Agenda and draft minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 24 September 2025.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2025 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider outstanding actions from previous meeting(s).

Members reviewed the updates on actions from the previous meetings:

·       25-01: It was noted that at least one Integrated Care Board (ICB) representative was required for meetings to be quorate, and it was confirmed that ICB representation would be revisited once the new Thames Valley ICB had been formed.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The following are considered to be standing declarations applicable to all Health and Wellbeing Board meetings:

·       Councillor Patrick Clark – Governor of Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Governor of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and West Berkshire Council representative on the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Partnership; and

·       Councillor Jo Stewart – works for the Royal Berks Charity which is part of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, and spouse is Head of Contract Management at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

No further declarations of interest were received beyond those standing declarations given in the agenda papers.

Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board to answer questions submitted by members of the public in accordance with the Meeting Rules contained in the Council’s Constitution.

(Note: There were no questions submitted relating to items not included on this Agenda.)

There were no public questions submitted to this meeting.

Councillors or Members of the public may present any petition which they have received.

There were no petitions presented to the Board.

Purpose: To agree any changes to Health and Wellbeing Board membership.

The following changes to the Board’s membership were noted:

·       Hannah Hollis added as a substitute for Dr Janet Lippett

·       Ian Patterson added as a substitute for Rebecca Morgan

It was noted that a GP representative for the Board was being sought, but Dr Ellora Evans was attending until a permanent representative could be found. Also, Tracia Cudjoe was attending from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The Board resolved to suspend standing orders to allow the above to speak at the meeting.

Purpose: To ratify the priority areas for the Health and Wellbeing Board, which will be its primary focus over the short to medium term.

Dr Matt Pearce (Director of Public Health) introduced the report on Ratification of the Health and Wellbeing Board Priorities (Agenda Item 8).

The following points were discussed:

·       The report proposed to have formal sponsors for each priority. AnnMarie Dodds had agreed to be the sponsor for the Best Start in Life priority, but it was highlighted that further conversations were needed to identify named sponsors for the other two priorities.

·       This was seen as a good opportunity to dovetail NHS and Council operations for the benefit of local residents. This was considered particularly important given the current, challenging financial position.

RESOLVED:

To agree that the priorities for the Health and Wellbeing Board for the medium term should be:

1)    Best Start in Life

2)    Children and Young People and Adult Mental Health

3)    Healthy Neighbourhoods

To agree that:

1)    Delivery plans be developed for all three priorities, with the Local Neighbourhood Health Plan and Best Start in Life Delivery Plan being prioritised to meet timescales specified by central government.

2)    To support each delivery plan, outcomes frameworks will be developed that include intermediary input and output metrics that will look to shift outcomes.

To agree that AnnMarie Dodds (Executive Director – Children’s Services) be nominated as the Health and Wellbeing Board’s sponsor for the Best Start in Life Priority, with sponsors to be identified for the Children and Young People and Adult Mental Health and Healthy Neighbourhoods priorities.

Purpose: To agree and jointly set the principles and expectations for how the West Berkshire Health and Wellbeing Board members will work collectively as a strategic partnership to drive meaningful action and achieve the vision of its Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Dr Matt Pearce presented the report on the Health and Wellbeing Board Compact (Agenda Item 9).

The following points were discussed:

·       It was felt that the Compact set out why the Board was in existence and that it built on existing relationships that had been developed.

·       If adopted, the Compact would be a useful point of reference to guide future joint working.

RESOLVED to approve and adopt the West Berkshire Health and Wellbeing Board Compact as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, and to agree to adhere to the principles and ways of working set out within it.

Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board to answer questions submitted by Councillors in accordance with the Meeting Rules contained in the Council’s Constitution.

(Note: There were no questions submitted relating to items not included on this Agenda.)

There were no Member questions submitted to the meeting.

An opportunity for Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board to suggest items to go on to the Forward Plan.

The Board considered the Health and Wellbeing Board Forward Plan (Agenda Item 11).

Following the Local Government Association review of the Health and Wellbeing Board, it had been agreed to move to three formal meetings per year – these were proposed for January, May and September, with informal meetings / workshops in between.

It was proposed to have an additional meeting endorse the Best Start in Life Plan and approve the Neighbourhood Health Plan, both of which had to be approved by the end of March. However, it was noted that government guidance on the latter was still awaited, so the meeting was subject to confirmation.

No other items were added to the Forward Plan.

Some errors were highlighted with the dates in the Forward Plan.

Action: Date errors to be corrected.

RESOLVED to note the Health and Wellbeing Board Forward Plan.

Formal meetings of the West Berkshire Health and Wellbeing Board:

·       25 March 2026 (TBC) – Extraordinary Meeting

·       7 May 2026

·       24 September 2026

·       21 January 2027

The dates of future meetings were noted