Agenda item

Joint report of Corporate Director for People and Director of Public Health

Councillor Woodings, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, introduced the report.

Nancy Cordy, Senior Public Health Strategy and Service Improvement Manager, presented the report and stated the following:

(i)  Nottingham City Council receives an annual public health grant allocation from the Department of Health and Social Care. The public health grant allocation for 2023/24 is still to be confirmed but is expected to be around £35m;

(ii)  the grant is ring-fenced and must only be used where the main and primary purpose is public health, and conditions set out a range of prescribed and non-prescribed public health activity against which public health grant expenditure must be reported;

(iii)  on average, people in Nottingham are less healthy than those in other parts of the East Midlands region, or when compared to the England average, and Nottingham’s communities have wide ranging health and wellbeing needs, which vary significantly between different groups;

(iv)  the grant must be invested both eligibly and efficiently to address identified health and wellbeing needs and ensure the greatest possible positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Nottingham’s people;

(v)  the report sets out the planned use of Nottingham’s public health grant allocation 2023/24 for approval, alongside the public health commissioning framework, which shapes and guides the use of the public health grant.

Resolved to

(1)  approve the:

(a)  receipt of the public health grant allocation (estimated to be around £35m) for Nottingham City in 2023/24, and note the associated grant conditions and reporting requirements as detailed in the report;

(b)  allocation of public health grant funding to wider council services to enable the delivery of additional activity, which will contribute to improved health and wellbeing for Nottingham’s residents, as set out in table 1 of the report;

(c)  refreshed Public Health Commissioning Framework, as detailed in appendix 1 to the report;

(d)  planned use of Nottingham’s public health grant allocation in order to improve the health and wellbeing of Nottingham’s population, in line with agreed relevant strategiesand plans (both system-wide and internal Council) and in line with the refreshed Public Health Commissioning Framework;

(2)  note the current public health reserve balance, and endorse the sustainment of the public health grant reserve at no less than 3% of the total value of the annual public health grant allocation.

Reasons for recommendations

(i)  At the time of writing the public health grant allocations for 2023/24 have not been published. It is expected, in line with recent trends that the allocation will not be dissimilar to the previous year and it is therefore estimated that the value of the grant will be around £35m. The grant is ring-fenced for use on public health functions, meaning that the main and primary purpose of all spend from the grant is public health. The local authority circular published alongside the grant allocation sets out the conditions that apply to the grant, as well as the reporting requirements.

(ii)  The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age have a profound influence on health and health inequalities. Local authorities have a key role to play in shaping these conditions, and as a consequence also have a key role in terms of improving the health and wellbeing of their local population (in line with statutory duties). Public health grant funding contributes to a range of wider council services (see table 1) in order to enable the delivery of additional activity which improves health and wellbeing. Arrangements are in place to ensure effective ongoing joint working and a review of contributions to provide assurance that all public health grant expenditure is eligible within stated grant conditions.

(iii)  The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, published on Nottingham Insight, identifies the health and wellbeing needs of the local population. This has informed the Integrated Care Strategy, the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Nottingham, the Strategic Council Plan and the Public Health Divisional Plan. The Public Health Commissioning Framework sets out the principles and processes through which these Strategies and Plans, alongside other relevant drivers (including statutory duties and prescribed services) are translated in to commissioned services and activity. The planned use of the public health grant allocation in 2023/24 is assessed as being the most appropriate allocation of resource in order to ensure the delivery of prescribed and non-prescribed activity (as set out in public health grant conditions) as well as address the health and wellbeing needs of the local population, in line with agreed Strategies and Plans.

(iv)  Public health grant conditions state that any unspent annual public health grant should be carried forward into the next financial year as part of a public health reserve. In line with developing Council policy it is proposed to maintain a minimum public health reserves balance of no less than 3% of the annual public health grant allocation. This is to ensure that the public health grant reserve is able to resource unforeseeable pressures and risks without impacting on the General Fund / MTFP.

Other options considered

None.