In the interest of transparency, Councillor Green declared an interest in the item relating to Gambling Update (Minute 55) as he regularly placed bets on horses.

ACTION: City Solicitor

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

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(Yusuf Patel – 07970 411923)

No request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper was made.

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There were no referrals made to the Committee.

The Assistant Director of the Chief Executive’s Office will submit a report (Document “W”) which sets out our shared ambitions and priorities for the District. It sets the direction for the work of the many organisations and communities who belong to one or more of the Partnerships that make up the Wellbeing Board.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Committee note the development of the District Plan and       the related performance indicators.

(2)       That the Committee comment on the proposed performance      indictors set out in appendix B to Document “W” that will support        the measurement of the District plan outcomes.

(Sadia Hussain - 01274 431000)

The Assistant Director of the Chief Executive’s Office submitted a report (Document “W”) which set out our shared ambitions and priorities for the District. It set the direction for the work of the many organisations and communities who belong to one or more of the Partnerships that make up the Wellbeing Board.

It was stated that the plan comprised of five clear outcomes for the District, these were:

• Children have the best start in life
• Residents achieve good health and wellbeing
• Sustainable economic growth and decent work for all
• Safe, sustainable and inclusive communities
• Action at all levels to address climate and environmental change

It is envisaged that a list of possible areas of indicators based on the 5 outcomes of the District Plan and the areas of current focus by our Strategic Partnerships would be developed in the coming months.

The Wellbeing Board agreed that the outcomes of the plan would be measured by a single suite of Wellbeing indicators which are currently in development.

The District Plan was ratified at a Wellbeing Board meeting in August 2021.

The plan also acknowledged that all of our plans must adapt to our changed circumstances and the uncertainty that this brings. The District Recovery Plan that was launched in March 2021 assists with this. The District Plan will also serve as the Districts Health and Wellbeing Strategy and provide direction for the other plans and strategies that will operationalise the plan.

The new District plan, alongside the District Recovery plan and the Equalities work that is currently ongoing will support the recovery of the District to improve Wellbeing alongside maximising economic growth.

During the discussion a Member ascertained how definitive the suite of performance indicators would be and how they would be measured at a local, regional and national level; in addition he stressed that they needed to be clearly set out and ensure that the value added context was also taken into consideration.  In response it was stated that this would be a four year plan, with the plan having been agreed in broad terms, however the performance indicators still had to be developed and the points made would be taken into consideration and ensure that the indicators were robust and targets set that could be easily measured against.

It was also highlighted that the national targets had changed in the course of the pandemic, and therefore Pi’s needed to reflect this and thereby provide a real positon statement.

A Member commented that in relation to the safe, sustainable and inclusive communities indicators they was a need to ensure that there was an emphasis on hate crimes and that feeling safe was something that was also adequately measured.  In response it was stated that the fear of crime would be looked at in developing this indicator.

In response to a question regarding the duration of the District Plan, it was stated that this would be four year plan, with consultation planned in due course.  It was also highlighted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

The Director of Public Health will submit a report (Document “X”) which describes the current evidence-base on the impact of gambling, local data relating to gambling and problem gambling/ gambling-related harms, and details a cross-departmental action plan describing our regional and local work to prevent and treat harms arising from gambling.

Recommended –

The Committee is asked to note contents of the report. The views and feedback of the Committee on the proposals set out in section 3 to Document “X” are requested.

(Sarah Exall  - 07855 177158)

The Director of Public Health submitted a report (Document “X”) which described the current evidence-base on the impact of gambling, local data relating to gambling and problem gambling/ gambling-related harms, and details a cross-departmental action plan describing our regional and local work to prevent and treat harms arising from gambling.

It was stated that representatives from Public Health, Children’s’ Social Care, the Youth Service, Licencing, and Adult’s Social Care had jointly developed and agreed on actions to prevent and treat harms resulting from gambling. This plan will be a live and iterative document, enabling actions to be expanded and refined in response to new data, policy and evidence.

This working group will continue to meet in 2022, to jointly own and implement the plan. We are also engaging with partners and stakeholders from outside the core working group for specific actions including The NHS Northern Gambling Service, Bradford Institute for Health Research, and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).

In addition, Bradford Public Health are currently working closely with partners at Yorkshire and the Humber level on a regional programme to take a Public Health approach to gambling-related harm. This covers data and intelligence, education and prevention, and interventions to tackle gambling-related harm.

The programme of work has funding from the Gambling Commission and will run for three years, incorporating an evaluation of the interventions implemented. The steering group for this work includes people from national and regional OHID, Local Authority Public Health representatives (including Bradford), representatives from the Association of Directors of Public Health, and clinicians from the NHS Northern Gambling Service in Leeds.

In addition to tackling gambling-related harm and problem gambling at regional level, this work will inform local actions by helping to develop the evidence-base for actions detailed in the local cross-departmental action plan set out in the report

During the discussion, a Member stated that during the pandemic, there had been a significant surge in online gambling; adding that the definition of problem gambling had to be clear, with individual circumstances playing a vital role in those having a gambling problem, and that sometimes even small bets could be a sign of a bigger problem, in that an individual has spent their last pound.

A Member stressed that a key component is how we get the message across to young people, parents and carers and also simplifying the self-barring process, as well as acknowledging that entry level gambling in the form of scratch cards and free spins was a particular area of concern amongst the young.

A number of Members expressed concerns at the increase number of gambling licences that had been granted in recent years and the impact of this had been significant. 

A Member stated that it may be worth looking at how the Councils Planning, Legal and Licensing teams could better work jointly to use all the powers available to them, where there are concerns over particular gambling premises, which could also be causing problems to communities as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

The Chair of the Committee will submit a report (Document “Y”) which presents the Committee’s work programme for 2021/22.

Recommended –

(1)       That Members consider if they wish to choose to add to or amend       the topics included in the 2021-22 work programme.

(2)       That Members consider any detailed scrutiny reviews that they            may wish to consider.

(Mustansir Butt – 01274 432574)

The Chair of the Committee submitted a report (Document “Y”) which presented the Committee’s work programme for 2021/22.

The Overview and Scrutiny Lead stated that a session on victims of domestic violence will be arranged in due course. Members also suggested that this Committee also needed to have a discussion on the Stonewall Equality Standards and this should be reflected in the work programme.

Resolved –

The Committee discussed and amended the work programme.

ACTION: Overview and Scrutiny Lead