Health & Wellbeing

We propose the following draft objective for the Spatial Development Strategy to achieve and deliver.

Strategic Objective 2: Addressing health inequalities and creating a healthier City Region

This will be achieved by:

From our initial engagement, your feedback, in summary, told us:

The Spatial Development Strategy must address health and health inequalities as part of its legal framework.

The Metro Mayor and Combined Authority have set out the ambition to address health issues by encouraging healthy and active lifestyles, promoting sport, walking and cycling, supporting lifestyle changes, tackling childhood obesity, delivering joined-up initiatives with local authorities and NHS Trusts, and by being an advocate for mental health and dementia.

LCRCA has a number initiatives and strategies that support health including the LCR Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan , the Local Journeys Strategy , a Transport Plan , a Health and Care Skills for Growth Action Plan and the creation of an Air Quality Task Force.

Based on the critical mass of scientific assets within the City Region, open health innovation is recognised as a transformational opportunity in the draft LCR Local Industrial Strategy .

The recently published Building Back Better Recovery Plan notes that long-standing health and equality issues have held back the potential of the City Region, and these issues mean that COVID-19’s impact is more severe than elsewhere. Health, wellbeing and equality is one of six principles set out in the recovery plan.

The importance of vibrant and healthy communities and the promotion of healthy lifestyles and healthy living are recognised in national planning policy . National policy also sets out that strategic policies should make sufficient provision for infrastructure and community facilities.

The Government’s recent Obesity Strategy highlights the link between obesity and the risk of becoming ill and dying from COVID-19.

Based on the Government’s 2019 English Indices of Deprivation, almost half of the City Region’s neighbourhoods are within the top 10% most health deprived within England.

This objective will serve as a guiding principle to shape the SDS as it is developed. A number of suggested policy approaches have also been put forward as part of this engagement that would directly or indirectly help us achieve this objective.

Please provide your views on this draft objective by answering the questions below.