Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Contact: Jane Lythgow 

Items
No. Item

1.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Griffiths disclosed, in the interest of transparency and for all items under discussion, that he was a GP working for the National Health Service in the district.  

 

Action: City Solicitor

 

2.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Jane Lythgow - 01274 432270)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

 

3.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

Any referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda will be reported at the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no referrals made to the Committee.

 

4.

COVID 19 - PUBLIC HEALTH UPDATE pdf icon PDF 456 KB

The Director of Public Health will provide a verbal report on the Department of Public Health’s strategic Covid-19 plan and updates on testing, NHS Test and Trace and outbreak management.

 

 

A presentation will be provided and to enable Members to consider up-to-the-minute  information the slides to be used in that presentation will be uploaded  on to the Council’s website prior to the meeting.

 

The views of Members are requested.

 

(Sarah Muckle – 07816071701)

 

Minutes:

The Director of Public Health provided a verbal report on the Department of Public Health’s strategic Covid-19 plan and updated Members on testing, NHS Test and Trace and outbreak management.

 

A detailed PowerPoint presentation was provided and explained that there was a requirement for all Upper Tier Local Authoritiesto have an outbreak control plan with the purpose of reducing the spread of COVID-19 to prevent avoidable mortality and harm.

 

The presentation outlined the objectives of the plan produced in the Bradford District; to enable lockdown to be eased whilst minimising the spread of COVID-19 in Bradford; the launch of the NHS Test and Trace Service on 28 May 2020 and how local health protection expertise and capabilities were combined with the national response.

 

It was revealed that Bradford District Covid-19 Outbreak Control built on the existing outbreak plan, scaling up and enhancing existing arrangements and services to meet the needs of local communities.

 

The aims and objectives of the plan included reducing the health inequalities and health impact of COVID-19 for the people of the district and it was questioned how that would be achieved.   It was explained that reducing health inequalities was at the forefront of every thing which the Public Health Department undertook.  Postcode data of people who had died from COVID-19 was plotted and revealed a clear correlation between deprivation and dying from COVID-19.  Information had been tailored to people living in houses of multiple occupation; communications were provided in plain easy to read formats and were written in community languages.  As well as communications to the general population activities were focused on people who faced disadvantage.  Assurances were provided that information was also targeted at people with learning disabilities.

 

A Member raised concerns that, following recent and confusing government advice some people were appearing to act as though the threat of the virus had gone. The effectiveness of the messages communicated so far was acknowledged but it was questioned what action had been taken to counter confusing advice; to prevent a second spike of the disease and allay people’s fears.

 

Those concerns were acknowledged and assurances were provided that proactive communications were being conveyed.  The Road Safety team had provided signs advising of two metre social distances.  The signs would remain as it was known that two metres was best and one metre plus should be only when two metre distances could not be achieved.  

 

It was reiterated that communications had been conducted with 14 community anchor organisations.  That was a two way channel and it was hoped to get messages out right across communities.  The plan revealed investment had been made in ‘Support to Isolate’ which was to be carried out by Council Wardens. Wardens would continue to talk and engage with communities and residents were to be told to be alert and use common sense.  The district’s Gold Command group had heard the concerns that there was no law they could enforce so ‘softer’ channels would have to be utilised to influence people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

COVID 19 - DENTAL SERVICES UPDATE pdf icon PDF 86 KB

The Head of Commissioning (Yorkshire and Humber), NHS England will provide a verbal update on access to dental services in Bradford District.

 

A presentation will be provided and to enable Members to consider up-to-the-minute  information the slides to be used in that presentation will be uploaded  on to the Council’s website prior to the meeting.

 

The views of Members are requested.

 

(Emma Wilson – 0113 8248246)

 

 

Minutes:

The Head of Commissioning (Yorkshire and Humber), NHS England provided a presentation on access to dental services in Bradford District during the current COVD-19 pandemic.

 

The presentation outlined the response following the instruction from the Chief Dental Officer that routine dentistry must cease on 25 March 2020.  NHS dental practices had remained open to provide telephone advice and triage services.  Urgent Dental Care (UDC) networks had been created and the establishment of seven centres across Bradford and Keighley, together with arrangements to access those services, was reported.

 

Following discussions about the current situation in the Bradford district it was explained that NHS dental practices had been able to reopen from 8 June 2020 to provide urgent treatment. 

A limited range of urgent face to face treatments had been provided where infection control and PPE requirements were in place.  The practices would see urgent patients first and the Urgent Dental Care  network remained in place. The route for patients accessing dental care in normal working hours remained through a dental practice. All General Dental Practitioners would provide remote triage to any patient, regardless of whether they were a regular patient of the practice.

It was reported that although over 60% of practices in Bradford were offering some face to face care and the number was increasing on a weekly basis the availability of PPE remained a challenge.  The plans in place for social distancing; infection control and PPE meant capacity was reduced to approximately a third.

Members were advised that national guidance was awaited to support the next stage of restoration and to advise when and how services could move to routine care and how the relaxing of lockdown would impact on the service.

In response to questions about charges being imposed on patients accessing private dental services for the provision of PPE the Head of Commissioning reported her expectation that NHS practices would not charge patients for the provision of safety measures.

No resolution was passed on this item.

 

 

 

6.

WORK PROGRAMME 2020-2021

The Chair will lead a discussion on the Committee’s work programme 2020/2021. 

 

The views of Members are requested.

(Caroline Coombes – 07970 413828)

 

Minutes:

The Chair led a discussion on the Committee’s work programme 2020/2021.  

 

It had been decided that the work plan would be developed as a rolling plan over a three month period to allow the Committee to react to issues as they arose. Members were asked for the views on issues they wished to consider and priorities for inclusion in the work programme for adoption at the next meeting. 

 

The Co-opted Member representing Bradford District Assembly Health and Wellbeing Forum expressed concern about an increase in mental health issues and in particular for people with learning disabilities.. It was felt that Government messages had been unclear and learning disabled people were worried and required assurance.  The provision of a report or discussion on the work programme was requested. 

 

The Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing expressed her gratitude to the co-opted Member her colleagues for their work which had facilitated contact with service users.  It was agreed that the specific issue of reassurance and the wellbeing of people with learning disabilities be considered.

 

It was also suggested that the issue should be extended to include the impact on older people who had not been out of their homes for a considerable time.

 

A Member proposed that the effects on primary medical care access be included on the plan in the light of significant change which would be experienced in the long term. The Overview and Scrutiny Lead confirmed that she had requested details of plans on the re-opening of primary care facilities. An annual report on Primary Care was always considered in the New Year but she would ask for that report to be brought forward.

 

Consideration of advice services which would be faced with considerable backlogs following the lockdown was requested.   The Overview and Scrutiny Lead reported that Members were due to receive a report which had been delayed due to the pre election process.   She had spoken to officers who confirmed they would be in a position to provide that report in the autumn.

 

A Member referred to emerging mental health needs and a particular increase he had seen being faced by lone parent families; people losing their employment and men in their late 50’s.  It was felt there would be huge demands on service.  It was stressed that those services had never been more needed and if those needs were not met the long term consequences would be far more demanding. 

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Lead explained plans to scope out a report on mental health and this would be placed on the agenda as a matter of priority.

 

Resolved –

 

That a draft Work Programme, for approval by the Committee, will be prepared for consideration at the next meeting.

 

ACTION: Overview & Scrutiny Lead

(Caroline Coombes – 07970 413828)