The Doncaster Health and Wellbeing Board met to discuss creating healthy places, including endorsement of the principles of a draft advertising and sponsorship policy and the five-year Doncaster Food Plan. The board was also scheduled to discuss the Pathways to Work Programme, the Local Plan, and the Future Parks Programme.

Create Healthy Places to Live, Grow and Play

The Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to discuss the strategic priority to Create Healthy Places to Live, Grow and Play. According to the report pack, this priority recognises that people's environments, including homes, neighbourhoods, green spaces, food systems and workplaces, have a profound impact on health and wellbeing.

The board was scheduled to receive four presentations and a facilitated discussion to review current recommendations within this focus area.

The presentations were scheduled to cover:

• Commercial Determinants of Health, including the development of an advertising and sponsorship policy
• Doncaster's Food Plan
• Pathways to Work Programme
• Local Plan - Health & Planning
• Doncaster Future Parks Programme

The board was asked to:

1. Endorse the principles of the draft advertising and sponsorship policy.
2. Endorse the five-year Doncaster Food Plan.
3. Consider how to better reach or attract economically inactive people, and how to develop partners and practitioners to increase their knowledge and confidence, resulting in increased access to Pathways to Work services.
4. Note the progress to date on Doncaster's Local Plan and support continued collaborative work to embed health and wellbeing into future planning.
5. Recognise and value the contribution of parks and green space in improving health and addressing inequalities, and identify opportunities within their own networks to advocate on behalf of green space.

Commercial Determinants of Health

The board was scheduled to consider the principles of a draft advertising and sponsorship policy. According to the report pack, the policy is intended to set principles for advertising and sponsorship opportunities for City of Doncaster Council assets, including its website, street furniture, buildings and on-street displays, newsletters and social media communication.

The report pack stated that the policy would apply to services and organisations procured by the council.

The report pack included a draft of the City of Doncaster Council Advertising and Sponsorship Policy 2025, which stated that the promotion of any product or service should not be seen as an official endorsement or recommendation by the council.

The draft policy stated that the council does not consider the following companies, brands, partnerships, organisations or individuals as suitable for entering into advertising or sponsorship agreements:

• Those that discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of any protected characteristic detailed in the Equality Act 2010
• Weapons or illegal drugs or products
• Sexual or pornography orientated entertainment materials or products
• Tobacco and related products
• E-cigarettes / vaping, unless the advert is part of a stop smoking campaign, featuring a product that is not owned or part-owned by the Tobacco Industry
• Alcoholic drinks, and low/zero alcohol drinks from brands synonymous with alcohol
• Foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt and/or sugar (HFSS)
• HFSS food and drink brands, companies, and distributors (including food ordering services), or those synonymous with HFSS products, regardless of whether any food or drink product is featured directly or not
• Infant milk formulas, baby foods, bottles, and teats marketed as suitable for babies under six months old, or companies synonymous with these products; follow-on milk formulas and inappropriate baby food products
• Products where their sole or main purpose is weight-loss
• Gambling or betting products, services or organisations
• Loan advancers which meet the Financial Standards Authority's definition of 'High Cost Short Term'
• All firms and associated sub-brands or lobbying organisations that extract, refine, produce, supply, distribute or sell any fossil fuels
• Content promoting petrol and diesel vehicles

The draft policy included a supporting information document, which stated that alcohol, unhealthy food and drink, and tobacco consumption contribute to the development of several health conditions, including cancers, cardiovascular disease, and dementia, and have been identified as the main causes of early death in the UK. It also stated that the use of other services, such as gambling and high-cost short term loans, can also negatively impact health, whilst products such as fossil fuels and petrol and diesel vehicles can have negative environmental and health impacts.

The supporting information document stated that children and young people are particularly vulnerable to the influence of advertising.

The supporting information document stated that the council has a responsibility to ensure household budgets are not put under any undue strain and to provide unbiased, evidence-based advice on which products can best support their health and wellbeing.

Doncaster Food Plan

The board was scheduled to discuss the Doncaster Food Plan 2025-2030. According to the report pack, the plan sets out a collective vision for food across the city, five-year aims and objectives to work towards this, and a plan of action for how these aims and objectives will be achieved.

The report pack stated that the plan encompasses multiple levels of the food system, including how food is produced and distributed, access and exposure to food, what and how people eat and drink, and how food is disposed of.

The plan's vision is for everyone in Doncaster to be able to access and use diverse, nutritious, and sustainable foods in ways that enable people, places, and the planet to thrive.

The plan has five key aims:

1. Build residents' food-related knowledge and skills
2. Strengthen Food Ladders to address food insecurity
3. Create a supportive food environment
4. Tackle food waste and surplus food
5. Support and promote locally produced food

The report pack included a summary version of the Doncaster Food Plan 2025-2030, which stated that a healthy and sustainable food system is essential for thriving people, place, and planet.

