Agenda and draft minutes

To elect the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2026/27 municipal year.

RESOLVED that Councillor Nigel Foot be appointed as Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2026/27 Municipal Year.

To elect the Vice-Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2026/27 municipal year.

RESOLVED that Helen Clark 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 29 January 2026.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2026 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider outstanding actions from previous meeting(s).

The updates on actions from previous meetings were noted.

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.

There were no declarations of interest received.

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.

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.)

A full transcription of the Member question and answer session 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 following changes to the Board’s membership were noted:

·       Helen Clark added as the Integrated Care Board (ICB) representative.

·       Ashley Milum replaced Neil Goddard as a substitute for AnnMarie Dodds

It was noted that the ICB was still in the process of allocating roles, so their representative may change in future.

It was noted that the GP representative for the Board was yet to be confirmed, but Dr Pete Osborne was attending until a permanent representative had been elected.

The Board voted to suspend standing orders for the remainder of the meeting to allow Dr Osborne to speak.

To provide the Health and Wellbeing Board oversight of the Best Start Local Strategic Plan 2026–2028 which sets out the West Berkshire approach to improving early childhood outcomes from pregnancy to age five.

Dave Wraight (Service Lead - Youth Justice, Family Hubs and Partnerships) presented the Best Start in Life Strategic Plan.

The Board recognised that early years were critical to successful outcomes but acknowledged the challenges in addressing hidden inequalities in a relatively affluent area like West Berkshire.

It was agreed that the Board should receive regular updated on progress and that Board Members should hold each other to account on delivery and seek to unblock any issues.

Members asked about the recruitment and retention of skilled practitioners. It was noted that the Strategic Plan would be delivered by a broad range of roles and partners. It was acknowledged that there was a national shortage in some roles (e.g., health visitors), but the Council had attracted a large number of strong applicants when recruiting recently to Family Support Worker roles. Lessons would be learned across sectors and from neighbouring local authorities. It was noted that action was also being taken nationally by central government to respond to recruitment pinch points.

RESOLVED to note the report.

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.

It was agreed to add a progress report on the Best Start in Life Delivery Plan to the January agenda.