The Adult Social Care and Communities Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss healthier lifestyles, safeguarding adults, and public health in Gloucestershire. The committee was also expected to review its work plan for the coming year.

Enabling Healthier Lifestyles in Gloucestershire

Sue Weaver, Head of Health Improvement, was scheduled to provide an update to the committee on enabling healthier lifestyles in Gloucestershire. The report pack included information on why healthier lifestyles matter, what works in supporting healthier lifestyles, and current initiatives in Gloucestershire.

The report stated that lifestyle behaviours, such as diet, physical activity, and avoiding tobacco and excess alcohol, have a major impact on individual and population health and wellbeing. It also noted that these behaviours are not simply a matter of individual choice, but are influenced by a complex system of social, environmental, economic, and commercial factors.

The report pack outlined several initiatives in Gloucestershire designed to support healthier lifestyles, including:

• Healthier Weight Services: These services aim to support people to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, with a focus on preventative action to tackle the root causes of obesity and address weight-related health inequalities.
• Tobacco Control: These initiatives aim to reduce smoking rates in Gloucestershire, with a particular focus on groups with high smoking prevalence, such as people living under lower socioeconomic circumstances, people with a long-term mental health condition, and Polish communities.
• Healthy Lifestyles Service: This service provides behavioural coaching support to people who want to stop smoking, manage their weight, increase their levels of physical activity or reduce their alcohol consumption.

The report pack also included performance data for the Healthy Lifestyles Service, which showed that performance against targets has been below target. However, the report noted that gradual and sustained improvements have been made against key indicators.

Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2024-25

Sarah Jasper, Head of Safeguarding Adults and Deprivation of Liberty at Gloucestershire County Council, was scheduled to present the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (GSAB) Annual Report 2024-25. The report forms part of the statutory requirements of the Care Act 2014.

The report provided an outline of the work undertaken by the GSAB and multi-agency partners to fulfil their statutory responsibilities and details progress made against agreed safeguarding strategic priorities.

The report noted that there were 3,059 concerns raised of potential abuse and neglect during 2024/25, an average of 255 per month, which is a rise of 14% compared to the previous year. 806 of the concerns went on to become Section 42 enquiries and 40 other enquiries, a total of 826, or 28% of the concerns.

The report also highlighted the work of the Workforce Development Group, which oversaw the take-up of 18,103 individuals undertaking GSAB approved Adult Safeguarding and Mental Capacity Act training.

During the year, there were fifteen referrals for consideration of undertaking a SAR and three new SARs were commissioned, two of which were Rapid Reviews. The report noted that complex needs continue to be the overarching theme in current reviews and referrals, with self-neglect, mental ill health, drug and alcohol use and sometimes homelessness evident.

Public Health Update

Claire Procter, Assistant Director of Public Health, was scheduled to provide an overview of information on matters relating to Public Health and the delivery of services in Gloucestershire.

The report pack included updates on:

• Winter planning and seasonal vaccinations
• Exercise Pegasus
• Substance Misuse and Housing
• Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) and changes to pharmacy commissioning arrangements
• Migration Data
• Pupil Wellbeing Survey - 2026
• Preventing Online Harm
• Tobacco Dependency Insight Research

The update on Substance Misuse and Housing noted that stable, safe homes contribute to better mental and physical health, but the relationship between housing/homelessness and substance use is complex. The update also noted that Gloucestershire Housing Partnership has funded some Housing Led and Housing First provision through the Rough Sleeper Initiative grant funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and is looking at commissioning more Housing First next year.

The update on Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) and changes to pharmacy commissioning arrangements noted that Gloucestershire County Council currently commissions the provision of free EHC to under 25s through the Public Health Enhanced Service contract for Community Pharmacy. However, due to a planned expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service to include EHC from October 2025, Gloucestershire County Council will no longer need to commission EHC through community pharmacy.

The update on Tobacco Dependency Insights Research noted that smoking prevalence in Gloucestershire across all population groups is 10.5% compared with 11.6% nationally. However, there are some groups within the population with significantly higher smoking rates. In response to this need, the Public Health and Communities Team is in the process of procuring a bespoke Tobacco Dependency Outreach Service.

Work Plan

The committee was scheduled to note the dates of future meetings and suggest items to include on the committee work plan.