Healthy and thriving communities

Healthy and thriving communities imply four things:

• We want our towns, neighbourhoods and villages to be communities with a heart.
• We want to support and protect vulnerable groups including older people and those with disabilities.
• We want people to be healthy and live longer.
• We want Oxfordshire to be a place where people feel safe and welcomed. Our foundations are strong - there are concerns about anti-social behaviour but generally our city, towns and villages are safe and pleasant places in which to live.

However, there are significant challenges ahead:

• Housing has become unaffordable for many young people.
• Maintenance of local services in rural communities.
• Older people and those with disabilities want more choice and control over their care, wish to live independently and have access to high quality services when they need them.
• Community engagement and self help is less strong than it once was and the voluntary sector needs strengthening.
• Crime is relatively low but fear of crime and concern about anti-social behaviour and increasing alcohol abuse are concerns for many people.
• Life expectancy is improving year on year but there are growing concerns about the effects of unhealthy lifestyles. The trend for improved life expectancy is improving in our more affluent communities. But the inequalities gap in Oxfordshire is getting wider and this needs to be reduced.

We pledge to:

• Work with local people and the voluntary, community and faith sectors and the military to sustain and build supportive cohesive, resilient and well planned communities, for example where local people play an active role in decisions that affect their community.
• Work to sustain local services particularly in rural communities.
• Ensure the provision of more affordable housing.
• Tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
• Work to reduce, isolate, prevent and defeat violent extremism.
• Ensure every child gets every opportunity for a good start in life.
• Improve support and opportunities for independent living.
• Promote healthy lifestyles.
• Shift the emphasis of public services to prevention - helping people to manage their health, improve their skills and minimise the detrimental impact they have on our environment.

Current position

Oxfordshire is a diverse county both in the terms of the range of urban and rural environments but also its ethnicity. A quarter of the total population live in the city of Oxford with a similar proportion in our market towns and half the population live in rural areas. The population is ageing with substantial growth in the proportion of the population aged 85 and over. There is also a growing proportion of people with learning disabilities.

Black and minority ethnic communities are 5% of the population for the county overall and 13 % in the city of Oxford with sizeable populations in Banbury and Didcot.

Although our population is generally healthier than elsewhere, with life expectancy above the average, there are significant variations and inequalities between local communities. This is reflected in the wide gap in life expectancy between the best and worst off.

A sense of community

People want to live in communities with a heart: communities where services are well planned and coordinated; where the local centre provides good shopping provision; where there is a good quality environment; where there is access to good quality housing provision and services; where there is access to high quality culture, sport and leisure and access to public services. We also want places where local people help shape the future for their city, town, village or neighbourhood and who work to contribute to the solution of local problems.

We acknowledge the difficulties with people commuting longer distances to work and people working longer hours which have an impact on the amount of time people have available to input into their communities. Despite this we know that there are at least 3,000 voluntary and community groups in Oxfordshire and many people are involved and working hard to make life better for local people and their communities. However we are heavily reliant on those who are community spirited and active in our communities and we need to engage more people to build on that good work in the future.

A feeling of identity and 'sense of place' is critical to making Oxfordshire an even better place. Oxfordshire residents have a strong affiliation to the county and to their local community and there is a real sense of community and belonging. Distinctive local activities and events – such as the popular game of 'Aunt Sally', the rural touring programme which brings live arts events to local community spaces, the annual Leveller's Day in Burford as well as one off special events and festivals like 'Luminox' in Oxford reinforce this sense of identity and provide occasions for a whole community to come together.

Our voluntary, community and faith organisations are vital to the well-being of local people and communities as are our parish, town, district and county councils who provide local services and local democratically elected representation to make sure that services are responsive to local people's needs.

Participation in culture, sport, leisure and recreation are also important to how people experience and perceive the place and the community in which they live. It contributes to a distinctive identity, engenders pride and a sense of belonging, and helps create community cohesion. It supports individual’s well-being, health and enjoyment. A strong local cultural life and a choice of leisure and recreational opportunities deliver benefits which strengthen communities and contribute to a rich quality of life for all while having a positive impact on the economy, tourism, educational attainment and community safety.

We would like Oxfordshire to be a community where:

• People feel they have a say in their own communities but also put something back in terms of neighbourliness, running local projects e.g. neighbourhood watch, fund raising, event organizing etc.
• There are strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds in the community.

