been a huge success in bringing           together people from different backgrounds and had supported the network of different organisations in the “City of Sanctuary” campaign.

The City Council has provided Cambridge CAB with an additional grant to “roll-out” its Advice Outreach project, presently running within East Barnwell Health Centre, to three other practices, also serving disadvantaged communities in Cambridge.

Rachel Talbot, Chief Executive of Cambridge CAB, will introduce the first year report.

The attached paper shows the annual report for the project. This provides an opportunity for members to assess progress with this project.

This item has been allocated 15 minutes.

Jane Belman and Sally Salisbury outlined the impact of the first year of the Outreach Advice project being delivered by Cambridge CAB, presently running within East Barnwell Health Centre and discussed progress with extending the project to three other practices, also serving disadvantaged communities in Cambridge.

Jane said that work had started in providing similar services in the Nuffield Road practice and discussions were taking place with the Arbury Road practice and Trumpington practice. One limiting factor was the availability of sufficient space at Arbury Road practice.

Members welcomed the report and noted the increase in incomes that had been realised as a result of local people receiving their benefit entitlements, as well as some of the apparent improvements in their health, although it was appreciated that this link was complex and difficult to evidence without the use of randomised control trials. Members also welcomed the additional independent funding that had come forward from the Evelyn Trust that would add value to this project.

It was suggested that the impending CCVS premises in Arbury Court could be used as a setting for the project and that connections should be made with the Community Navigator Service that is about to be retendered.

The next meeting of the Board will be on 7 July 2016. It is likely to cover:

·                   Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, including the JSNA Summary Report, Migrant and Refugees JSNA and an

         update on the Long-Term Conditions JSNA

·                   Update on the implementation of the County’s Community Resilience Strategy

·                    Health and Care System Transformation Programme, and

·                    Better Care Fund update.

The agenda and supporting papers for the meeting can be found here:

http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/committee.aspx?committeeID=70

Members noted the likely agenda for the next Board meeting on 7 July 2016, which may cover:

·        Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, including the JSNA Summary Report, Migrant and Refugees JSNA and an update on the Long-Term Conditions JSNA

·        Update on the implementation of the County’s Community Resilience Strategy

·        Health and Care System Transformation Programme, and

·         Better Care Fund update.

Cambridge City Council will shortly be formally “signing-up” to the local declaration supporting the Concordat.

Frances Swann, Supported Housing Manager for Cambridge City Council, will briefly discuss local work.

The Concordat Declaration is shown in the attached document.  This is an opportunity for members to discuss the work of the Steering Group and its action plan.

This item has been allocated 10 minutes.

Vicky Knighton, Cambridge City Council’s Tenancy Sustainment Officer, outlined the present work being pursued by the Concordat’s Delivery Board. This included pilot initiatives put in place as part of the local Vanguard Programme that strengthen first responders, extend out of hours care and provide a place of sanctuary that local people can “self-refer” into. An integrated mental health team were in place in the police forces control room to help ensure people in mental health crisis received appropriate support. It was likely that the pilot would be “rolled out” later in the year, based on its reported success.

Cambridge City Council will shortly be formally “signing-up” to the local declaration supporting the Concordat in the near future. Members welcomed this work and looked forward to its development.

The reference group is supporting the delivery of the Director of Public Health’s local priorities.

Yvonne O’Donnell, Environmental Health Manager for the City Council, will briefly talk about local work. This is an opportunity for members to discuss the work of the group.

This item has been allocated 10 minutes.

Yvonne O’Donnell, Environmental Health Manager for the City Council, briefly talked about the work of the group, which was being prioritised around promoting healthy diets and physical activity, including a healthy weight strategy. City Council services were looking to contribute by focusing some of their mainstream activities on these priorities, including sports development, community development and environmental health work.

A healthy work programme was being offered to local employers by Public Health that included the training of organisational health champions, mental health first aid “light”, travel to work advice and the use of structured and unstructured activities in the workplace. Members welcomed the opportunity for local employers to get involved in the programme.

The next meeting will be on the 8^th September 2016