Working together to improve children's health

Earlier this evening I attended a meeting of the Council's Cabinet to present detailed recommendations from a joint review into children's health carried out by the Housing, Community Care and Scrutiny Panel (which I chair) and the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Panel. Follow the link above to read our recommendations. This is something I've been working on with other councillors and officers for some time - in addition to my role as a ward councillor, a PPC and alongside a full-time job. There is no dedicated health scrutiny panel in Reading and very little resources dedicated to support scrutiny councillors - so a few of us had to work to make this review happen. A few ill-informed people have criticised me personally for taking a long time over the review - a rather pointless, short-sighted attack it turned out. This is a massive, complex issue so it was important to take the time to understand the factors at play - get our facts straight before jumping to conclusions. There are no quick political fixes - tackling longstanding health inequalities is something that will take years to address. It's a vitally important issue which requires commitment from politicians and Labour and Lib Dem councillors who spoke at the meeting tonight agreed with me that it is one of the biggest issues facing us in Reading today. Poor child health in Reading is closely linked to deprivation and as a result of the recession the number of children living in poverty* went up last year by 12% to over 8,000 (up from 6500 in 2006). On all the key health indicators from teenage pregnancy, to obesity, to tooth decay children and young people's health is less good than other parts of the South East. If we want to live in a happier, healthier and more successful society in Reading we have to do more to close the gap between healthy and unhealthy in our area. With the passing into law of the Child Poverty Act recently there will soon be a duty on all councils to tackle health inequality which I think is a good thing. But councils cannot do it alone. It should be everyone's responsibility - health bodies , schools and businesses too.
I have strived throughout this lengthy review to ensure that discussions about these issues stay above the political fray. It has taken a lot of hard work from a small number of councillors and officers to get this far. Thankfully many people working in this area - unsung heroes in my view - want to make a real difference to our community and it has been a pleasure to work alongside them. I believe strongly that children's health should not be used as a political football. It does the Council no good in the eyes of the public to be seen to be descending into the gutter when we should be working together as servants of the people to improve the lives of all in our community. The way some councillors have sought to use this scrutiny review to score political points could do real damage to children's health in our town as it causes people to focus on politics and politicians when they should be focussing on improving the health of children. Thankfully there was no repeat of this thoughtless behaviour tonight. The recommendations I presented did not represent a personal polemic from me but sought to capture the views of councillors of all parties who participated in the scrutiny review backed up by detailed data from officers. I'm pleased to say the report was received very positively by Labour members of the Cabinet as well as the Leader of the Council this evening. All party support will be needed if we are going to lobby health bodies and other partners for a better deal for Reading's children. We await a detailed response from the administration later this year but in the meantime it has been agreed that the Council should actively engage members of the Local Strategic Partnership including the PCT and make tackling child poverty and therefore improving children's health, everyone's priority. With pressure on local budgets likely to increase in the coming years it's vital that children's health is not allowed to detioriate and I am determined not to let this happen.

