Agenda item

6.1

The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Place, containing the draft Sheffield Food Strategy.  A previous draft version of the Strategy had been presented to the Committee at its meeting held on 9^th October, 2013, and Members had requested that an updated version, containing the comments made at that meeting, be submitted to a future meeting.  The latest draft also contained comments and views following public consultation on the Strategy following the Committee’s meeting on 9^th October, 2013.

6.2

In attendance for this item were Jessica Wilson, Health Improvement Principal, and Jill Lancaster, Health Improvement Practitioner Advanced, Business Strategy and Regulation, Place.

6.3

Jessica Wilson referred to the aims of the Sheffield Food Strategy, and to the main priorities required to achieve such aims.

6.4

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                     The issues and concerns raised relating to the increasing number and standard of, and quality of food in, hot food takeaways, would be picked up by the Implementation Plan, following discussion with the Planning Service.  A number of local authorities had issued planning guidance on this issue, which had included the introduction of exclusion zones, work with schools in connection with healthy eating and requiring owners of takeaways to sign up to Charters regarding healthy eating.

·                     The Public Health Team were aware of the Community Shop in Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, which offered shoppers on the verge of poverty the chance to buy food and drink for up to 70% less than normal high street prices, but had not yet discussed the possibility of replicating the pilot in Sheffield.

·                     In terms of the governance arrangements regarding the Strategy, the majority of the day-to-day activity was undertaken by the Place Public Health Team, in conjunction with the Sheffield Food Executive Group.

·                     It was important that the Action Plans linked to the Sheffield Food Strategy and the Move More Strategy, as well as any other similar strategies, complemented each other.  As well as work commencing in terms of the drafting of an implementation plan, attempts were being made to link in with local businesses to work on Sustainability Plans.

·                     It was accepted that some of the statistics in the Strategy, specifically those relating to the numbers of people currently living in food poverty, were based on extrapolation.  It was accepted that there was a need for wider discussion on this, and it was hoped that this issue could be addressed as part of the Implementation Plan.

·                     The Place Public Health Team had received a small amount of Public Health funding to link the work being undertaken as part of the Strategy with community groups and other organisations, such as schools and businesses.  Consideration would be given to the possibility of contracting this element of work under the Strategy to a voluntary sector group.

·                     Whilst it was accepted that there was a need for national lobbying to try and get better outcomes in terms of healthy eating, such as the ASH campaign against smoking, there was a need for further discussion as to how this should be referenced in the Strategy.

·                     Information was available nationally in terms of publicising, in a simple and easy to understand format, details of healthy meals people could eat, including the calorific values of such meals.  Officers were working with colleagues in Communications to look at producing such information, and publicising it in an appropriate format.

·                     Whilst it was accepted that there was only minimal detail in the Strategy regarding efforts by schools to encourage healthy eating as part of cookery lessons, considerable work was being undertaken within the Children, Young People and Families Portfolio, relating to a range of activities and initiatives to encourage healthy eating in schools.

·                     Whilst there was no detail in the Strategy relating to targets based on hard data at present, this information would be obtained and used to develop an evaluation framework for the Strategy.

·                     Whilst there was no was no reference in the Strategy to the eating habits of students, who were considered to comprise the largest transitory population in the City, there were plans to link in with the City’s two Universities to look at what could be done in terms of monitoring students’ eating habits and encouraging more healthy options.

6.5

In terms of additional comments, Members considered that there was a need for the Public Health Team to use more practical and straightforward methods in order to inform people and publicise the benefits of healthy eating.  It was considered that there was a need for more work in connection with helping to prevent the onset of diabetes at an early age, by warning young people of the dangers of an unhealthy diet, which would be beneficial to people’s health, as well as making potential savings on future NHS funding.  Members also considered that there was a need for clarity in terms of exactly who the Strategy should be targeted at, on the basis that, if it was targeted at the right people, there was a potential for it to have a major beneficial impact.

6.6

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the draft Sheffield Food Strategy now submitted, together with the responses to the questions raised and comments made; and

(b)       (i) thanks Jessica Wilson and Jill Lancaster for attending the meeting and responding to the questions raised and (ii) requests that they consider the issues now raised and comments made, for incorporation into the draft Strategy.