London Health Commission - proposal for an investment in their joint prospectus

Report: 10
Date: 5 July 2007
By: Chief Executive

Summary

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) has been asked by the LHC for a financial contribution to the Commission in order that it can continue its work, much of which echoes the interests and responsibilities of the Authority and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in terms of the Citizen Focus / Community Engagement agenda.

A. Recommendations

1. It is recommended that the MPA contributes £5,000 to the LHC for the 2007-08 financial year and encourages the MPS to match this funding

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The London Health Commission (LHC) was launched by the Mayor of London on 12 October 2000 to advise the Mayor on health related issues, and to provide an added drive to efforts across London to improve health and reduce inequalities. Its overarching roles are to:

• Adopt and drive the development of the London Health Strategy; and
• Ensure that health is integrated across the range of London strategies, in particular, the GLA strategies.

2. Key aspects of the LHC role are:

• Strategic leadership for improving health and reducing inequalities in London, including the development of the London Health Strategy
• Sponsoring, coordinating and ensuring delivery of practical initiatives that result in health improvements and reduce inequalities
• Creating active links with other initiatives to improve quality of life in London
• Identifying and sharing learning from practice.

There are three members of the MPA on the LHC, namely Jennette Arnold (Chair), Elizabeth Howlett and Richard Sumray. The 26 Members of the Commission represent organisations that have a significant span of influence over public policy and practice on health and the wider determinants of health in London, and are actively involved in driving the change that will impact on health inequalities.

3. Len Duvall (Chair, Metropolitan Police Authority) has committed to contribute to the delivery of the LHC partnerships joint prospectus. This states that during the period 2006-08 the Commission will give particular attention to:

• Employment and health – focussing in on improving employment among disabled people.
• Smoke-free workplaces – building on the LHC “Big Smoke Debate” campaign.
• Improving language support services – addressing one of the key barriers to achieving equitable access to services.
• Young Londoners’ emotional health and wellbeing – developing and promoting a framework for action across London as part of the Healthy Young London campaign.

4. The LHC has established seven forums to harness the expertise and influence of a broad range of partners on:

• Inequalities and wider determinants
• Children and young people
• Black, Asian and minority ethnic health
• Disabled Londoners
• Smoke-free London
• Urban development and regeneration
• Community development

5. The LHC is now seeking a financial contribution to the Commission in order that it can continue its work, much of which echoes the interests and responsibilities of the Authority and the MPS in terms of the Citizen Focus / Community Engagement agenda.

6. As part of its commitment to strengthening partnerships and community engagement, enhance local accountability, and strengthen local democratic involvement, the MPA are committed to:

• supporting the development of innovative models and structures of community police engagement to ensure a coordinated, seamless process of community participation from the local neighbourhood level to the borough and pan London level.
• pursuing in partnership with the MPS, an evaluation and research agenda that will focus on clarifying and strengthening existing methods and structures and identifying the nature of participants, intended outcomes, etc, of each community engagement activities and mechanisms.

7. The MPA is also committed to strengthening its activities in obtaining a pan-London perspective in gathering Londoners views on overall strategic issues by:

• Maintaining and strengthening partnership work with appropriate institutions such as the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Home Office, Association of London Government (ALG), Government Office for London (GOL), Association of Police Authorities (APA), etc.
• Building partnerships with pan-London community based organisations to undertake community engagement with specific target groups.
• Collecting and analysing community research, surveys and other information through systematic research undertaken by the Home 
  Office, the GLA, ALG, etc, on community needs and ensure these inform the MPA’s planning and decision making process.

8. This includes London’s diversity includes characteristics not only of race, ethnicity, faith, language and immigrant refugee status. It also includes huge differences in crime and safety experiences, and thereby different policing needs based on age, gender, sexual orientation and mental and physical ability. Further layers of ever increasing diversity that impacts upon policing – and thereby methods of community engagement – include the complex and overlapping differences and divisions that exist in terms of people’s values and beliefs, lifestyles, life chances and levels of disadvantage and deprivation. The MPA’s community engagement strategy recognizes the dramatically changing and mobile nature of London’s population creates greater urgency for more purposeful community engagement processes that are accessible and equitable for all sectors of the population.

9. The MPS are equally committed to the Community Engagement agenda to transform the MPS into a Citizen Focused service, responding to the diverse needs of individuals and communities, 
promoting diversity to change culture and drive performance and building the trust, confidence and satisfaction of the people of London and strategic partners.

10. To achieve this the MPS are committed to a more joined up approach with other agencies to engage with the public. This is intended to ensure a systematic and targeted approach to engage and involve communities appropriate to local assessments, provide real opportunities for community participation and genuine joint working with processes for community involvement in policy, decision making and priority setting.

11. It is therefore proposed that the MPA contributes £5k to the LHC for the 2007-08 financial year and encourages the MPS to match this funding.

C. Race and equality impact

There clear equality and diversity implications in the work of the LHC to address, for example, to address health inequalities among children and young people, to improve healthy outcomes for London’s black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, raising awareness of the needs of disabled Londoners and encouraging action to improve their health, and promoting healthy, inclusive communities through London’s development to encourage enterprise in disadvantaged communities.

D. Financial implications

There would be a commitment of £5,000 in the current financial year.

E. Background papers

• Partnership for health: Challenges for action (London Health Commission prospectus 2006-08)

F. Contact details

Report author: Alan Johnson, Policy Officer, Human Resources, MPA.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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