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 The Cabinet considered a report of the
Director of Public Health and Communities, which sought approval to
accept and allocate £780,000 grant funding from Greater
Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to support the implementation
of GM Live Well Programme in the Rochdale Borough.
 
The Head of
Planning and Improvement (Public Health) was in attendance to
present the information and to address the questions and the
comments of the Cabinet Members.
 
The Officer
informed that Live Well was a cornerstone of the Greater Manchester
10-year Growth and Prevention Delivery Plan and the Greater
Manchester Strategy, aimed at reducing health, social and economic
inequalities across Greater Manchester.
 
Live Well was also
the vehicle by which the Council would deliver the Prevention
Demonstrator, highlighted in the NHS 10 Year Plan. The Prevention
Demonstrator would aim to reduce higher level, complex demand and
fully enable the shift to prevention.
 
In Rochdale, the
Neighbourhood Programme and Cooperative Communities model was the
way in which the Council was delivering Live Well, overseen by the
Neighbourhood Programme Group, chaired by the Local Authority Chief
Executive, and with representation including political leadership
and Council Officers and representatives of the NHS, GMP and VCSFE
sector.
 
To support the
local roll-out of the Live Well Programme, GMCA and the NHS
was  providing localities with a
share of the combined £10 million Live Well Implementation
Support Fund.
 
The Implementation
Fund had been allocated per % of overall GM population in each
locality as agreed with each GM Chief Executive. Rochdale
Borough’s allocation was £780,000 for
2025/26.
 
The grant
conditions stated that a minimum of 50% of the grant should go
directly to the Voluntary, Community, Social and Faith Based
Enterprises Sector (VCSFE).
 
A spend plan for
the Implementation Fund had been developed and agreed by the
Neighbourhood Programme Group. This could be found in Appendix 1 to
the report.
 
Resolved:

1.    
That it be agreed to accept the Live Well Implementation
Support Fund (LWISF) 2025-26 and to allocate funding as set out in
Appendices 1 and 2 to the report;

2.    
That authority be delegated to the Director of Public Health
and Communities in consultation with the Assistant Director of
Legal, Governance and Coroners and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet
Member for Health, to spend the LWISF as per plan outlined in
Appendix 1 to the report and to enter into relevant
agreements;

3.    
That the modification of existing contracts (where
applicable) as detailed in this report be approved to enable the
delivery of functions funded via the LWISF 2025/26;

4.    
That authority be delegated to the Director of Public Health
and Communities to vire budget between allocated areas within the
spend plan to ensure most effective spend and delivery;

5.    
That it be agreed that any in year underspend be transferred
to the Public Health Reserve as per the Reserve Policy. This
reserve would contribute to the ongoing costs of delivering against
the spend plan in accordance with the LWISF grant
conditions.
 
Reason for
decision:
The proposed
recommendation enabled the Council to receive much needed
additional grant funding to support the successful implementation
of the Live Well programme in the Borough. Live Well was a
high-profile programme supported by the Mayor of Greater Manchester
and all ten local authorities.
 
The proposed spend
plan ensured compliance with the conditions set out in the funding
grant agreement, including the requirement to invest a minimum of
50% of the grant with the VCSFE sector.
 
Alternatives
considered and rejected:
Alternatives had
been considered when developing the spend plan for the grant. The
spend plan proposed was deemed the most effective way to
successfully implement the Live Well programme in Rochdale Borough
and comply with the grant conditions.