The tables below set out the key activities we are going to deliver over the next 2 years, and the measures we will use to assess whether we're achieving our Council Plan ambitions.
Theme 1: improving health and wellbeing
Every aspect of life - education, childcare, housing, employment, lifestyle, the quality of the local environment, and the type of community we live in - can affect our health and wellbeing at any point through our lives. We see this through stark health inequalities in Cumberland where our different communities can have very different outcomes.
We have placed improving health and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. We recognise how fundamental health and wellbeing are to everyone’s lives and life chances.
Our areas of focus for the next 2 years will be on:
- prevention - breaking down silos
- supporting individuals and families with mental health issues
- improving food access and food security
- supporting young people and families, including the use of family hubs
- demonstrating effective leadership in the health system
| Activity | Milestone | Lead Director | Portfolio Holder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continue to develop the Council's Prevention Service to improve wellbeing outcomes and reduce service demand. | Ongoing | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | All |
| Explore the expansion of the development and integration of social prescribing services beyond the west coast. | By 31 March 2027 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
| Continued implementation of the Active Cumbria 5 year plan to address inactivity and to improve participation levels for children and young people and adults. | By 31 March 2027 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
Implement Phase 2 of the Council's Prevention Approach - implement opportunities to enable the council to better support residents who may be facing challenges linked to:
| By 31 December 2025 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | All |
| Continue to deliver the Live Longer Better in Cumbria Programme (Active Cumbria) | By 31 March 2027 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health and Communities |
| Contribute to the development of the 'Our Health' Workington and Workington Place Partnership with a focus on public health expertise supporting a population health approach. | Ongoing | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
| Continue to deliver the Travel Actively programme in Cumberland | By 31 October 2026 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
| Deliver actions in the Cumbria Multi-Agency Suicide Prevention Plan | By 30 September 2026 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
| Work with partners (including education) to co-design a new integrated support programme for emotional wellbeing and neurodiversity for children and families. | By 30 April 2027 | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
| Launch an Emotional Wellbeing and Neurodiversity programme (children and families) pilot. | By 30 November 2025 | Children and Family Wellbeing | Public Health Customer and Communities |
| Deliver a 'nothing for us without us' approach with a focus on collaboration, lived experience, wishes and views, and co-production of services with children and families or partners. | By 31 March 2026 | Children and Family Wellbeing | Children's Services, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
| Continue to implement the Cumberland Food Strategic Framework through Food Cumbria. | Ongoing | Public Health Customer and Community Wellbeing | Children's Services, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
| Provide strengthened strategic leadership for the local system supporting children and families. | By 31 March 2026 | Children and Family Wellbeing | Children's Services, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
| Transform the 0 to 19 Healthy Child Programme in partnership with the new service provider and Family Help and Prevention Team. | By 31 March 2027 | Public Health, Customer and Community Wellbeing | Children's Services, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
| Deliver 0 to 19 Healthy Child Programme services out of all Family Hubs. | By 31 March 2026 | Public Health, Customer and Community Wellbeing | Children's Services, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
| Maximise people's independence and get more people home by working more closely with the NHS through our integrated Intermediate Care Service. | By 31 March 2028 | Adult Social Care and Housing | Adult Social Care |
| Deliver the Cumberland Homes Adaptations and Assistance Policy through a new service model, Cumberland Home Improvement Agency, as part of our offer for better, more joined-up health, care and wellbeing services. | By 31 March 2028 | Adult Social Care and Housing | Adult Social Care |
| Deliver the Adult Social Care Transformation and Pathway Redesign project to improve the customer journey for those needing care and support. | By 31 March 2028 | Adult Social Care and Housing | Adult Social Care |
| Implement the Cumberland Active Wellbeing Strategy and leisure review, including the procurement of a new leisure contract with embedded health and wellbeing outputs. | By 1 April 2026 | Place and Economy | Vibrant and Healthy Places |
| We will utilise tools including our new Public Space Protection Order to help reduce the impact of anti-social behaviour on our communities. | Ongoing | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
Key performance indicators
| Key performance indicator | Target |
|---|---|
| Reduce the rate of cared for children per 10,000 | 92 |
| Reduce the rate of children subject of a Child Protection Plan per 10,000 | 50 |
| Reduce the rate of referrals to children's social care per 10,000 | 55 |
| Reduce the % of referrals to children's social care that are repeat referrals within 12 months of a previous referral | 21% |
| Increase the take-up of free early education entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds | 95% |
| Increase the percentage of Health and Wellbeing Team cases closed with reported positive outcomes | 80% |
| Increase the percentage of children who received a two to two-and-a-half-year review | 95% |
| Increase number of families actively using Family Hubs | By 200 |
| Increase the percentage of people who are discharged from hospital to their normal place of residence | 92% |
| Reduction in permanent admissions to residential or nursing care | 36 |
| Reduce the percentage of Care Act assessments that lead to no further action | 15% |
| Reduce the percentage of contacts leading to referral (adult social care) | 15% |
| Increase the number of discretionary housing grants issued | 540 |
| Increase the number of Disabled Facilities Grant issued annually | 760 |
| Reduce the average overall Disabled Facilities Grant wait time from referral to completion | 210 days |
| Increase the percentage of reablement service users with improved outcomes | 82% |
Outcome measures for improving health and wellbeing theme
- reduce life expectancy gap between men living in deprived and wealthier areas of Cumberland
- reduce life expectancy gap between women living in deprived and wealthier areas of Cumberland
- a reduction in the suicide rate per 100,000 population
- fewer drug related deaths per 100,000 population
- a reduction in the percentage of children who are overweight at year 6
- an increase in the percentage of adults in Cumberland who are active (active = active for 150+ minutes a week)
- an increase in the percentage of children in Cumberland who are active (active = active for 60 minutes or more each day)