The Hackney Council Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to meet on 26 June 2025 to discuss a range of public health issues, including vaping, health equity, community support, substance use, and integrated health and care funding. The board was also expected to review the minutes from the previous meeting and consider the forward plan for future meetings.

Vaping and Public Health

The board was scheduled to discuss the health impacts of vaping and consider adopting a position statement on the issue. Professor Ann McNeill, Professor of Tobacco Addiction, Kings College of London, was expected to present a comprehensive review of the health risks of nicotine vaping, including:

• Health risks
• Harm perceptions
• The role of vaping in smoking cessation

The report pack included the City and Hackney Tobacco Control Alliance (TCA) Vaping Position Statement, which outlines the alliance's position on vaping and its guiding principles. These principles include:

• Harms of tobacco use
• Relative harms of vaping
• Effectiveness of vapes as harm reduction tools
• Prevention of vaping among non-smokers, particularly children and young people
• Opposition to unacceptable marketing practices
• Commitment to ongoing review of the position statement

The position statement says:

Vaping can be an effective tool to help adult smokers to quit, however the message for non-smokers is clear - if you don't smoke, don't vape.

Embedding Health Equity

The board was scheduled to receive an overview of the eMbedding heAlth equiTy in City & Hackney (MATCH) programme. The MATCH programme, designed by the City and Hackney Population Health Hub, aims to reduce inequalities across City & Hackney by working with system partners and residents. The report pack included updates from the five programme areas from year 1: anti-racist commissioning, food poverty, maternity, prevention of poor outcomes from cardiovascular disease, and women's health, as well as updates from the three programme areas from year 2: mental health support for people seeking asylum, healthy weight pathways, and children and young people's mental health. The report pack also included emerging findings from the ongoing evaluation of the MATCH programme. The board was asked to approve the proposed plan for year 3 of the programme.

Community Voice: Supporting Vulnerable Residents

The board was scheduled to discuss the second phase of the Brunch Bunch project, a community health initiative that supports vulnerable residents in Hackney. The report pack included a case study that detailed the work of the Brunch Bunch, including:

• A winter flyer sharing information and support for homeless and rough-sleeping people
• A peer-led monthly winter stall sharing free resources with their own community
• A Christmas event providing free resources, health and wellbeing support, and signposting

The report noted that Healthwatch Hackney (HWH) joined forces with Steps in April 2024, and through collaborative fortnightly sessions, they worked together to co-produce and co design the innovative outcomes.

Substance Use Support

The board was scheduled to receive an overview of substance use support in the London Borough of Hackney. The report pack included information on the Combatting Drugs Partnership (CDP), which has provided strategic and operational direction across substance use workstreams since 2022. The CDP's top-level strategic aims are:

• Prevent and reduce the premature deaths of people using drugs and alcohol
• Reduce the impacts of drugs on our communities
• Improve the wellbeing of people exposed to the harms of substance use
• Reduce inequalities in substance use support

The report pack also included an overview of the current substance use system in Hackney, as well as data on treatment access and outcomes.

Better Care Fund

The board was scheduled to discuss the Better Care Fund (BCF) 2024-25 year-end report and 2025-26 plan. The BCF is a programme that joins up health and care services to support individual health and wellbeing and independent living within communities¹. The report pack included information on the BCF's objectives, funding, and national conditions.

The BCF objectives are:

• Shift from sickness to prevention, including:
  • Proactive, joined-up support for complex needs.
  • Use of home adaptations and technology.
  • Support for unpaid carers.
• Support independent living and shift from hospital to home, including:
  • Preventing avoidable hospital admissions.
  • Timely and effective hospital discharge.
  • Reducing the need for long-term residential care.