Report of the Director of Public Health.

This report provides a summary of progress and update on arrangements that have been put in place to support delivery of Manchester’s age friendly strategy Manchester: a city for life 2023-2028. 

The committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health which provided a summary of progress and the arrangements in place to support the delivery of Manchester’s age friendly strategy, ‘Manchester: A City for Life 2023-2028’.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• The fundamental focus for the first six months of the new strategy had been on building foundations for the next 5-year programme;
• Progress against each of the 4 main themes of the strategy, with examples of the work undertaken; and
• Solid foundations were in place to drive delivery with strengthened partnerships and working arrangements to support this.

Some of the key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

• The success of the national pension credit uptake campaign;
• What work was being undertaken to recruit more South East Asian residents to the Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board;
• If any work would be undertaken to recruit people aged over 40 to the Board to future-proof work; and
• Reiterating the importance of being engaged with the community and the need for a sense of belonging.

Introducing the report, the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care stated that Manchester’s age friendly strategy was a 5-year programme that had made significant achievements within the last 6 months. The Director of Public Health stated that being an age-friendly city was one of the greatest achievements of the Council’s Department of Public Health and reiterated the commitment and ambition to this.

The Chair of the Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board welcomed the committee’s interest in the work of the strategy and the Board. She explained that the delivery plan focused on implementing the foundations of the strategy and that good progress had been made. She highlighted the four strategic themes, and the Programme Lead provided an overview of progress with delivery on these.

The Lead Member for Age Friendly also attended the meeting and commended the work of officers on delivering the strategy.

In response to a query regarding pension credit uptake, the Programme Lead stated that the campaign to encourage this was still in its infancy but expressed optimism about the campaign. She stated that there was a collaborative effort with Making Manchester Fairer to promote the campaign widely and that further information could be provided when available.

Challenges in having representation from all communities on the Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board were acknowledged and the Programme Lead stated that an e-bulletin and leaflets were used to recruit new members. She also commented that word-of-mouth through networks were useful and that efforts to reach the most marginalised residents would continue. Members were advised that some candidates who applied to join the Board were encouraged to join the Age Friendly Assembly, which was a broader cohort of people living in Manchester, instead to familiarise themselves with the age friendly work and agenda. In response to a member’s suggestion of future-proofing age friendly work by including residents aged over 40 to the Board, it was stated that the World Health Organisation’s age friendly programme started at 50-years-old.

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care wished to place on record his gratitude to members of the Board and Assembly, who he stated gave up their time to contribute to the development of age friendly policies and work.

Decision:

1. To note the report.
2. To request that the next progress update includes further detail on pension credits.