Working hard for better health and housing for residents

I love my role as councillor and the opportunities it gives me to help local people and improve their quality of life - not just in my ward but right across Reading. I particularly enjoy my role as chair of scrutiny as it enables me to get a better understanding of issues Borough-wide and to hear from other councillors and other bodies not just the Council in relation to a number of key local issues. In scrutiny we have no budget or decision-making power as such but we can recommend action to the executive and external agencies - including health bodies on matters of public interest or concern. Last night in HHCC Scrutiny Panel (which I chair) I got cross-party support for recommendations I drafted which aim to improve children's health in the poorest parts of the Borough. This follows an in-depth Scrutiny Review into the issue last year. I will link to the recc's here when they are available online. To me these issues and what lies behind them - pockets of real poverty and deprivation in our town - are so important that they should be above party politics. Commitment from politicians is needed to make a difference to communities in the longterm. Sadly not everyone shares my view and lately some politicians have descended into playing politics rather then working to improve life for residents. I try to avoid playing the man, not the ball - others don't and I think it damages our politics in Reading. There are no easy solutions to improving children's health tackling child poverty and many of them lie at a national level and require fundamental changes like a fairer tax system to deliver change. However, I am campaigning to ensure that child poverty and poor health stay at the top of the local political agenda in Reading to focus the minds of politicians and key partners - i.e. the PCT. The recommendations will go to to the Labour Cabinet meeting in April (hopefully) for a response. We must not accept the status quo - children only get one chance at life and in 2010 everyone should be able to enjoy equal life chances wherever they live in Reading.
The review I requested of the impact of the NHS Walk In Centre revealed it to have been a huge success - with around 15,000 visits from patients since it opened. This is great but access to healthcare must be better in other parts of town - notably Whitley and Battle (Oxford Road area). We heard that the long promised Battle Health & Wellbeing has not progressed as a direct result of the recession. This is a concern giving health inequality in our area has worsened during that time.On overcrowding, something I've been campaigning on for months now, I was really pleased to secure cross-party support for a greater focus on helping support tenants who are over-crowded but also investigate ways to make more housing stock available. The 30% increase in the number of people on the Council's housing register (up to 6,000) is putting real pressure on stock. Lots of ideas were discussed and a full review and potentially scope for policy change will be put forward in October. It will need to include a combination of solutions - including making better use of existing stock and the private rented sector. 186 families are suffering living in overcrowded housing and I will not rest until that number has reduced significantly.
Housing repairs to council houses is something I have regularly received complaints about from residents over the years. This is doubtless the same for many other councillors - so I got the issue on the scrutiny agenda. Last night we discussed what could be done to reduce the number of 'avoidable calls'. Housing repairs relate to 47% of all contacts from residents to the Council - around 41 thousand calls! This is bad for tenants and a bad use of time and money for the Council. An action is being developed and HHCC Scrutiny Panel will be monitoring delivery closely.
Following the CQC inspection of Older People's Services a few months ago I had requested an update to scrutiny as to what is being done to improve areas where areas of concern had been identified by inspectors. There is no doubt that this more in-depth scrutiny of key services over the past 2 years since I've been chairing HHCC Scrutiny Panel has delivered improvements in key areas faster, as well introducing more accountability for members and local people.
This is just a brief snapshot of some of the issues we discussed last night - all of them really important. Being involved in scrutiny is one of the more hidden aspects of a councillors' work but I am hopeful we can make a real impact on housing, health and social care for residents in Reading. We had 20 items on the scrutiny panel agenda last night - not too bad given when I took over in May 2008 there were something like 32 on an average HHCC agenda.I still think we need to consider setting up a separate health scrutiny committee in Reading just to be able to do justice to all the health issues that come up. But overall it was a good, productive meeting and I'm pleased to say pointless party political bickering was kept to a minimum!

Scrutiny review on impact of alcohol launched

One of the issues I have been campaigning on in Reading is improving public health. This is closely linked to my passion for tackling inequality and campaigning for a fairer Reading. As Chair of the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel since 2008 I have led a number of scrutiny reviews on health issues in Reading including recent investigations into dementia care services, the local ambulance service and children's health. You can find out more about the campaigning I've been involved in on health issues over the past few years over on my ward blog.

As Vice-Chair of the Council's Corporate, Community & External Affairs Panel I have been involved in scoping a new scrutiny review that has been launched: into the impact of alcohol. The review to be led by councillors will investigate the impact of alcohol consumption on local families and communities - a huge issue, I think you'll agree. It will also assess the treatment services that are currently provided in the Reading area. The Council is currently developing an 'alcohol strategy' which our scrutiny review will help inform.

As part of the review an open meeting is planned to take place at the Civic Offices on Saturday 6 March between 10 am and 2pm. The meeting is open to members of the public. Please do come along if you are free. It is really important that the views of local people are included in the review. Following the open meeting the Panel will agree recommendations - to the Council's Cabinet but also hopefully health bodies and other partners.

