To approve the Talk Community strategic approach and its implementation, including the development and delivery of a comprehensive Talk Community programme and strategy.

That:

(a)   the Talk Community strategic approach and its implementation be approved and;

(b)  authority be delegated to the director for adults and communities to take all operational decisions necessary to ensure adoption and implementation of the proposed Talk Community programme and plan, within available revenue and capital resources, subject to further governance when required.

1.              Do not adopt Talk Community as a demand reduction strategy for the council. This option is not recommended as Talk Community has been developed specifically to address ‘system wide’ challenges faced by the council and its partners and harness the great resources evident in local communities. No alternative comprehensive approach to these challenges and opportunities has yet been established in practice elsewhere. Without a strategic approach to communities, demand for council services will escalate well beyond resources and opportunities to promote wellbeing and tackle health inequalities will be missed. This would bring significant risk to the council’s finance and reputation, whilst also not achieving the best outcomes for individual people.