Agenda item

The Chair agreed for an urgent item to be considered in light of the inquorate meeting of the Mayor and Lead Member for Children’s Safeguarding, Adult Social Care and Public Protection that had been scheduled to take place on 27 May 2021 at 10:00 a.m.

 

Project: Prevention and Promotion Fund for Better Mental Health and Wellbeing 2021-22

 

The Director of Public Health submitted a report for the Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report was to seek approval for the receipt of national investment via an Expression of Interest submission to support Public Mental Health Interventions and to request delegated powers for the Director of Public Health, in the future delivery of interventions to the value of £273,214.00.

 

The report outlined that on 27 March 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care published the COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan for 2021 to 2022 to mitigate and respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. To support implementation of the Plan, national funding of £15 million had been allocated to preventing mental ill health and promoting good mental health in the 40 most deprived upper tier local authorities in England.

 

Middlesbrough had been selected as an area eligible to submit an Expression of Interest to receive funding which would be distributed as a section 31 grant (Local Government Act 2003) subject to appropriate approvals. There was a need to submit an Expression of Interest form, together with a project plan and proposed budget, to Public Health England by 11.59pm Friday 28 May 2021.

 

The single year fund was designed to incentivise investment in prevention and promotion interventions for better mental health in the most deprived local authorities. Specifically, to mitigate mental health impacts arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, reduce widening mental health inequalities by targeting at risk and vulnerable groups and ensure adequate distribution of funding to support minority ethnic communities. The impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the social and economic consequences of the pandemic had meant that tackling mental health at a population level had never been more important. COVID-19 had been recognised as a public mental health emergency that exacerbates existing mental health inequalities.

 

The proposed interventions and associated finance were aligned to the services that Tees Esk and Wear Valley (TEWV) mental health trust and Tees Valley Clinical Commissioning Group (TVCCG) were developing as part of the Covid-19 Mental Health Recovery Plan.  In summary, the proposal planned to support additional public mental health resilience and capacity to develop and deliver:

 

·        programmes to support emotional health and wellbeing of children young people and families;

·        a Wellbeing Network to connect mental wellbeing assets, frontline practitioners and activities;

·        perinatal and maternal wellbeing;

·        peer mentorship programmes in schools and communities;

·        building the capacity and capability across the workforce to prevent mental health problems and promote good mental health within everyday practice;

·        promoting wellbeing in the workplaces; and

·        promoting parental resilience.

 

Options

 

Retaining the status quo and not accepting the funding would have denied Middlesbrough residents the opportunity for significant investment to improving the levels of mental health and wellbeing of the population, to mitigate the mental health impacts of Covid-19 for those at greatest risk of poor mental health and prevent further harm. 

 

ORDERED

 

1.      That the progression of an Expression of Interest to receive funding from Public Health England – Prevention and Promotion Fund for Better Mental Health, for the period of July 2021 to March 2022, be approved.

 

2.      That the Director of Public Health and Director of Finance be delegated authority to allocate available grant for Middlesbrough of £273,214.00

 

REASONS

 

The decisions were supported by the following reasons:

 

1.      PHE Prevention and Promotion Fund for Better Mental Health presented an opportunity to build on existing programmes across the borough to improve the mental health outcomes for those at risk of poor mental health.                   

 

2.      Spending on public mental health was not currently mandated in the public health grant and its importance could be overlooked locally. However, mental health prevention, promotion and early intervention could reduce pressures on NHS services, social care, education, criminal justice and employers, resulting in economic benefits even in the short-term.

 

3.      Mental well-being was fundamental to achieving a healthy, resilient and thriving population. Mental health and well-being were inextricably linked as both a cause and a consequence of physical health, educational attainment, employment and productivity, relationships, community safety, community cohesion and quality of life. Factors that protected mental well-being included - individual control and community ownership, individual resilience and community assets, participation and inclusion.  It was likely that all of those factors may have been impacted upon as a result of the Council’s national response to COVID-19.

 

4.      There were particular challenges in relation to mental health for Middlesbrough. The baseline assessment for Middlesbrough (Mental Health and Wellbeing PHE JSNA data, 2019) had highlighted that mental health disorders (including suicides) were poor when compared to rates across the North East and England.  That included a range of risk factors such as children in low-income families, inability to work, and poverty.  Protective factors for mental health, including level of employment and physical activity were also lower than average rates. Most, if not all of those factors could be envisaged to be exacerbated under conditions linked to the coronavirus response.  Simultaneously, the ability to maintain key protective factors for mental health would also be challenged.  The funding could save lives and contribute to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the population and for those at greatest risk of poor mental health.