Agenda item

Surrey’s new Physical Activity Strategy to 2030 seeks to create a ‘Movement for Change’ so that everyone, but with a particular focus on those who need it most, can benefit from the individual advantages of being active, and contribute to the building of safer, more connected and more resilient communities.

Witnesses:

Elizabeth Duggan - Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC)

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.    The Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) highlighted:

·         The activity over the last year in developing the system approach to physical activity through consulting with residents and their experiences and challenges.

·         That being active was positive for all ages, noting the proven benefits of a more active lifestyle such as the reduction in: the risk of osteoarthritis by over 80%, the risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 50%, heart disease, stroke, depression and dementia by up to 30%, as well as the confirmed link between regularly active people and less severe Covid-19 outcomes.

·         That beyond the health benefits, active travel had an important role to play against the climate emergency, community led initiatives were vital as for example sport and physical activity played an important part in reducing anti-social behaviour and addressed social isolation by creating a sense of belonging.

·         That physical activity levels were tracked nationally via Active Lives survey data, and over the course of the pandemic activity levels were low nationally; and in Surrey there had been some significant declines in numbers of regularly active people with levels at their lowest on record since 2015 with over 220,000 people who moved for less than thirty minutes a week.

·         That where there was inactivity there was inequality as those who had the most to gain, were the least able to take part in physical activity. A disproportionate number of those 220,000 inactive people were from deprived communities, such as those from ethnic minority groups, those with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

Alison Bolton left the meeting at 11.51 am

·         That the Movement for Change physical activity strategy set out the long-term and ambitious commitments for a more active county, running parallel to and as a sustainable way to support the Community Vision for Surrey by 2030.

·         That co-production was central to the strategy, listening to all residents but with a focus on inactive residents, the process was led by a cross-system steering group to ensure a whole system responsibility.

·         That through undertaking co-production two key priorities were identified to make it easier for everyone to move more and the research highlighted the importance of a focused approach to those needing extra support, facing the barriers of time, money and self-worth.

·         The strategy highlighted four priority areas to focus on:

-       giving a positive start to children and young people, through working with schools, parents and the young people themselves to establish the foundations for a healthy active lifestyle.

-       connecting communities and under-represented groups, recognising the importance of community led action to ensure a place-based approach to physical activity.

-       creating active environments, noting the focus on active travel and the rise in sedentary behaviour particularly throughout the pandemic; it was vital to reframe being active as the daily norm for people again.

-       creating a stronger link between physical activity and health including mental health, by creating more targeted provision and links through the healthcare system for people with long-term health conditions and continuing to promote active aging.

·           That it was a ‘Movement’ as it demanded collective action and system-wide change, a whole system approach was being fostered through the work of the Board, through the Green Social Prescribing Working Group and the countryside transformation programme. 

·         That to drive forward the aims of the strategy, a dedicated resource was needed to upscale and mobilise others to maintain momentum, to test and learn and to embed physical activity into place-based working.

·         That in the recent review of the Everybody Active, Every Day: 5 years on Public Health England framework, it was highlighted that the major challenge to its success was ‘the limited and uneven resource dedicated to increasing physical activity’.

·         That the next steps for Movement for Change included the formation of cross-system working groups for each of the four priority areas in order to develop detailed operational plans - she welcomed senior champions for those priorities - and to explore different long-term funding opportunities.

2.    A Board member emphasised the importance of the strategy not least because the evidence base on physical activity was strong, but also due to the framing of the strategy in a way so that the key targets aligned with the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, particularly in reducing health inequalities. Behavioural change was key but ensuring the right infrastructure to embed the strategy was vital, she thanked Active Surrey for its work.

3.    A substitute Board member welcomed the strategy and asked how the link between the Surrey-wide strategy and the place-based delivery would work whereby place-based referred to engaging with local communities and neighbourhoods; she welcomed a further conversation with the Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) to provide support through the established mechanisms and groups to link into the neighbourhood level across the county.

-       In response, the Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) explained that the intention was to pilot Movement for Change place-based working to put physical activity at the heart of place-based health creation.

-       The Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) further noted that work on pilot areas was underway with the Executive Director of Customer and Communities (SCC), including Canalside in Woking and community bike schemes were established.

-       The Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) noted that scaling up community engagement through working in partnership was vital and following the meeting she was happy to have conversations with Board members and organisations to look at how Active Surrey could support initiatives in other areas.

-       The Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) emphasised the importance of co-production and community engagement through the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’, ensuring community representation and the need to work with Community Champions.

4.    The Chairman highlighted a comment in the Teams chat from a guest attendee about whether the work around the strategy would link to social prescribing and navigators.

-       In response, the Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) noted that Active Surrey was represented on many of the green social prescribing groups and had its own post linking thriving communities with social prescribing, social prescribing was an explicit subpoint within the health priority area.

5.    The Chairman noted the various offers by Board members to have further conversations with the Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) and that going forward it would be vital to join up the activities and initiatives across Surrey in order to understand what was happening within communities.

RESOLVED:

1.    Provided endorsement (informally) to adopt Movement for Change as Surrey’s Physical Activity Strategy to 2030.

2.    Provided commitment to the objectives contained within Movement for Change and would advocate for its future funding and implementation.

3.    That the intent behind Movement for Change is that it really becomes a movement, and physical activity is adopted as a lens through which the development of all future services and provision should be viewed. That individual Board members considered how they could adopt Movement for Change within their own organisations.

4.    Board Champions would to drive forward the Strategy’s aims within its 4 priority areas:

                          i.    Creating positive experiences of being active for young people.

                         ii.    Connecting communities and using physical activity to bring people together and create better places to live.

                        iii.    Creating active environments which make it easier for people to be active in their everyday lives.

                        iv.    Building stronger links between physical activity and health and wellbeing.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.      The Managing Director - Active Surrey (SCC) will follow up on the offer of support around place-based delivery through the established mechanisms and groups to link into the neighbourhood level across the county, by the Executive Place Managing Director - Surrey Heath (NHS Frimley CCG).

-       As well as the other various offers by Board members to have further conversations to join up the activities and initiatives across Surrey in order to understand what was happening within communities in order to look at how Active Surrey could support those initiatives in other areas.