Apologies were received from co-opted member Hayley James.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.

Councillor Suzanne Grocott requested that changes be made to the minutes in relation to the budget and business plan item to provide further detail on comments made during the discussion.

The Chair called for a vote to accept the draft minutes – 4 members voted in favour and 3 against.

RESOLVED: that the draft published minutes be agreed as a correct record of the meeting.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

The Director of Public Health, Kay Eilbert, introduced the report on the work of the Health and Wellbeing Board. She drew the panel’s attention to the expanded focus that now takes in health inequalities, prevention and integration. She highlighted the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) as a key tool for using limited resources more effectively.

Kay Eilbert gave a presentation on the Merton Health and Wellbeing Strategy. She highlighted the agreement that inequalities between the east and west of the borough are unfair and unacceptable and that all residents should have opportunities for a “Good Life”. The slides set out what a “Good Life” would entail. Subsequent slides set out further detail on the five themes and proposed outcomes that will be detailed in the annual action plans.

In response to a question about the timescale and budget for tackling health inequalities, Kay Eilbert said that it is a long term project with limited resources that would require people to work differently, more in partnership.

The Chair invited Panel members to comment on the three questions posed by Kay Eilbert:

·         Does the Panel support the focus on prevention and to develop ways to use council levers such as planning and licensing to influence health in positive ways?

·         What barriers do you think we need to address?

·         What opportunities do we have to take this forward?

Panel members supported the focus on prevention. They would like to see positive actions taken to encourage healthy behaviour (such as teaching people to cook healthy meals) rather than just telling people to stop doing things. 

Panel members suggested that education, and in particular early years, should be top of the list of priorities for promoting good health. Employment and housing should also be priorities due to their impact on health. Transport policy should also be addressed.

The Chair said that much had been achieved by successive governments to reduce smoking rates and that this should be celebrated as it will save lives and have a particular impact on people on low incomes. He suggested that the council should support efforts to further reduce smoking rates through actions such as trading standard checks on underage sales.

The Chair said that there were numerous barriers, including finance and ingrained attitudes. He added that opportunities would be limited as the council shrinks in size so there is a need to be creative and to continue to work in partnership with others.

RESOLVED: to thank the Director for her presentation and to endorse the direction of the health and wellbeing strategy.

The Director of Community and Housing, Simon Williams, introduced the report. He drew the Panel’s attention to a matter of accuracy, that the petition had been organised by a collection of local people and not by Merton Centre for Independent Living as stated in the report. He also reported that a further 28 signatures had been added to the petition since it was formally handed to him on 2 February, and he drew the Panel’s attention to the actual petition on the table which was there to read.

Simon Williams said that a summary of responses was set out on the report. He recognised that the savings proposals were difficult and may have a profound impact on peoples’ lives and he thanked the respondents for having been so courteous and constructive. He said that feedback on the equality impact assessment had been taken on board and a revised equality impact assessment had been tabled at this meeting and would be presented to Cabinet at its meeting on 16 February.

Simon Williams said that comments regarding the consultation process had been helpful and he would make sure that future consultations had wider time frames if at all possible and would relate to the budget setting timetable.

The Chair invited two speakers to make comments on the adult social care consultation results:

Roy Benjamin, a local resident

Roy Benjamin expressed concern that undue weight had been attached to financial considerations and not enough to the impact that the proposals would have on peoples’ lives. He cited other services on which the council was proposing to spend money and said that some of these, such as a new swimming pool, would be inaccessible to disabled people if their care budgets were cut.

Roy Benjamin asked that the adult social care savings be considered in relation to alternative savings that the council could make. He stressed that the impact of cuts to care budgets would leave people isolated at home, becoming depressed and possibly suicidal.

LylaAdwan-Kamara, Manager, Merton Centre for Independent Living

LylaAdwan-Kamara said that nearly 700 people had participated in the consultation (including those who signed the petition). She urged the Panel to listen to the views expressed and engage in open dialogue regarding these.

LylaAdwan-Kamara said that respondents saw the proposals as a moral issue, were accusing the council of prioritising other services and failing to understand the likely impact or the difficulties already faced by service users. She said that the proposals were likely to reduce independence, reduce wellbeing and increase isolation and were therefore contrary to the July principles. She cited the annual residents survey results as further evidence that the council is failing disabled people.

LylaAdwan-Kamara added that Merton CIL had worked hard to engage with officers and councillors and would like to continue with a more open dialogue.

In discussion, all members thanked the speakers and expressed concern about the impact that the proposed savings may have on disabled people, including social isolation,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

RESOLVED: to agree the work programme as published.