The Health Improvement Partnership Board was scheduled to discuss updates to active travel and healthy place shaping, the cost of living programme, and the tobacco control strategy. The board was also expected to receive a report from the Healthwatch Oxfordshire Ambassador, Robert Majilton, and to monitor progress on agreed outcome measures in a performance report.

Tobacco Control Strategy

The Health Improvement Partnership Board was scheduled to discuss the Oxfordshire Tobacco Control Alliance (OTCA) Strategy 2026-2030. The strategy sets out five strategic priorities: preventing uptake of smoking, supporting smokers to quit, creating smokefree environments, regulation and enforcement, and working in partnership.

The report pack noted that adult smoking prevalence in Oxfordshire has fallen from 12.1% in 2020 to 7.5% in 2024, but that this still means there are around 47,000 smokers in Oxfordshire. It also noted that smoking prevalence is higher in certain population groups, such as:

• Routine and manual occupations
• People living with a long-term mental health condition
• People who live in social housing
• People experiencing homelessness
• Dual drug and/or alcohol users
• People living with long term conditions
• People living or working in areas of high deprivation

The board was asked to approve the publication of the strategy, and to consider and advise on the challenges outlined in the report.

The report pack also included an update on the Smokefree Generation funding, including the new Stop Smoking Service for Oxfordshire called Smokefree Oxon, the Smoking Health Needs Assessment, and the qualitative insights report that informed the 'It's Well Worth It' campaign.

Cost of Living Programme

The Health Improvement Partnership Board was scheduled to receive an update on the Cost of Living programme and comment on outline proposals for the new three-year programme from 2026/27 onwards.

The Cost of Living programme is primarily funded by the government's Household Support Fund (HSF). Oxfordshire's HSF allocation for 2025/26 is £5.92 million, a reduction from £6.7 million in 2024/25. The programme also includes £300,000 allocated to advice services in the 2024/25 budget round.

Key areas of expenditure include:

• Support for families with Free School Meal eligible children in school holidays
• Resident Support Scheme, which provides support to people experiencing financial crisis
• Funding for city and district councils to spend on priorities in their areas
• Supporting community organisations through grant programmes run by Oxfordshire Community Foundation and Good Food Oxfordshire
• Out of Hospital Team, which provides funding to make small purchases on behalf of patients
• Food co-operatives in East Oxford
• LIFT Dashboard, which identifies households who are eligible for benefits they are not receiving

The report pack stated that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that they will continue to provide funding for Cost of Living work for the rest of the Parliament, and next year's funding will be a three-year settlement. They are also reviewing the scope of the fund and have renamed it the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF).

Active Travel and Healthy Place Shaping

The Health Improvement Partnership Board was scheduled to receive an update on the strategic developments and direction for active travel, and on the Healthy Place Shaping (HPS) Grants delivering active travel initiatives across the City and District Councils.

The report pack included an update on the Local Transport & Connectivity Plan (LTCP) Active Travel Targets. The LTCP is structured around 54 policies, organised into 12 thematic areas, one of which is 'walking and cycling'. The walking and cycling policy areas sets out 7 policies that aim to make walking and cycling safer, more convenient, and more attractive for residents and visitors.

The LTCP sets out a monitoring framework consisting of Headline Targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). One headline target is to increase the number of cycle trips per week in Oxfordshire to 1,000,000 by 2030. Another is the number of walking trips.

The Active Travel Strategy committed in 2022 to producing a Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for all major settlements in Oxfordshire, with a population above 10,000 by 2025. The LCWIPs are aimed to improve or complete cycling and walking networks, identifying key barriers and areas of opportunities.

The combined approved LCWIPs have identified a total of 1137 walking, cycling and walking and cycling schemes countywide, of which less than 10% have received funding.

The report pack also included an update on accessibility, travel behaviour change, and Healthy Place Shaping Grants.

Performance Report

The Health Improvement Partnership Board was scheduled to receive a performance report to monitor progress on agreed outcome measures. The indicators are grouped into the overarching priorities of:

• Healthy People, Healthy places
  • Healthy Weight
  • Smoke Free
  • Alcohol related harm
• Physical activity and Active Travel
  • Physical Activity
  • Active Travel
  • Mental Wellbeing

Of the 25 indicators reported in the HIB report, 8 indicators had new data.

Other items

Robert Majilton, Healthwatch Oxfordshire Ambassador, was scheduled to present updates from Healthwatch Oxfordshire on topics relevant to the Board.