Executive Champion
Charlotte Blizzard-Welch, vice-Chair, VCSFE Alliance
Strategic Lead Officers
- Kristy Thakur, Hertfordshire County Council
- Will Herbert, Essex County Council
- Tim Anfilogoff, Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
Priorities
We will work with our communities to improve our residents’ health and wellbeing by reducing health inequalities and taking action on the wider determinants of health including housing, employment and the environment. We will seek to achieve the following outcomes:
What we will do
Use population health data to identify communities and groups most at risk of worse health outcomes in Hertfordshire and West Essex to inform targeted work to meet the needs of these communities and groups, taking into account existing engagement and interventions.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- HCC
- ECC
- District and Borough Councils
- VCFSE Alliance
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/2025)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Undertake equalities impact assessments for work to improve health equity, access and outcomes to understand and tailor interventions and support in relation to traditionally excluded groups.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- HCC
- ECC
- District and Borough Councils
- VCFSE Alliance
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/2025)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Analyse the impacts of digital information and service delivery on communities during Covid and during the cost of living crisis to identify the most vulnerable communities/groups to inform work on digital exclusion.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- HCC
- ECC
- District and Borough Councils
- VCFSE Alliance
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/2025)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Use population health management and public health data to identify focus areas and inform work to develop more joined up and evidence- based commissioning of the VCFSE and its role in delivering Hewitt’s focus on prevention.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- HCC
- ECC
- District and Borough Councils
- VCFSE Alliance
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/2025)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Pilot interventions in most challenged communities (to be adapted according to local need) to include:
- Learning from Core20Plus5 Connectors wave 2
- Levelling Up in Harlow
- Proactive Social Prescribing
- Community Agents in Essex and other models
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- HCC
- ECC
- District and Borough Councils
- VCFSE Alliance
Timescale
Years 2 – 5 (2024/25 – 2027/2028)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Link into ICP work on supported employment for people with Learning Disabilities and/or Severe Mental Illness and develop plan to include:
- Map existing back/into work support
- Collate data about exclusion from work including about Long Covid and other barriers
- Learn from what is working through Essex Anchor work, Step 2 Skills Employment Project in Herts, role of volunteering and apprenticeship etc and link to
- Volunteering strand of Health Creation Strategy
- Build links with those leading on economic recovery etc
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Work through existing governance in both Counties, including the Step2Skills service and its Advisory Board in Hertfordshire and in Essex the Inclusive Employment Working Group, under the Essex Anchor Network, in Essex.
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/2025)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Employment and Skills Advisory Board
- Essex Inclusive Employment Working Group
What we will do
Use learning from Essex autism grants, ICB’s membership of Carer Confident etc, to demonstrate value of flexible and inclusive work practices to support businesses to be more effective and build a shared long term vision.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Work through existing governance in both Counties, including the Step2Skills service and its Advisory Board in Hertfordshire and in Essex the Inclusive Employment Working Group, under the Essex Anchor Network, in Essex.
Timescale
Years 3 – 5 (2025/26 – 2027/2028)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Employment and Skills Advisory Board
- Essex Inclusive Employment Working Group
In Hertfordshire and west Essex, the four districts with the lowest percentage of people who are economically active are:
- Stevenage
- Welwyn Hatfield
- Hertsmere
- Harlow.
What we will do
Work with NHS HWE ICB to identify opportunities to grow and transform the local NHS workforce, to increase numbers in training and create a sustainable NHS workforce locally.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board
- Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
- Essex Local Enterprise Partnership
What we will do
Review published Skills and Employment Strategy documents and agree local priorities within Hertfordshire and West Essex to identify opportunities for joined up working.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board
- Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
- Essex Local Enterprise Partnership
What we will do
Identify opportunities to engage and influence developers to provide the long term housing demand to meet key worker projected needs (short term) and wider affordable homes (long-term), future proof homes with the flexibility to adapt as families grow to enable residents to live independently for longer in the community they know and feel connected to.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
Hertfordshire Growth Board and Essex equivalent
What we will do
Work with partners to identify key linked housing agenda items which should be prioritised for action e.g. carbon efficiency, occupant health (e.g. internal air pollutants including mould (short term). Identify the common interventions which create wins across all agendas. Promote additional mechanisms which support delivery of interventions.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Herts and West Essex ICB
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
Hertfordshire Healthy Homes Alliance and Essex equivalent
What we will do
Work with the District/Borough Councils through Supported Accommodation Boards and provide evidence to influence Local and Neighbourhood plans to ensure that suitable and accessible accommodation for all tenures is available including Housing Ownership for Long-term Disability.