The summary stated that the food system is a network of all food-related activities, including how food is produced, processed, transported, stored, and consumed, and that the system is shaped by social and cultural norms, food availability, the environment and climate, food policies, the economy, and health and wellbeing.

The summary stated that Doncaster's food system is currently facing several challenges, including:

• A rapidly ageing population
• Some of the lowest healthy life expectancies in the country
• Those living in the most deprived areas have a lower life expectancy than those living in the least deprived areas
• High rates of many food-related health conditions, including malnutrition, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay
• A rise in poor mental health and isolation
• High levels of food insecurity
• Large amounts of good food are thrown away every day
• A climate crisis

The summary stated that action is needed to ensure that everyone living and working in Doncaster has reliable access to food that is good for their health, good for the city, and good for the planet.

The summary stated that the plan has been co-produced with representatives from the council, third sector organisations, the public sector, and local businesses.

The summary stated that the Doncaster Food Network will be relaunched to help deliver, monitor progress of, and evaluate the impact of the Food Plan.

The summary stated that the plan is underpinned by five underlying principles:

1. The Food Ladders Model structures the approach to building food security and resilience
2. Residents are at the heart of the Food Plan's aims, objectives, and actions
3. A compassionate approach to health and wellbeing is embedded in actions
4. Collaborative and partnership working is encouraged and supported
5. Activities are underpinned by evidence, research, and mapping

Pathways to Work

The board was scheduled to discuss the Pathways to Work Programme. The report pack stated that the programme aims to support and influence strategies to address health-related worklessness and in-work poverty, and enhance practices that support health and wellbeing, including the development of pathways to employment, healthy workplaces, and digital solutions.

The report pack stated that South Yorkshire is severely impacted by a national trend in rising economic inactivity, with 172,500 economically inactive residents, 31.4% of whom are inactive due to long term sickness or disability. The ambition is to support 10,000 economically inactive people into work over the next four years.

The report pack stated that South Yorkshire is one of nine Trailblazer sites chosen to receive funding to reduce economic inactivity, and one of three areas to be given funding to become a Growth Accelerator to develop evidence of the impact of targeted action on the top health conditions driving economic inactivity.

The report pack stated that Pathways to Work is combining these new funding sources with existing ones to create a unified employment support system, and that the reforms are aligning strategies and operations, enhancing personalised support, working with employers to make sustainable workplace changes, and improving data integration.

The aim is to help 2,000 more people in South Yorkshire find jobs and prevent 950 people from becoming economically inactive in the 2025/26 year, and that this effort aims to create a more inclusive and prosperous economy in South Yorkshire, serving as a model for other regions.

The board was asked to consider:

• How to better reach or attract economically inactive people, recognising the diversity of this cohort
• How to develop partners and practitioners to increase their knowledge and confidence, resulting in increased access to Pathways to Work services

Local Plan - Health and Planning

The board was scheduled to discuss the Doncaster Local Plan. The report pack stated that the Doncaster Local Plan is a long-term development strategy, setting out policies and proposals for new housing, employment, shopping and transportation, and also includes policies which are directly and/or indirectly related to health.

The report pack stated that the new Labour Government were elected in July 2024, with manifesto promises related to changing the planning system, including delivering 1.5 million homes in this parliament.

The report pack stated that a new standard method for calculating housing requirements was proposed, which, if brought forward, would mean the council needs to plan for significantly more houses, exceeding Doncaster's historic housing delivery.

The report pack stated that nationally, the links between planning and health are broadly acknowledged but fairly high level, and that the council therefore has scope to focus attention on matters of local importance.

The board was asked to consider the update on Doncaster's Local Plan, note the progress to date, and support continued collaborative work to embed health and wellbeing into future planning.

Doncaster Future Parks

The board was scheduled to discuss the Doncaster Future Parks programme. The report pack stated that the programme represents a whole systems approach to urban green space development, aligning with broader strategic objectives around public health, environmental sustainability, and civic engagement.

The report pack stated that the initiative is delivering targeted enhancements across 15 priority parks and green spaces, with a focus on addressing high levels of inactivity by empowering communities, creating strong partnerships and distinct and vibrant green spaces.

The report pack stated that five of the 15 parks have been completed, with six in progress and four remaining, and that Hexthorpe Park was recently recognised with the Green Space Innovation Award by Keep Britain Tidy.

The board was asked to recognise and value the contribution parks and green space has in improving health and addressing inequalities, and identify opportunities within their own networks to advocate on behalf of green space.

Other items

The agenda included the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 September 2025 for approval.