Brighton & Hove Labour will propose a Notice of Motion at next week’s Full Council meeting, calling for an officer report which explores options to advance health equity, and for Brighton & Hove to follow others in becoming a ‘Marmot City.’
The 2010 Marmot review: Fair Society, Healthy Lives, Chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, examined health inequalities across England, and what could be done to reduce them. The review found that people living in the poorest neighbourhoods would on average die seven years earlier than those living in the wealthiest areas. The report also found that the lower a person’s socioeconomic status, the more likely they were to live in poor health.
Since the publication of the Marmot review, Coventry City and Chesire and Merseyside region, have adopted the Marmot framework to drive a more collaborative approach to addressing health inequalities, looking specifically at the social determinants of health inequalities and how they could be addressed in their areas based on local evidence.
If adopted, Brighton & Hove City Council could take a similar approach to understand how the Marmot framework can be applied locally, by underpinning council services and policies.
Becoming a Marmot City would build on the work underway through Brighton & Hove’s Council Plan, which aims to ensure that council strategies, policies and services promote better health and wellbeing for all and to reduce health inequalities. Under the Marmot framework, new performance indicators and greater partnership working could be introduced to achieve measurable outcomes.
Leader of the Council, Bella Sankey said: “Everyone in our city, no matter where they live, or the circumstances they are born into, deserves to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, in Brighton & Hove, as elsewhere in the country, those from the most deprived areas of our city live shorter lives and spend more of their lives in ill health. This is simply unacceptable.
“We know that 14 years of Tory austerity has widened the equality gap in our society. As your Labour Council we will do everything to drive the change needed to bring about greater equality. By becoming a Marmot City, all council policies and the services commissioned across Brighton & Hove will be required to consider the impact they will have on health equity before they are implemented.
“Only by ensuring health equity is an embedded consideration across all council areas can we take the bold action needed to rapidly improve health outcomes and life chances of everyone in our city.”
Chair of the Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee, Councillor Tristram Burden said: “People in the most disadvantaged parts of our city spend more than twelve years longer in poor health than people from the least disadvantaged areas. The reasons for this are multi-faceted but broadly are driven by socio-economic inequalities, including levels of income, education, housing and employment.
“Reducing inequality is therefore vital to improving the health, wellbeing and life chances of the people of Brighton & Hove. This is already a core principle of our Health & Wellbeing Strategy and Council Plan, and a priority for our Labour Administration.
“Becoming a Marmot City will help prioritise coordinated policy interventions and accelerate actions that will significantly improve outcomes, with the aim that the physical and mental health of those with the poorest outcomes will improve the fastest.”