Area of work
Hertfordshire
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Strategic Supported Accommodation Boards
- Hertfordshire Growth Board
- District Councils’ Planning Boards
What we will do
Work with partner organisations to agree and co-produce best practice guidance in building design to offer flexible solutions to allow people with a range of needs to be accommodated.
Area of work
Hertfordshire
Who will lead?
Hertfordshire County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- HCC Adult Disability Service (ADS) Governance Group
- Herts Living Ltd
What we will do
Work with housing providers and internal colleagues to improve the standard of existing accommodation within Hertfordshire to increase energy efficiency and sustainability and ensure it is fit for future generations.
Area of work
Hertfordshire
Who will lead?
Hertfordshire County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24)
Governance
- Sustainable Herts
- HCC ADS Governance Group
- Strategic Supported Accommodation
What we will do
This priority will be delivered through the action plan for the ICS Health Creation Strategy which include:
- Asset based community development (ABCD) and co-production strands of the strategy – will map best practice in engaging communities and addressing Health Inequalities (ongoing)
- Social prescribing is a key element of the No Wrong Door strand, focusing on improving access as part of prevention (detailed work year one)
- Commissioning strand will focus on demonstrating social value through commissioning of the VCFSE in line with the principles of the health creation strategy (detailed work year one).
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
What we will do
Further develop and implement the Neighbourhood Network developing tool designed to help PCNs develop local networks to build on community assets and address health inequalities.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Share draft Social Prescribing (SP) strategy and a new vision for social prescribing for children and young people with Health Creation Strategy Group and Primary Care Networks as the basis for further development as part of the No Wrong Door strand of the Health Creation Strategy.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
What we will do
Use the data strand of Health Creation Strategy to help identify where social value is being created in communities and preventing crisis/ill health.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
What we will do
Develop work to understand the full impact of social prescribing on individuals, on community development and on capacity and commissioning of the VCFSE sector.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 2 – 3 (2024/25 – 2025/26)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
What we will do
Identify learning from the difficulties of finding ‘social prescriptions’ (gaps in terms of onward referrals) in certain communities and how this links to interventions to build social capital.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 2 – 3 (2024/25 – 2025/26)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
What we will do
Work with VCFSE to embed and integrate digital recording of VCFSE activities and outcomes in improving analysis to address wider determinants of health.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 2 – 3 (2024/25 – 2025/26)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
What we will do
Identify the opportunities to improve joined up working between the key partners to ensure early and effective engagement with Local Planning Authorities, at all stages of the Local Plan process, ensuring that locally identified public health issues (social, economic and environmental) and health infrastructure requirements, are fully addressed and considered in emerging Local Plans and that developed plans support measures to ensure future climate resilience of communities and infrastructure.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board – Health and Growth Group
- Essex Officers Planning Association
- Hertfordshire Planning Group
What we will do
Use the vision for the Hemel Garden Communities programme as a pilot to join up work across ICS organisations and test that the high-level vision for creating healthy communities/places is successfully translated into practice.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board – Health and Growth Group, and Essex equivalent
- Dacorum Council
What we will do
Engage and seek input from local communities in the design and development of healthy communities/places and healthy place-making.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board – Health and Growth Group
- Essex Officers Planning Association
What we will do
Identify opportunities to provide template policies for healthy place-making that are evidence based and identify any gaps, with locally specific interventions as necessary.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board – Health and Growth Group
- Essex Officers Planning Association
What we will do
Develop peer learning opportunities to support ongoing work on planning applications (i.e. develop shared learning from appeals) and also local plans where relevant policies are supported/ unsupported through the process. This will assist with development of best practice through precedents.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board – Health and Growth Group
- Essex Officers Planning Association
What we will do
Actively participate throughout master planning processes to ensure the development of accommodations for people with specialist needs, is successfully integrated.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
- Hertfordshire Growth Board – Health and Growth Group
- Essex Officers Planning Association
What we will do
- Implement the sustainable Hertfordshire strategy, Herts Waste Partnership prevention agenda, biodiversity net gain for new developments, countywide green infrastructure strategy, Districts/Borough green space and provide input to local plan policies.
