Agenda item

The Committee to consider an overview of the use of the Public Health Grant in West Northamptonshire.

The Chair commented that the agenda item was intended to consider how Public Health funding was used in West Northamptonshire and whether there were further opportunities to maximise the benefit obtained from these resources. 

The Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Wellbeing and Health Integration commented that the current position was significantly informed by the legacy from NCC, which had created a Public Health reserve to pay back resources that had not been used correctly. As Cabinet Member he had sought to make the Public Health function more outward looking than in the past. The annual budget was £9.7m, with a majority of this used on specific contracts. WNC was currently working on disaggregation and procurement of future services for functions such as Healthwatch and 0-19 services. There was a focus on how WNC delivers better use of contracts for residents.

The Director of Public Health presented the report and gave a further overview of key areas of work supported by Public Health funding, highlighting the following points:

·         The Public Health grant increased by a small amount each year. The Director considered that the funding received by WNC was fairly low relative to the size of the authority.

·         The Cabinet in January 2023 had agreed the Public Health Framework setting out the approach and key priorities for use of the Public Health grant to 2024.

·         75% of Public Health grant funding was used through contracts.

·         The disaggregation of previous countywide contracts for functions such as sexual health services and 0-19 services would increase the opportunity to shape future services to meet the needs of West Northamptonshire.

·         The Public Health reserve established had been used to support significant projects that had produced a benefit for West Northamptonshire: for example, £2m had been used to support projects under the Anti-Poverty Strategy.

·         It was likely to take several years to align the Public Health budget exactly as wanted, given the percentage of it that was used on existing contracts.

The Committee considered the report, asked questions and had discussion as follows:

·         Members discussed the need for a joined-up working approach, promoting the use of the LAPs, for example with drugs misuse there could be small scale projects taking place at a local level that could feed into the overall approach. The Director of Public Health responded that a lot of substance misuse work was tied up in contracts, but this could be passed onto the LAP project managers in the future for consideration.

·         Members emphasised the need for school nurse and mental health advice and asked if this was incorporated in current provision. The Committee was advised that there was an opportunity for WNC to join up services more in the new 0-19 contract. There were funds allocated for mental health and a process about to start on how these funds could be used to better meet the voluntary and community sector needs joining forces with the LAPs. Members asked supplementary questions relating to provision of school nurses and the number of contracts with the private sector as individual academies may have their own placements. The Committee was advised that a lot of provision was with the voluntary sector and there was minimal spend in the private sector.

·         Members highlighted the work done as part of the former People Scrutiny Committee scrutiny review on child and adolescent mental health and suggested that this could help inform the disaggregation work.

·         The Director of Public Health highlighted that the demographic of the West Northamptonshire area had changed in 10 years but the Public Health grant was not reflective of this change or in line with inflation. Members raised the need for WNC to make a case to the government for a review of Public Health funding to reflect this situation. 

·         Members asked if school meals could be provided in the budget. The Director of Public Health advised that there was not the headroom in the budget but support for vulnerable families needed to be reviewed.

·         Members sought reassurance about what benefits WNC should be able to achieve from disaggregating services. The Committee was advised that it would help with inequality between different areas as the LAPs had an effective structure to help maximise public access to services. It would also benefit West Northamptonshire as contracts could be reviewed to tailor services to the area.

·         The Chair encouraged that the disaggregation of sexual health services should give sufficient consideration to rural areas, as the service was historically focussed on Northamptonand outreach into rural areas was needed. The Director of Public Health gave assurance that a sexual health needs assessment had been finalised that accounted for an overview of West Northamptonshire.

RESOLVED: That the Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Recommended to the Cabinet that joint working between LAPs and Public Health be accelerated to drive improvements and partnership working to benefit residents.

b)   Recommended to the Cabinet that it makes a case to the government for a review of Public Health funding to recognise demographic changes in West Northamptonshire.