Agenda and minutes

1.1  It being the first meeting of the new municipal year, the Scrutiny Officer invited nominations for Chair. Cllr Adams nominated Cllr Hayhurst and Cllr Adebayo seconded. There was a vote and Cllr Hayhurst was elected unanimously.

1.2  Cllr Hayhurst assumed the Chair and invited nominations for Vice Chair. He nominated Cllr Patrick and Cllr Adams seconded. There was a vote and Cllr Patrick was elected unanimously.

2.1  Apologies for absence were received from Helen Woodland and Dr Mark Rickets.

2.2  The Chair welcomed new Members of the Commission - Cllrs Adebayo, Balfour, Goldberg and Samatar and Cllr Patrick who had served on the Commission in the past.

2.3  The Chair welcomed Cllr Turbet-Delof who is the Member Champion for Mental Health.

2.4  The Chair congratulated Nina Griffith on her new joint Council-NHS role as Director of Delivery for City & Hackney Place Based Partnership.

3.1  There were no urgent items and order of business was as per the agenda.

4.1  Cllr Samatar stated she was a Wellbeing Network Peer Coordinator at Mind in City Hackney and was starting a new role as a Mental Health First Aid tutor at The Hackney Recovery College. Cllr Goldberg stated that he has an existing honorary contract with the Homerton where he does paramedic placements. Cllr Adebayo stated she was a mental health worker for Barnet Council.  Cllr Turbet-Delof stated she was a board director for a mental health community interest company in the borough.

5.1  Members gave consideration to a report to appoint 3 Members of the Commission to serve on the Inner North East London Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year 2022-23. The Chair outlined the role and function of that committee for the new members and explained that it was customary for the chair and vice chair of Health in Hackney to be two of the 3 representatives.

RESOLVED:

That Cllrs Hayhurst, Patrick and Adams be appointed to serve as the Hackney members of INEL JHOSC for 2022/23.

6.1  The Chair stated that the purpose of this item was to hear from a senior academic expert on the latest research on the health impacts of poor air quality, both indoor and outdoor, and to discuss the progress being made in implementing Hackey’s own Air Quality Action Plan 2021-25 and to explore areas for improvement or greater focus. 

6.2  He welcomed to the meeting:

  Dr Ian Mudway (IM), Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College

Chris Lovitt (CL) Deputy Director of Public Health for City & Hackney.

Dave Trew (DT) Land Water Air Team Manager, Environmental Services, LBH

6.3  Members gave consideration to the following agenda papers:

6b Briefing from Dr Ian Mudway (Imperial College) ‘Impacts of air quality on

Health’

6c Presentation from LBH ‘Health impacts of air pollution evidence and

Responses’

6d Full report from LBH ‘Health impacts of air pollution – evidence and

Responses’

6e Hackney’s Air Quality Action Plan 2021-25

6f GLA’s Air Quality in LB Hackney - a guide for Public Health professionals

6.4  The Chair stated that the format for the item would be a presentation by Dr Mudway followed by some questions for clarification then a joint presentation from the two council officers and then a general Q&A session.

6.5  Dr Mudway took Members through a detailed presentation on ‘Impact of air quality on health’. It covered: known and emerging risks; key studies; impacts on mental health; impacts on mental health (psychosis); impacts of air pollution across the life course; the EXHALE study on children’s respiratory health in Hackney and Tower Hamlets; NO2 in Hackney and Tower Hamlets; modelled annual NO2 concentrations; NO2 impact on lung function; improved lung growth as pollution decreases; trends since introduction of ULEZ; CHILL study in schools; air quality guidelines; evidence of health effects below the former WHO guideline; recommended AQG with interim targets; intersection with Net Zero.

6.6  Members asked detailed questions and in the responses the following was noted:

The Member Champion for Mental Health asked whether the CHILL study was being extended. IM replied they were two years into it and analysis of the data would commence in 18 months. 

The Member Champion for Mental Health asked about the studies on road proximity and air quality and the impacts on children's mental health. IM replied that the best comparative studies were currently from Barcelona. They were also incorporating ULEZ’s impact into the current work.

