Wright: Council and health links should be strengthened

11.03.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 21st Jul 2010

Norwich Liberal Democrats are highlighting the opportunity for more joined-up thinking across services.

In a question to the Labour Executive at last night's Norwich City Council meeting, Cllr Rosalind Wright asked to what extent closer links with the Health Service have been explored, especially where shared objectives around healthy living can be met.

Commenting, Cllr Wright said: "In Norwich, as elsewhere, we simply cannot afford to run solo services any longer. Sharing the work and the costs is the way forward. It is in the health services interests to have a healthy community and facilities such as cycle tracks, fitness areas, pedestrian friendly zones could all help with this aim. Such provisions would also help the Council in upping the quality of life for local people and making our city greener, and safer. I think we should look to pool expertise and funding if we possibly can."

Cllr Wright's question was:-

As organisations increasingly look to work together to achieve shared objectives, could the Executive Leader please indicate to what extent the City Council has explored working with the Health Service for the provision of facilities such as cycle tracks, pedestrian-friendly zones or fitness areas in parks.

Councillor Brenda Arthur, Executive Member for Housing and Adult Services' reply:-

"There are examples of transport authorities working with the health service to increase walking and cycling as a means to address health issues such as obesity. However, such activity has generally been to do with promotion whereas the Council's involvement in cycling and walking, via the highways agency agreement, tends to be focused more on infrastructure investment and maintenance. Whilst there has been some discussion with the Health Service about promotional activity, our main links have been in casualty reduction through the Norfolk Road Casualty Reduction Partnership. There has also been some contact made with the Health Service around winter maintenance priorities.

Looking forward, there is every reason for closer working with the Health Service (and other public agencies) to achieve common objectives. Likely cuts in public expenditure bring pressure to be as efficient as possible and there are significant potential changes that have been announced in the health white paper 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS' which affect local authorities around public health.

The linkages between different parts of the public sector are complicated but there would appear to be clear benefits in using investment to achieve as many beneficial outcomes as possible. For example we do host the Norwich Fringe Project, part funded by the PCT, which delivers a programme of health walks benefiting city residents.

The Council and its partners learnt a great deal from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund programme which unfortunately finished in March 2010 and included health inequality as one of its priorities. A range of interventions were piloted ranging from GP referral schemes for individuals with poor physical health or mental health conditions into walking, the Norman Centre gym and the Green Gym initiative as swell as a successful mental health well-being scheme where volunteers were trained to provide support.

It is recognised that fitness areas in parks and cycle paths can help reduce obesity as well as reducing casualties, congestion and pollution. Whilst work plans for this year have now been finalised, officers are mindful of these opportunities and will want to develop them as part of service planning over the medium term."