So why is this issue so important? Some startling facts about the impact of alcohol in Reading taken from the scoping document we discussed last night:

• In 2008 Reading had the highest level of recorded crime attributable to alcohol in the South East (17.28% compared to average of 9.18% in the region)
• Anti-social behaviour related to alcohol use is a priority for 50% of Neighbourhood Action Groups in Reading (Tilehurst East, Oxford Road North, Town Centre, Newtown, Oxford Road South, Redlands, University and Katesgrove)
• A 6.8% increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions between 2008/9 and 2007/8 was recorded
• 68% of alcohol-related admissions in Reading are for chronic conditions
• The largest number of hospital admissions occurs in the older age groups (over 35yrs)

The figures above show that alcohol has a big impact on health and public safety in Reading and affects many people in the community. Concerns have been raised locally about whether or not enough resources are put into helping people who are struggling with alcohol - compared to drugs. We will investigate what support is available in the course of the view. I hope we will be hearing from people who have used local services as well as those that deliver them.

I look forward to participating in this review and I'm hopeful it will help inform what Reading Borough Council, the Police and the Primary Care Trust do in the future to help reduce the harmful impacts of alcohol on the community.

Visit to Kentwood Lodge - supported living in Reading

Earlier this week I got a call out of the blue from a local businessman called Paul Wayman. Paul is based in Kentwood Hill in West Reading and he had seen an article in last week's GetReading about my support for Reading Borough Council's call for owners of empty properties in Reading to consider letting them out to local charities.

What had caught Paul's eye in particular was this paragraph:

'The council's learning disabilities team meanwhile, is looking for a number of homes for people with a learning disability to live in. Ideally, the properties should be family sized so that two or more people can live together and share the facilities'

This happened to be right up Paul's street, so to speak and he decided to pick up the phone and give me a call about a local business venture of his he thought I might be interested in.

Paul, a Reading-man born and bred, it turns out, has had a property portfolio in Reading for a number of years, as a private landlord. A community-minded sort of person, Paul already participates in the Council's highly-successful 'Deposit Guarantee Scheme' which helps people on low incomes on to the housing ladder.

But Paul wanted to goone step further as a landlord and recently trained for a diploma in caring for people with learning disabilities, and on the back of this he has recently set up a business in West Reading called Ultimate Choices in Care.

After completing his training qualification Paul refurbished and equipped Kentwood Lodge a former hotel on Kentwood Hill with a view to renting it out tenants with learning disabilities.

I went to meet Paul and Manager of Kentwood Lodge, Joy Sialwiindi to find out more earlier this week and I was really impressed by what I found.

Paul showed me round the large detached 6-bedoomed property. The rooms were airy, with all mod cons, and all kitted out to meet national care standards. They say the test is whether or not you would feel happy if a family member lived there and I have to say I think I would be. As Paul said, he is trying to get away from the stereotypical "care home" and towards giving people with learning disabilities a chance to live as independently as possible in modern, comfortable surroundings. This approach fits in with the national agenda of the Care Quality Commission, as well as the voluntary sector and local councils, which is to move away from residential care towards independent- something I have become familiar with as Chair of HHCC Scrutiny Panel on the Council in Reading.

Needless to say since Kentwood Lodge opened its doors back in January officers and social workers from Wokingham and West Berkshire Councils have been in touch wanting to procure rooms for clients. But Paul is adamant that people in Reading should get first preference. "I want local people to benefit' he told me.

We have a real shortage of specialist 'supported living' accomodation both for elderly people and for people with learning disabilities in Reading and it is great to see landlords from the local private rented sector stepping up to help provide this type of housing.

I have written to Reading Borough Council officers urging them to visit Kentwood Lodge to see if Paul might be able to help. I would like wish Paul and Joy all the best in their endeavours - we need more people like them in Reading!