Agenda and draft minutes

To elect the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2025/26 municipal year.

RESOLVED that Councillor Nigel Foot be appointed as Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

To elect the Vice-Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2025/26 municipal year.

RESOLVED that Dr Ben Riley be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 6 March 2025.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2026 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider outstanding actions from previous meeting(s).

Members noted the updates on actions from the previous meetings.

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 the 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.

A full transcription of the public question and answer sessions is available from the following link: Transcription of Q&As.

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 Board noted the following changes to its membership since the last meeting:

·       Melanie O’Rourke (added as a substitute for Paul Coe)

·       Rebecca Cullen (added as a substitute for Dr Janet Lippett) 

·       Benn Owen (added as a substitute for Rebecca Morgan)

Purpose: To approve the West Berkshire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2025-2028.

Steven Bow (Consultant in Public Health) presented the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (Agenda Item 10).

The following points were raised in the debate:

·       The content of the assessment was noted, and it was hoped that the gap in the provision of services in the Calcot area would be addressed by a new pharmacy opening.

·       Members asked if home delivery services should be actively marketed for repeat prescriptions in order to relieve pressure on local pharmacies, which were being asked to do more in terms of treating minor ailments. It was highlighted that the PNA focused solely on access to local pharmacies and did not consider strategic goals regarding how services were used or promoted. It was recognised that online pharmacies had a role to play and had expanded in recent years, but physical pharmacies relied on dispensing prescriptions in order to continue as viable businesses. It was noted that information on pharmacy options could be promoted through the Council’s ‘Let’s Talk' outreach service.

·       It was suggested that the Board should be advising on how pharmacy services could be improved. It was explained that the Board was looking to make use of workshop sessions outside of the formal meetings to do that sort of development work. Members noted that the PNA was a statutory requirement.

RESOLVED to approve the statement of need for pharmaceutical services for the West Berkshire population to cover the period from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2028.

Purpose: To share the Director of Public Health (DPH) Annual Report 2025 with the Health and Wellbeing Board. The focus of the 2025 report is ‘Setting the Foundations for Lifelong Health’.

Dr Matt Pearce presented the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report (Agenda Item 11).

The following points were raised in the debate:

·       Members welcomed the report.

·       It was noted that recent Ofsted inspection of Children’s Social Care had highlighted a general lack of investment in early years across the country.

·       Members highlighted that a key priority for the Council’s administration was to improve outcomes for children. Work was already underway to improve the offer of the Family Hubs, but it was recognised that improving outcomes for children would take time to deliver.

·       It was noted that the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) was using Department for Work and Pensions data to identify where families may be entitled to claim additional benefits, particularly around free school meals. This had an additional benefit in terms of bringing more money into schools.

·       Members noted that some of the report’s recommendations were within the Board’s control and could be delivered relatively quickly (e.g., better information and signposting), while others would be more challenging to deliver.

·       There was some discussion about what a ‘child-friendly district’ would look like. It was explained that this was based on the UNICEF Child Friendly City and Communities programme^[1], which sought to put children at the heart of all decision-making. It was suggested that the Board may wish to do some further work to consider what this would look like in practice. Dr Pearce was invited to bring a report to a future Executive Briefing.

ACTION: Dr Matt Pearce to bring a report on a ‘child-friendly district’ to a future Executive Briefing.

·       Members expressed concern over some of the housing related statistics quoted in the report, particularly in relation to the prevalence of mould, which was linked to asthma. It was suggested that this could be an area for the Board to focus on in future. It was noted that the Council had made significant progress in terms of how it housed vulnerable families – children were no longer accommodated in temporary/bed and breakfast accommodation.

·       It was highlighted that much of what the Council did was already child-friendly, but it would be helpful to pull this together into a policy that underpinned all of its activities and highlighted this to children, families and the wider public.

·       The report was praised for being easy to read and accessible to a lay person.

·       It was noted that libraries would be able to help promote initiatives such as LIFT.

·       While it was recognised that the Council’s finances were constrained, Members noted the potential for very high return on early years investment.

·       The Board noted the Steering Group’s recommendations for partners to be asked to commit to actioning this report’s recommendations and for the Director of Public Health to bring a report back to a future meeting to update the Board on progress.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Purpose: To gain formal sign-off for West Berkshire’s Better Care Fund Plan 2025-2026.

Paul Coe (Executive Director – Adult Social Care) presented the Better Care Fund Plan report (Agenda Item 12).

Members of the Board did not have any questions of comments on the report.

RESOLVED to endorse the Better Care Fund Plan for 2025-2026.

Purpose: This report presents the findings of the Local Government Association (LGA) review of the West Berkshire Health and Wellbeing Board, and sets out proposals for how the Board could revise its governance arrangements and working practices in response to the feedback received.

Dr Matt Pearce (Director of Public Health) presented the report on the Response to the LGA Review of the Health and Wellbeing Board (Agenda Item 13).

The following points were raised in the debate:

·       Members welcomed the report and felt that the recommendations would help to improve the health experience in West Berkshire.

RESOLVED to:

·       Endorse the proposed changes to the Board’s governance arrangements and working practices as set out in Section 6 of the report and agree that these be referred to Council for final approval.

·       Be informed that the proposed changes will require amendments to the Council’s Constitution, the final wording of which will be delegated to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Constitution Review Task Group.  

Purpose: To provide an update on behalf of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board.

Dr Abid Irfan (BOB ICB Deputy Chief Medical Officer) presented the ICB Update (Agenda Item 14).

The following points were raised in the debate:

·       Clarification was sought as to the geographical area to be covered by the new Thames Valley Integrated Care Board. It was confirmed that this would cover the whole of Berkshire as well as Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Some areas previously covered by Frimley ICB would transfer to Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, and some would transfer to the new Surrey and Sussex ICB, but the majority would transfer to Thames Valley ICB.

·       It was noted that there would be considerable costs associated with redundancies as a result of the nationwide restructuring of ICBs. Members asked about the implications for BOB ICB staff. It was confirmed that the ICB’s budget had been significantly reduced. The working assumption was that 40-50% of staff would be redeployed or made redundant. The first phase was nearing completion and involved mutually agreed resignations. However, much of the reorganisation had yet to be agreed and it was not yet clear what would/would not be covered by the proposed funding allocation (e.g. Continuing Health Care). It was recognised that it was a difficult time for staff.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Purpose: To provide details of recent and planned changes to pharmaceutical services in West Berkshire and advise the Health and Wellbeing Board on the implications for the West Berkshire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment. This includes the response submitted in relation to the unforeseen benefits application for a new pharmacy at 73a Royal Avenue, Calcot.

The Chairman presented the update on Changes to Pharmaceutical Services (Agenda Item 15).

The following points were raised in the debate:

·       Members welcomed the response that had been submitted in relation to the application for a new pharmacy in Royal Avenue, Calcot, and felt that it provided a good summary of the local situation. While it was recognised that a new pharmacy was needed, there were traffic and parking issues near the proposed site. It was noted that the route of the local bus service had recently changed and it no longer served Royal Avenue – the bus company was being lobbied on this issue.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Purpose: To provide a summary of recent activities and future actions for each of the Health and Wellbeing Board Sub-Groups.

The Board considered the Sub-Group Updates (Agenda Item 16).

No comments were made in relation to the updates.

RESOLVED to note the updates.

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 18).

It was noted that the Forward Plan would be developed following the workshop when the Board’s priorities had been agreed.

·       11 December 2025

·       5 March 2026

·       7 May 2026

The dates of future meetings were noted. It was highlighted that these may be adjusted to recognise that the Board had agreed to reduce the number of meetings to three per year.