Oxfordshire communities are well thought of with over 90% of the people in Oxfordshire saying they like living in their local communities. A recent analysis of parish plans also shows that a growing number of local people are working with their parish council to actively plan for the future of their community. Similar arrangements are being made for neighbourhood planning in Oxford City. Typically community-led plans reveal concerns about the 'environment' with 'access to services and travel', 'affordable housing and activities for young people' also raised.

In some areas of the City and our market towns there is a need to better join up activity as well as requirements for more active engagement to break the cycle of deprivation.

Our challenges

Our challenges are to:

• Involve people and groups in decision making - including those who have not been involved in the past (for example, young people and those from different cultures and backgrounds).
• Target energy and resources in the areas of greatest need to make a real difference.
• Put resources into preventing ill-health, crime and other problems and help people to help themselves.
• Encourage a new generation of volunteers who can sustain community effort.
• Value culture, sport, recreation and leisure as being vital to maintaining good quality of life.
• Actively support the communities who are experiencing more rapid change due to development or where the community isn't flourishing.

Demographic change

One of the key areas of change facing us all is the ageing of our population. As a result of our improved longevity and declining fertility there is a profound shift in the structure of our population. Older people make an important contribution to economies and communities as consumers and for their expectations as citizens. Improvements in income, health care and healthier lifestyles have led to more people living longer. This has led to an increase in the number of relatively fit and active older people, many of whom are and want to continue to be active contributors in employment, in their families and communities as volunteers, employees and carers. It also means more people will need support to remain independent in later life.

However, the distribution of income amongst the older population is very uneven. Older people have one of the highest risks of poverty of all age groups and experience social exclusion due to a range of factors including reduced social contact, poorer health, low income and lack of mobility. The greatest consumers of health and social care are those over 85 which is the section of the population growing at the fastest rate. There is also an increase in the number of younger people who have experienced some form of learning or physical disability from birth, or who have survived a trauma. These groups will support and this will placed increased financial pressure on both the county council's adult care services and the Oxfordshire NHS.

There is a real danger that our healthy population will become less healthy over the next 20 years. The incidence of obesity is rising and so is alcohol consumption. Apart from the health implications, excessive alcohol consumption amongst people also gives rise to anti-social behaviour and so increases fear of crime.

Responding to these challenges will involve a renewed emphasis on prevention and provision of support to individuals to live their lives independently and successfully. We will also need to emphasise even more strongly than we do now the importance of family carers and the support they need to carry out this role effectively and with due regard to their personal needs. We want to shift the emphasis to prevention so that we can intervene early, providing a little bit of support to help the person stay independent and delay the need for costly intensive support for as long as possible.

Safer communities

Oxfordshire does not have high crime levels, indeed parts of the county have very low crime levels. However alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour and drug related crime are particular problems in some areas and generally fear of crime is disproportionately throughout Oxfordshire. Statutory and voluntary agencies are working with the Police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour but we also need local communities to work with statutory agencies to provide voluntary effort and help find local solutions.

Sustain thriving communities

To sustain thriving communities we will need to:

• Tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and the related problems of abuse.
• Work across sectors and age groups to tackle problems caused by increasing alcohol consumption.
• Provide high quality outcomes for older people by improving their access to services and giving them choice and control over their support.
• Shift the emphasis to prevention of illness and promotion of health and well-being.
• Work together in key neighbourhoods to break the cycle of deprivation and close the equality gap.
• Strengthen the voluntary and community sector.
• Nurture cultural and leisure opportunities in rural as well as urban areas.
• Encourage and support local community planning and other initiatives that help build a strong sense of community.
• Improve access to information and services.
• Ensure that disabled people enjoy the same life chances as their non-disabled peers.
• Promote understanding and tolerance within communities.

How will we measure success?

By 2030 we expect:

• Local people, including the young and those from different cultural backgrounds feel welcomed and safe in their local community.
• Volunteering and community self help to be stronger than the national average.
• People living longer and staying healthy.
• A reduction in the gap in between the best and worst off.
• Crime and anti-social behaviour to be lower than in the rest of the country.
• An increased number of communities across Oxfordshire have actively developed, implemented and reviewed a community-led plan and achieved a range of tangible improvements.

Our priorities for action

Details of action planned for the medium and longer term are set out in the accompanying delivery plan.

Key partnerships to develop the theme

• Health and Wellbeing Partnership
• Oxfordshire Safer Communities Partnership
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
• Oxfordshire Voluntary Sector Development Partnership

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