Councillors have welcomed an update on the action Cambridgeshire County Council will take to improve health outcomes, reduce inequalities and tackle health challenges across the county.
The report, which was supported by councillors at a meeting of the Adults and Health Committee today (Tuesday 9 December), summarised the key areas of work the council’s Public Health team will focus on over the next five years to deliver against the priorities set out in the Public Health Strategic Plan 2025-30.
The plan outlines how the council will improve the health and wellbeing of residents and ensure people receive the support they need, with four pillars of focus to achieve this ambition - including best start in life, making Cambridgeshire a healthy place to live and work, addressing complex needs, and prioritising ill health prevention.
Some of the key areas of work led by Public Health will include:
- Mobilisation of the newly expanded Healthy Schools service, delivering health improvement education and interventions for school-aged children and young people – with an enhanced education offer for smoking and vaping and sexual health.
- Working with local partners and transport planners within the council to improve road safety, increase active travel, and improve access to services for Cambridgeshire’s rural communities.
- Equipping professionals and the public with the required skills and knowledge to prevent suicide and improve the capacity and coverage of suicide bereavement support services.
- Addressing barriers to employment and developing workplace programmes to engage employers and increase access to work across the county, targeting areas where there are high levels of low pay and low skilled jobs.
- Developing an alcohol harm prevention strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm and strengthen prevention and early support.
Councillors were also updated on the achievements delivered throughout 2024-25 under the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Tobacco Control Strategy, including expanding access to stop smoking services, targeting groups with higher smoking rates, and delivering a range of smoking support and vaping prevention services for children and young people. They heard that during 2024-25, Cambridgeshire met the national ambition to treat 5% of smokers annually, with 5.02% of smokers setting a quit date in 2024-25 – compared to 4.18% in 2023-24 and 3.38% in 2022-23.
Cllr Graham Wilson, Chair of the Adults and Health Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council said: “Our Public Health Strategic Plan underpins the council’s commitment to creating a fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire and will shape the way services are delivered over the next five years for our residents.
“It was great to hear about some of the actions the council will be taking to improve healthy life expectancy across the county. Our goal is to reduce health inequalities and support people to enjoy healthy, safe and independent lives, and these key areas of work will help us to achieve that goal.
“I look forward to receiving future progress reports as we continue to take targeted action to improve health outcomes and tackle health challenges within our communities.” More information on the Public Health Strategic Plan, including priorities, ambitions and key areas of focus for 2025-30 can be found on the council’s website.
