Executive Members to consider North Northamptonshire’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2024 - 2029 at next week’s meeting
Health and Wellbeing Board06 March 2025
Executive Members at North Northamptonshire Council will consider the council’s five-year Health and Wellbeing Strategy at its meeting on Thursday 13 March.
The strategy outlines the approach for improving the health and wellbeing of people who live, work, and visit the area in the coming five years with a focus on prevention (2024 - 2029).
The five specific areas of focus are:
- Smoking and Vaping To reduce the prevalence of smoking and reduce inequalities in smoking in the North Northamptonshire population.
- Keeping Active To deliver opportunities that enable active lifestyles for people who live, work, and visit North Northamptonshire.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing To seek to reduce inequalities in access, outcome, and experience.
- Children and Young People To promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people and reduce health inequalities.
- Financial Resilience To build the financial resilience of households within targeted communities.
The strategy, governed by the Health and Wellbeing Board, reflects the ambitions of all partners who sit on the board which include North Northamptonshire Council, Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS, Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (NHFT), Community Stakeholders, Emergency Services, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE) and the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN).
The aim of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy is to reduce health inequalities by actively collaborating with communities and providing a framework for projects to improve health outcomes across key priority areas. We want to actively engage residents to address local needs and concerns and focus on tackling disparities and health inequalities in North Northamptonshire through partnership working.Cllr Gill Mercer, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive Member of Adults Health and Wellbeing and Chair of the North Northamptonshire Health and Wellbeing Board
By working together, I am confident that we can make a positive impact on lives locally. By taking an innovative approach to delivery we can reduce the impact of ill health and poor wellbeing, enabling all our residents to thrive and lead healthier more active fulfilled lives.
One of our six key commitments to the residents of North Northamptonshire since we formed as a council has been to help people live healthier, more active, independent and fulfilled lives. This strategy prioritizes addressing health inequalities, particularly among specific groups like ethnic minorities, people with learning disabilities, and those living in deprived areas. These priorities were explored by the Board when they met on 23 June 2023 and agreed at the meeting of 5 December 2023.Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council
If approved, ongoing engagement with stakeholders, service users and providers will continue and the Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy Oversight Group will ensure each priority of the strategy is tracked, monitored, and implemented.
The five priority areas were chosen after considering findings from needs assessment focusing on areas where North Northamptonshire is an outlier as compared to similar Local Authorities; the Northamptonshire Integrated Care System (ICS) Live Your Best Life strategy; BIG50 vision for 2050, North Northamptonshire Place development (Sense of Place), and listening to the views of Stakeholders. These stakeholders include local politicians, local health system representatives, the local VCSE, the Police, Ambulance and Fire services and university partners.
North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive will meet on Thursday 13 March at 10am at the Cube and all the papers are now online. The meeting will be live streamed on YouTube.