Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Julia Ingram, Paul Dempsey, and Marc House.

To elect the chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the year 2026-27.

Proposed by Cllr Matt Bell and seconded by Sam Crowe

Decision

That Cllr S Robinson be appointed Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the Year 2026-27.

To elect the vice-chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the year 2026-27.

Proposed by Cllr Steve Robinson and seconded by Cllr Matt Bell.

Decision

That Dean Spencer be appointed Vice-Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the Year 2026-27.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2026.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2026 were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via Microsoft Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  For further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected] by 8.30am on Friday, 12 June 2026.

When submitting your question or statement please note that: 

·         You can submit 1 question or 1 statement.

·         a question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.

·         It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted.

·         Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.

·         when submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder) 

·         Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting. 

·         questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda. 

·         all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.   

There was no public participation.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  

Councillors can submit up to two valid questions at each meeting and sub divided questions count towards this total.   Questions and statements received will be published as a supplement to the agenda and all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting. 

The submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected]  by 8.30am on Friday, 12 June 2026. 

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13 

There were no questions from councillors.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To consider the Health and Wellbeing Board’s work programme.

The Chair encouraged members to suggest items for the work programme and updated the Board that there were ongoing discussions about pieces of work.

The Board noted its work programme.

To consider a report by the Head of Service for Commissioning for Older People and Home First.

The Head of Service for Commissioning for Older People introduced the report and gave a presentation. The presentation covered the narrative for the End of Year template, the plans for 2026/27, and outlining the shift in policy direction to align the Better Care Fund with the development of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams.

Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board discussed the report and raised the following points:

·         There were opportunities to think differently about the Better Care Fund, now that it connected to other initiatives in the health system, such as Integrated Neighbourhood Teams.

·         Changes to the Better Care Fund would enable a new start for the Integrated Care Board to focus on prevention and neighbourhood health.

·         In addition to focussing on meeting the Better Care Fund targets, learning should be sought from previous years Better Care Fund plans.

Proposed by Sam Crowe, seconded by Dean Spencer.

Decision:

That the Health and Wellbeing Board endorses the Better Care Fund (BCF) End of Year Reporting Template for 2025/26, and the Narrative Plan and Reporting Template for 2026/27; approved under delegated authority.

To receive a presentation by the Executive Director of Housing, Prevention and Communities on developing the Health and Wellbeing Board and its purpose.

The Executive Director for Housing, Communities and Prevention gave a presentation to the Board. The presentation is attached as an appendix to these minutes. The Executive Director discussed the need for the Health and Wellbeing Board to reset and become a strategic board for driving integration, prevention and place-based leadership. He outlined the need for change and that the Health Bill would likely make changes to Health and Wellbeing Boards.

The Executive Director for Housing, Communities and Prevention introduced new members of the Health and Wellbeing Board. He also discussed the potential for representation of lay members or people with lived experience on the Board in the future.

Board members discussed the report and the future direction of the Health and Wellbeing Board. Members discussed: areas for delivery under the Board; how health inequalities could be embedded in delivery areas; how outcomes could be used for improving lives; the role if the Board in children’s partnerships and safeguarding arrangements; and the role that the Board could have if Healthwatch was disbanded.

Members discussed establishing a working group for supporting the development of the Board.

Proposed by Sam Crowe, seconded by Cllr S Robinson.

Decision:

That a working group be established to support the development of the Board.

To receive a presentation on the development of the Supported Housing Strategy.

(Report to follow)

The Programme Manager for Building Better Lives introduced the report and gave a presentation to the Board. The presentation is attached as an appendix to these minutes. The presentation covered the purpose of the Supporting Housing Strategy, the statutory requirements, the core components of the strategy, expected challenges, and the approach to engagement.

Board members discussed the report and raised the following points:

·         Supported housing can improve mental health and life expectancy as a core determinate of health.

·         Health commissioners and providers were included in stakeholder mapping, which helps map the needs and demands for supported housing and enables partners to work together.

·         A member expected issues around access to housing and supported housing to come through in Community Conversations. Having conversations with parish and town councils can help identify small sites for housing.

·         A range of data was being used to see who is using supported housing, for example people who have been discharged from hospital.

·         There may be cases when ensuring that someone is in the right type of housing can be an option to prevent admission to hospital.

Following the discussion and before closing the meeting, the Chair placed on record their thanks to Sarah Howard, Deputy Director of Modernisation and Place, and a previous Vice-Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board who was leaving NHS Dorset.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.  

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.  

There was no exempt business.