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Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill - letter from NHS Board Chief Executives

Letter from the NHS Board Chief Executives' Group, to the Convener, 10 February 2022

Dear Mr Carson

Good Food Nation Bill

Thank you for the opportunity to provide evidence to the committee in relation to the Good Food Nation Bill.

We are grateful to the Scottish Directors of Public Health Nutrition Sub group for their submission of materials, and thereby sharing their expert opinion with the committee. In addition to this we would like to share some brief observations from the perspective of Board Chief Executives.

Scottish Health Boards are firmly committed to the principle of prevention and to working with communities and partners to develop a collaborative approach to improving population health. Therefore, Health Boards are supportive of the principles and policy intent as brought forward in the Bill.

We are mindful however of the mechanisms described in the Bill and would highlight that the current joint planning arrangements within Community Planning Partnerships for territorial Health Boards may offer an opportunity to build on existing planning and plans. The domains for a good food nation plan in Paragraph 6 mirror the focus of community plans / local outcome improvement plans. The guidance for community planning is supportive of the principles outlined in Paragraph 8, in that community plans are developed with our communities. Given these parallels and thinking of the Christie commission’s principles, which encourage us to work in partnership and to minimise duplication, would there be value in enabling the relevant authority to utilise existing or other planning mechanisms to deliver their good food nation plan? The Bill does not seem to permit this currently.

Special Health Boards’ strategic plans are likewise developed in keeping with the principles of the Bill and address the matters outlined in paragraph 6, these too are supported by regular outcome focused reporting.

By including a provision to enable the relevant authority to plan for a good food nation rather than produce a standalone plan could Scotland embed the objectives of the Bill within proven and established systems and avoid the potential for resources to be diverted from delivery into planning and reporting, whilst ensuring that we continue to be focused on delivering a good food nation?

In summary Health Board concur with the principles of the Bill, however in order to maximise resources available to relevant authorities we would welcome the opportunity to explore how existing mechanisms could be augmented to achieve the outcomes sought.

Yours sincerely

Ralph Roberts

Chief Executive, NHS Borders

Chair, Board Chief Executives’ Group