- Implement the sustainable Essex strategy.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 3 (2023/24 – 2025/26)
Governance
- HCC Sustainable Group / Essex equivalent
- NHS Designing for Sustainability Working Group
What we will do
Work in partnership to identify the key pollutants of concern and targets to be achieved and produce health impact evidence of the impact on the population. Promote evidence with partners to increase knowledge.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
Sustainable Herts and Essex equivalent
What we will do
Understand key behavioural changes in the population which support the reduction of pollution and waste. Identify barriers and create action to promote positive behavioural changes at a population level and for those more at risk groups.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
Sustainable Herts and Essex equivalent
What we will do
Collate data from primary care and social prescribing link workers and VCFSE organisations as to impact of poor air on health outcomes and where interventions can improve outcomes.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Essex County Council
- District and Borough Councils
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy
What we will do
Create green social prescribing strategy for HWE building on national and international learning.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 2 – 3 (2024/25 – 2025/26)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
- Report to ICP and Health Creation Strategy Group on the impact of the Connector Schemes in Hertsmere, Harlow and Epping so learning from this proactive intervention can be shared.
- Roll out learning from Core20Plus Connectors pilot as part of developing pilots mentioned in 2.1 above.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Identify one or two of the five Core20Plus5 clinical areas of focus to focus on in Hertfordshire and West Essex and take a targeted approach with a focus on the most deprived district/borough councils to address health inequalities (Stevenage, Harlow, Broxbourne, Watford, and Welwyn Hatfield in the next 3 years.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Herts and West Essex ICB
Timescale
Years 1 – 3 (2023/24 – 2025/26)
Governance
ICS Health Inequalities Strategic Board
What we will do
Deliver new walking and cycling projects across Hertfordshire through the Action Travel Fund that will make it easier and safer for people to walk, wheel and cycle around the county, creating pleasant places for everyone to enjoy and spend time.
Area of work
Hertfordshire
Who will lead?
Hertfordshire County Council
Timescale
Years 1 – 2 (2023/24 – 2025/26)
Governance
Sustainable Herts
What we will do
Include VCFSE organisations in campaigning for improvements locally and develop the role of social prescribing in helping people to take up healthier behaviours.
Area of work
Hertfordshire and West Essex
Who will lead?
Hertfordshire County Council
Timescale
Year 1 (2023/24 – 2024/25)
Governance
ICS Health Creation Strategy Group
Outcomes we want to achieve for our residents through delivering this priority expressed as “I” statements
As a resident:
- My home is safe, comfortable, and appropriate to my needs.
- I have the support I need to live independently.
- I know how to access help when I need it.
- I know about and can access social groups, leisure, as well as health and care services.
- I have access to the benefits that I am entitled to.
- I can afford to access activities for me and my family.
- I can do things that match my interests, skills, and abilities.
- I have opportunities to learn, volunteer, and work.
- I have people in my life who care about me – family, friends, and people in my community.
- I feel welcome and safe in my local community.
- I live in an environment which supports me to be healthy.
Potential key performance measures
- Indicator 1 – Proportion of people economically active (broken down by cohort as well as place).
- Indicator 2 – Improved resident happiness and wellbeing.
- Indicator 3 – Percentage of households with overcrowding.
- Indicator 4 – proportion of residents that own / rent their own property (broken down by cohort).
- Indicator 5 – Proportion of residents reporting satisfaction for local area as place to live and work, access to and use of green space, housing quality.
- Indicator 6 – Number of key worker homes build.
- Indicator 7 – Proportion of new housing/ communities development (e.g. Harlow-Gilston) that include accessible housing, access to green spaces, active travel routes.
- Indicator 8 – Number of homes/new homes that meet the decent homes standards.
- Indicator 9 – Proportion of adults in employment, education or training across HWE.
- Indicator 10 – Emissions across the HWE footprint.
- Indicator 11 – Number of people experiencing homelessness.