The Oldham Health and Wellbeing Board convened to discuss strategies for reducing harm related to gambling and alcohol, and to retrospectively approve the submission of the Better Care Fund Quarter 1 report. The board acknowledged the evidence of gambling as a health-harming activity and supported the development of a local gambling harms work plan. They also accepted the Greater Manchester Alcohol Harms Strategy and agreed to develop a local delivery plan.

Gambling Harms in Oldham

The board acknowledged the evidence that gambling is a health-harming activity that inflicts wide ranging harms on individuals and communities. They recognised the role of the Public Health team in developing a prevention approach using funds received from the statutory levy¹ from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). The report presented to the board highlighted several key points:

• Prevalence of Gambling Harms: The estimated prevalence of 'problem gambling' in Greater Manchester is 0.8%, which is 1.5 times higher than the national average. It is estimated that around 1,500 adults in Oldham experience 'problem gambling'.
• Commercial Determinant of Health: The Lancet commission has identified the gambling industry as a commercial determinant of health[^1], with products, advertising, and the use of social media leading to health-harming consequences. [^1]: Commercial determinants of health are factors stemming from the profit motive that affect people's health, either positively or negatively.
• Risk Factors: Factors with the strongest links to 'at risk gambling' were being male, having poor mental health and wellbeing, and higher alcohol consumption. Economic factors such as income, unemployment, and deprivation are also key contributors.
• Statutory Levy: A statutory levy for gambling was launched in 2025, expected to generate £100 million for research, prevention, and treatment of gambling harms.

The board agreed to support the development of a local Gambling Harms work plan and action log in line with the Greater Manchester Preventing and Reducing Gambling Harms Program priorities. They also agreed to identify leads within their respective organisations and services to contribute to the development and delivery of the local Gambling Related Harms Plan, and to engage with the Oldham gambling harms Alliance.

Greater Manchester Alcohol Harms Strategy

The board accepted the Greater Manchester Alcohol Harms Strategy and its recommendations for delivery, and agreed to a road map for its local implementation, including developing the Oldham Reducing Alcohol Related Harms Delivery Plan. They supported the need for this work to follow a 'whole systems approach', involving key council areas such as Health, Adult Social Care, Children's Social Care, Housing, Licensing, and Trading Standards, as well as voluntary and statutory partners.

The strategy follows the World Health Organization (WHO) SAFER model, expanded to A SAFER GM, which covers eight priority areas:

• Amplify community engagement around living well and reframing relationships with alcohol.
• Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability.
• Advance and enforce drink driving counter measures and work with police, probation, and other partners to prevent alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.
• Facilitate access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment.
• Enforce bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion.
• Raise prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies.
• Give every child the best start in life.
• Mobilise a sustainable Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) and community-led approach to recovery, peer support and mutual aid as part of our GM Live Well ambitions.

The board agreed to establish a Reducing Alcohol Harms Alliance and working group to agree on an approach and support the development of a delivery plan.

Better Care Fund 2025-26 Quarter 1 Submission

The board retrospectively approved the submission of Oldham's Quarter 1 Better Care Fund (BCF) submission, noting its contents. The Better Care Fund's vision is to support people to live healthy, independent, and dignified lives by joining up health, social care, and housing services.

The Quarter 1 submission included:

• Confirmation of meeting national conditions.
• A review of whether metrics were on track.
• High-level spending data.

Of the metrics being tracked:

• Emergency admissions to hospital for people aged 65+ was on track.
• The average length of discharge delay for all acute adult patients was not on track.
• Long term support needs of older people met by admission to residential and nursing care homes was on track after a request to update the metric plan.

Expenditure for Quarter 1 was reported as £652,722 for Disabled Facilities Grant, with a total spend in the quarter of £42,790,920.

The report also included case studies of services funded through the BCF, such as the Age UK Home First Service and the Carers Service, illustrating the impact of these services on individuals' lives.