The Health and Wellbeing Board of Durham County Council was scheduled to discuss a range of public health initiatives and strategic priorities. Key topics included enabling healthy weight, updates on housing and health, and the role of the County Durham Care Partnership. The meeting also planned to cover the LGA Public Health Peer Review and various health and wellbeing campaigns.

Role of the Health and Wellbeing Board

The Board was scheduled to receive a presentation on its own role, outlining its statutory responsibilities under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. These responsibilities include encouraging integrated working, developing a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, and producing a Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The presentation was also set to detail how the Board's work aligns with the four priority areas of the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy: Making Smoking History, Enabling Healthy Weight for All, Improving Mental Health, Resilience and Wellbeing, and Reducing Alcohol Harms.

Enabling Healthy Weight for All

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to Enabling Healthy Weight for All. The report pack indicated that this topic would cover progress on the County Durham Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy's priority to address healthy weight. It was scheduled to include an update on the Moving Together in County Durham physical activity strategy. The report highlighted that in County Durham, healthy weight disparities are closely linked to deprivation, poor mental health, and long-term conditions. The County Durham Healthy Weight Alliance was noted as providing strategic leadership for a Whole Systems Approach. Recommendations were to be made to the Board to use its leadership and influence to advocate for environments that make healthy eating and physical activity easier, influence stronger food resilience, and commit to practical actions within organisations to contribute to the Healthy Weight Action Plan.

Housing and Health Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on housing, homelessness, and health-related projects. This report was to provide an overview of initiatives aligning with the four priorities of the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. It was also to include an update on the delivery of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy (2024-2029) and the County Durham Housing Strategy 2025. The report detailed numerous projects across housing and health services, including those related to making smoking history, enabling healthy weight, improving mental health, and reducing alcohol harms. Specific initiatives mentioned included partnership working on smoking cessation, promoting healthy food choices through foodbanks and cooking on a budget, and addressing mental health through private sector housing improvements and support for vulnerable clients.

County Durham Care Partnership and Neighbourhood Health

The meeting was set to include a presentation on the County Durham Care Partnership and Neighbourhood Health. This would cover progress on place-based neighbourhood health development, with a focus on refining governance arrangements for emerging Place Partnership models. Developments in mental health, including Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres and a new Crisis Assessment Suite, were also to be discussed. The presentation was expected to highlight the shift towards Neighbourhood Health as a primary delivery model for reform across Local Government and the NHS, and the Board's role in overseeing its implementation.

LGA Public Health Peer Review

A presentation was scheduled regarding the LGA Public Health Peer Review. This review, planned for March 2027, aims to assess how well Durham County Council is fulfilling its public health responsibilities, with a focus on whole-Council and partnership delivery. The review would consider six themes: leadership and governance; vision and priorities; partnership working; data, intelligence and outcomes; resources, quality and commissioning; and statutory responsibilities. The report indicated that partner views would be crucial in shaping the review and developing a subsequent improvement plan.

Health and Wellbeing Campaigns

The Board was scheduled to receive updates on various health and wellbeing campaigns. These included initiatives focused on:

• Improving Mental Health, Resilience and Wellbeing: Campaigns such as Now You're Talking, Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, suicide prevention efforts, and activities around World Suicide Prevention Day and World Mental Health Day.
• Making Smoking History: Campaigns including Smoking Survivors, Tobacco smoke is poison, promotion of a new Smoke Free app, and efforts around Stoptober and the Smokefree Generation law.
• Enabling Healthy Weight for All: Campaigns and resources like Let's Talk Healthy Weight guidance, the Fun and Food toolkit, breastfeeding support, and physical activity initiatives.
• Reducing Alcohol Harms: Campaigns such as Alcohol is toxic, What's the harm, and drug driving awareness, alongside amplification of Balance campaigns and a winter drink/drug alcohol campaign.
• Winter Preparedness: Advice on keeping warm and well during winter, including preparation, heating and energy bill assistance, staying hydrated, and vaccination programmes for flu, COVID-19, RSV, pneumococcal, childhood, and pregnancy.