Issue - meetings

This report provides Members with a health report for Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council.  It also updates Members on the Council’s One You team and the work of the Health Action Team.

The report of the Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health presented a health report for the Borough Council [Annex 1] and updated Members on the Council’s One You Team and the work of the Health Action Team.

Members acknowledged that, although the Borough Council was not responsible for health services nor had the public health statutory duty, the health services provided by the Borough Council could still play an integral role in improving the health of residents within the borough.

The Council’s One You Team, working in partnership with the Kent County Council through grant funding, continued to deliver healthy lifestyle services across the borough, including supporting other organisations and events.  Tonbridge & Malling’s Health Action Team provided a forum for the Council and local partners to come together to share knowledge and expertise and plan actions to help improve delivery of health and wellbeing services for all across the borough.  Members also noted that a Health Action Plan for the Borough Council was underway.

Members welcomed the positive achievements of the One You Team and the Health Action Team, in particular their contribution to the Council’s aim of promoting wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.  It was suggested that the potential to include mental health, neurological support and welfare in future planning for the borough, identified as one of the three priorities of the Health Action Team, be explored.

Additionally, Members discussed the importance of engaging schools and families in health promotion, although resource constraints, reliance on volunteer and community goodwill and the need for coordinated and sustainable interventions were identified as key challenges.