Agenda item

For the Committee to consider the trends and themes highlighted in the ‘Warwickshire Futures 2030/40’ and ‘Warwickshire in 2030 and beyond’ reports, how they may relate to ongoing and future policy development and in shaping the Committee's work programme.

The Committee received a report and presentation, to consider the trends and themes highlighted in the ‘Warwickshire Futures 2030/40’ and ‘Warwickshire in 2030 and beyond’ reports. The aim was to link to ongoing and future policy development and assist shaping of the Committee's future work programme. Sophie Kitching supported by Sushma Soni introduced this item. The presentation covered the following areas:

• Warwickshire futures – the aim
• The approach
• ‘Futures’ in context
• Warwickshire 2030-40 – key themes, council-wide issues and specific considerations for this committee
• Overall general priority issues into 2030-40
• Specific impacts on the remit of the committee
• Going forward and questions

Members discussed the following areas:

• The report was viewed as precise, concise but worrying. It was noted that there was no reference to people working beyond retirement age which impacted on the job market. The member questioned if this contributed to a loss of skills too. Officers replied that there could be many contributors to why people were working longer.
• The demographic data on the increased number of people aged over 85 and proportion of people who were overweight was questioned. This data would be checked, and confirmation provided.
• Reference was made to the district and borough council local plans, and the projected, significant population growth. The need to engage effectively with those authorities and to ensure sufficient developer funding to meet up front costs of new services and facilities was stated. Sushma Soni responded that developer contributions was a complex area, and this point had been considered as part of the Education Sufficiency Strategy. It was understood that the Government was considering changes to such contributions and further information could be provided on this area.
• There were concerns for future generations about increasing obesity rates, the shrinking workforce, which had taxation implications, and people living longer, but with complex needs. For adult social care services, the 2% ringfenced funding would not be sufficient to meet those growing needs. The member spoke of the scale of this problem for central government, describing the statistics as frightening in terms of meeting demand. This data demonstrated the funding problems and further points were raised in terms of climate change and housing.
• The Chair concurred with the comments of several members on the high quality of this report. She also touched on the urgency and hard decisions in prioritising.
• Chris Bain commented on the social contract where one generation effectively paid for another, and this would come under pressure unseen previously. He focussed on how people sourced their information. From Healthwatch analysis, most now accessed information from friends and relatives, or used social media. There was a key responsibility to manage social media channels and communications to give balanced information, especially for future generations. 
• The Chair spoke about representative democracy, the cross section of Warwickshire Councillors, and the reference in the report to citizens’ assemblies. She was concerned at the potential for social media to influence such a body to become a pressure group.

The Committee placed on record that the report was excellent, noting its content and asked that the comments outlined above be taken into consideration.