Agenda item

To receive the Annual Public Health Report.

It was noted that the annual public health report was a report that the Directors of Public Health and their predecessors had provided on local areas, for 120 years or more.  It was understood that in the Victorian era, annual reports were often used to describe illnesses and symptoms along with issues and challenges that were faced at the time.  These would have been issues such as infectious diseases, tuberculosis, or cholera, for example. 

It was noted that with the advent of the joint strategic needs assessment, much of the data on various diseases of local areas had been provided through that route.  It was understood that this then enabled the annual public health reports of the Director of Public Health to focus on different areas.

It was understood that the overriding aim of the report was to provide an opportunity to highlight issues and if relevant to local communities, make recommendations to improve overall health and wellbeing.

The decision to focus on climate change was understood to be multifactorial.  It was noted that at the time the report was being developed, the climate crisis was in the news and still would be in terms of the cost of living crisis and the energy costs.  It was noted that this was also relevant to Bracknell Forest because of the Bracknell Forest Climate Strategy, which had been published earlier.

It was noted that the focus on food was where individuals and organisations could contribute to climate challenges, and so there was a collaboration across all of Berkshire which meant that there were three authorities in the east and three in the West to produce a joint report.  It was understood that the purpose of the title of the report, which was helping tackle climate change, one meal at a time was to emphasise the actions created at different levels to contribute to the area.  It was noted that there was also relevance to the time in which the report was produced to the recovery from Covid-19 and the ongoing challenge regarding overweight and obesity, particularly in childhood obesity.  It was understood that these points had been mentioned within the report.

It was understood that a key aim was to make the report engaging, accessible and relevant.  It was noted that this had completed through the use of case studies and videos on local projects.  The case studies provided examples of local initiatives being undertaken through various organisations.  There was also the stop and think logo which would direct to areas where there would be an increased focus along with prompting areas where individuals and organizations would want to take further action.  It was noted that many of the examples used in the report direct ways in which collective action could be undertaken whilst providing useful templates.

It was noted this was a scheme whereby food waste was minimised by ensuring food was donated by supermarkets to support people who may be in need.  It was also understood that composting food waste could divert it from landfill. 

The document was published annually and may take different forms.  The intention going forward would be to have more of an East Berkshire focus which would reflect the new setup of the public health system which had split into east and west areas with directors covering each area where there had previously been a single director covering the whole of Berkshire.