Members asked how to make sure the research being carried out was inclusive and how the information is being communicated to very diverse communities. IM explained that the CHILL study was very inclusive and the researchers had trusted status within the communities involved. The scientific community traditionally had been poor at communicating results back to the communities who were involved in their studies and in their Centre outreach activity was given a very high priority.

Members asked about the latest data on the impact on young children’s mental health considering overall air pollution had gone down between  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1  The Chair stated that the Commission and INEL JHOSC had regularly discussed the development of the new Integrated Care System for North East London over the past few years and that on 1 July the 7 CCGs in East London would finally be replaced by NEL ICS.  He had asked officers to provide an update which focuses on the local element - the Place Based Partnership - and how that will interact with the new NHS NEL structure.

7.2  He welcomed to the meeting: Nina Griffith (NG), Director of Delivery for City and Hackney, Place Based Partnership, LBH/NHS NEL.

7.3  Members gave consideration to the ‘City and Hackney ICP/ Place Based Partnership’ and NG took Members through it in detail.  It covered: introduction to the ICS; the operating model; developments for City and Hackney; City and Hackney’s proposed Place-based Partnership governance within NEL ICS; Strategic focus areas for the City and Hackney Place-based Partnership and Proposed governance of North East London Integrated Care System.  NG explained that now there would be 7 place based partnerships under the ICS including one for City and Hackney, so C&H moving to become a place based partnership was not a big shift as it had partnerships structures running effectively for some time.  She explained that Cllr Kennedy would continue to chair the local place based partnership which will be renamed the City and Hackney Health and Care Board. It was the ‘City and Hackney Integrated Care Partnership Board’.  In the new world the providers will be in the room for commissioning decisions and this puts the onus on them to focus on the Partnership over their individual organisation’s priorities. Three priorities have been agreed for current work by the C&H Health and Care Board: Mental health, Supporting greater financial wellbeing and Increasing social connection.

7.4  The Chair asked for the reasons why there would be no financial delegation to the local system in the first year. NG explained it was to ensure a smoother operation while structures were bedding in.  There were also pots of non-recurrent money that the local system could control. The Providers will have service allocations that they bring to the table locally and they can determine locally in the C&H HCB how this money could be moved around.

7.5   A Member asked what proportion of the budget comes down to City & Hackney. NG replied that you need to distinguish between the allocation for the City and Hackney population out of the total ICS budget and then the delegation amount which will go to CH HCB to spend. This won’t be devolved in the first year and it’s not yet clear what the 23/24 percentage will be.  The Chair added that this is something on which the Commission needs to keep a watching brief.

7.6  The Chair asked about the fair distribution of funding across NEL and how in the past Hackney was comparatively well funded but a change to weighting of age vis-a-vis deprivation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.1  The Chair stated that each year the local NHS Trusts ask the Commission to provide a formal comment on their draft Quality Account for the previous years which they have to submit to NHSE/NHSI.  These requests usually come during May recess and are dealt with via Chair’s action.  Member noted the responses to the Quality Accounts for Homerton Healthcare and St Joseph’s Hospice.  If there were outstanding issues or concerns then these would be raised with the senior officers either at their next attendance at committee or via correspondence.

RESOLVED:

That the letters be noted.

9.1  Members gave consideration to the draft minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2022 and the Matters Arising.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March be agreed as a correct record and that the matters arising be noted.

10.1  Members gave consideration to an outline of the work programme for 2022/23 and a tabled list of the suggestions received so far from Members, officers and other stakeholders who have been written to by the Chair.  It was noted that suggestions were still coming in.

10.2  The Chair invited Members to keep the suggestions coming and the responses from all would be analysed and themed and sent to Members for further consideration. 

RESOLVED:

That the Commission’s work programme suggestions and schedule for 2022/23 be noted.

10.3  The Chair added that a decision had been made to move the proposed July date for Health in Hackney to January because of scheduling issues and because no meeting had been set for January (there are just 8 a year).  The July meeting also had to be scheduled for the day after the INEL meeting in July which was not advantageous.

10.4  The Chair added that HiH Members had also been invited to a briefing from NEL NHS and Public Health about the consultation on changes to Fertility Services and this would take place on 19 July. It had been convened by Cllr Kennedy.

11.1  There was none.