Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair introduced Members and officers to the Committee

Councillors Court, Gallagher, Safi - Ngogo and Bob Dowd – Co- opted Member Healthwatch

None

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

 (b)Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out

  duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

 (c)Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body

 in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

 (d)Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

 (e)Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

 (f)Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have

  a beneficial interest.

 (g)Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None

The Chair stated that the order of business would be as per the agenda

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 22 January 2018 be confirmed as a correct record of the proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them

The Chair will update the Committee on recent events.

The Chair stated that it is with regret that he had been informed that the co-opted Islington Healthwatch Member, Bob Dowd, was no longer able to serve as a Member of the Committee.

Members stated that they wished to place on record their appreciation of the hard work and service that Bob had given to the Committee and to wish him the best for the future

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

The Chair outlined the procedure for Public questions and filming and recording at meetings

Councillor Janet Burgess, Executive Member Health and Social Care, was present for discussion of this item.

During consideration the following main points were made –

·         It was noted that the LUTS clinic is planned to re-open, and whilst there will be some procedural delay in this, in the medium term it is anticipated that the service will operate from UCLH. Children’s services will be provided at Great Ormond Street

·         Whittington NHS Trust had coped well in accident and emergency given the high number of patients that had had to be seen recently

The Chair thanked Councillor Burgess for her report

This item was deferred until the next meeting of the Committee on 14 June 2018 due to the representatives from Moorfields NHS Trust not being able to attend due to the adverse weather conditions

Councillor Janet Burgess, Executive Member Health and Social Care and Jonathan O’Sullivan, Deputy Director Public Health, were in attendance for discussion of this item.

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         The Delayed Transfer of Care performance indicator was good and Islington has been highlighted by ImPower as a beacon authority, and bed days had been reduced by 28 days per patient as a result of the new measures undertaken

·         Feedback from the users on Direct Payments showed that DP recipients felt that they had the most choice and control over their care and support services, and had the highest percentage of those extremely or very satisfied with their service. Most people choose to use their Direct Payment to pay for a Personal Assistant (PA), which helps support better outcome. In order to improve the choice and speed of PA recruitment, staff training has been delivered and a new online PA finder has been introduced to make this process easier

·         A Member referred to problems that could occur with housing benefit on discharge to care and the Executive Member stated that she would look into this

·         In relation to public health indicators these were broadly similar to quarter 2 and it is hoped that the new drug and alcohol service would bring improvements in the future

·         In respect of the target for MMR vaccinations and this being below target, it was felt that this may be due to a problem in data recording

·         Reference was made to treatment of mental health and that there had been an improvement with accessing IAPT and that there had been significant progress made in people reporting their mental health concerns

·         In response to a question the Executive Member stated that the age limit as proposed in commissioning services to combat social isolation in the 18-64 age group could be looked at

The Chair thanked Councillor Burgess and Jonathan O’Sullivan for attending

 Ian Sandford, Public Health was present.

Following consideration of the report and discussion the following recommendations were agreed –

RESOLVED:

(a) That the Executive be recommended to –

1.    Support the Mayor of London’s Clean Air Strategy, in order to improve air quality and to reduce traffic, and to urge the Mayor to support additional funding for schemes to improve air quality in Islington

2.    Lobby the Government – Work with other London Boroughs and campaigning organisations to lobby the Government to introduce a new Clean Air Act for London, which should include provision for canals and waterways, car tax penalties for diesel vehicles, the cessation of engine idling, and a scrappage scheme to support people to dispose of diesel vehicles. Provision for penalties for engine idling should be included in any new Clean Air Act introduced, and the Council should ensure rigorous enforcement of any such legislation. Put up signs in zones where idling is a common problem, requesting car users to switch off their engines. Investigate the use of Public Space Protection Orders, to give the Council greater powers to sanction engine idling

3.    Request the Health and Wellbeing Board to incorporate air quality considerations into its future policies, given the impact of poor air quality on health and the costs of the provision of services to deal with combating respiratory disease

4.    Having heard the evidence of the focus of the Whittington NHS Trust in its new Estates Strategy with regard to energy efficiency, Islington CCG and NHS Trusts should ensure that energy efficiency is considered and implemented, wherever possible, in all future strategies and proposals

5.    Car Transport – Continue the ‘roll out’ of electric charging points, as speedily as possible, across the borough. Continue with the policy of increased parking charges for diesel vehicles and implement a staged introduction of higher charges for the higher polluting vehicles

6.    Schools – Implement a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to parking around schools for parents dropping off and picking children up from schools (including abolishing the 10 minutes grace period, if there is no provision under existing legislation for this), with the only exception being disabled/blue badge holders. Close roads near schools, at the beginning and at the end of each school day, as already happens in Hackney and is being piloted in Camden. Support schools and develop a communications strategy to educate parents/residents/children on the benefits of cycling, walking, active travel utilising quiet routes and, together with the Mayor of London, promote and enable the use of public transport (less vehicles as well as less polluting vehicles). Continue the policy of measuring air quality outside schools, and use the results to leverage any funding available from TfL, to implement any recommendations made, which may include physical improvements to schools, in order to improve air quality

Given the evidence that was considered in relation to the absorption of small particulates, especially PM2.5, and the extreme effects that these small particulates can have on residents, particularly young children whose  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

Whittington Estates Strategy

Councillor Heather referred to the fact that local MP’s, including Jeremy Corbyn, Catherine West and Emily Thornberry, had expressed their concern at the appointment of Ryhurst to assist in the developing the strategy with Whittington NHS Trust. In addition, he felt that there were still a number of issues, such as how schemes would be funded that still need clarification.

In addition, tit was understood that the Defending the Whittington coalition campaign had written to the Joint Overview Committee for Health and Social Care and Councillor Heather stated that he was concerned that they were still

awaiting a response to the concerns raised. Councillor Heather stated that he hoped that there would be a response sent to them thereon in the near future.

The Chair stated that it had to be recognised that this was a difficult issue, and that  the Trust had outlined some of its proposals at the last meeting of the Health and Care Committee. The Chair added that whilst he was reassured by the statements made at the meeting by the NHS Trust, it may be beneficial to discuss with the local MP’s their concerns, and for the Committee to further discuss this issue and come to a position on the proposals.

RESOLVED:

That the Chair be requested to discuss with local MP’s their concerns as to the appointment of Ryhurst, as the preferred partner of Whittington NHS Trust in the Whittington Estates Strategy, and report back thereon to Members of the Committee

It was proposed and duly seconded and –

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That a cordial vote of thanks be accorded to the Chair and Vice Chair for the services that they have rendered to the Committee during the current municipal year