Agenda item

28.       Loneliness Stewardship Group

28.1     The Consultant in Public Health introduced the report which provided an update to the Committee on the work of the Connected People and Places project focussed on tackling loneliness in East Sussex.

28.2     Key areas of work included developing a system approach; developing programmes of work; community engagement; establishing a tackling loneliness hub; and developing a vision statement for East Sussex.

28.3     The Committee welcomed the report, recognising that loneliness could affect people of all ages and could have significant impacts, and asked questions in the following areas:

• Partner engagement – In response to a question on how partners were engaging with this work, the Consultant noted the work of the Programme Facilitator who was engaging with partners and making connections to raise awareness of the project and align programmes of work. The Stewardship Approach aimed to develop this work with partners and noted a recent event which was well attended.  
• Loneliness in rural communities – The Committee asked how this project reached rural communities. The Consultant noted that there was work to link with integrated community teams within district and boroughs, including a project in rural Rother, but welcomed the opportunity to engage with further groups across the county.
• Accessing community groups – The Committee noted the importance of people being able to access communities and asked if there was collaboration with the Communities, Economy and Transport department to support this. The Consultant noted that the project’s annual report included the role of local infrastructure in reducing loneliness. Work was underway to develop a ‘connection test’ to support local decision making (for example planning and transport) to consider social connections.
• Digital inclusion – The Committee noted that although loneliness affected people of all ages, older people could be at higher risk if they were unable to access online platforms. The Consultant recognised that for older people, it was important to use a variety of methods of engagement; work was underway to pilot telephone befriending schemes.
• Identifying loneliness – The Committee noted that it could be challenging to identify and engage with people who are lonely. The Consultant clarified that loneliness was a dissonance between expectations for social connection and actual social connection; the quality of connections was also important, including for people to have a range of ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ ties.
• Voluntary and community groups – The Committee recognised the important role of the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to connect people and asked about the impact of recent announcements on increases to National Insurance and National Living Wage on the VCSE, and if this could lead to greater demand for council services. The Director of ASCH commented that discussions were taking place with partners about these impacts, and in recognition of the role they had in prevention, the Department was prioritising VCSE infrastructure. There were still, however, concerns about financial challenges facing the VCSE and the potential impact this could have on individuals’ wellbeing and social care needs.

28.4     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.