The purpose of this report is to notify the Cabinet of the recommendations from the Health, Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, made at its meeting on 29 January 2024 and to request a response from the executive

Recommendations of the Health, Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee: Community-based support services

The chairperson of the Health, Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee (HC&WBSC) explained that community based support services were considered by the scrutiny committee to explore the value of the service and ensure the Talk Community programme was understood by all new ward members.  The chairperson highlighted that Talk Community has been operating since 2020 and a review of Talk Community is being undertaken which will be completed in March 2024.  Government provided £8.2m of investment in community support and Talk Community is central to underpinning the main priority of strengthening communities and ensuring that everyone lives well and safely together. The Chairperson invited Cabinet to join in strengthening the community strategy by endorsing the proposed recommendations.  

The Leader thanked the committee for their work in forming the recommendations and confirmed that Cabinet are interested in working through them.  It was advised that Cabinet will be working with all Councillors to ensure Cabinet are focused on what’s best for Talk Community and Cabinet will provide a response in due course.