News

HIA Gateway

John Kemm from the West Midlands Public Health Observatory sent the following message to the HIA listserv

… It has now been agreed that the West Midlands Public Health Observatory on behalf of the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) will take over managing the content of the HIA Gateway which will be hosted on the South West Public Health Observatory server. We are working very hard to get it ready and expect the new Gateway to open sometime in January. We will give a precise date as soon as possible. It will retain the same url as before.

The first job is to catalogue and transfer material from the old gateway to the new and that is underway.

The second job will be to collect new material and make it available. We will be seeking everyone's help in gathering new material. I would like to hear of any relevant document which is not on the existing gateway - this is likely to include anything produced in the past two years.

As a first step if you have any HIA reports or documents that you would like to add to the gateway please could you let me know about them.

We are intending to add many enhancements to the gateway including better indexing. The contact list will need to be refreshed and before too long we will be asking those who want to be on the contact list to update their entries. Setting up systems to consult users and obtain their views and requirements is another job that must be done early. Very soon there will be a dedicated email address for the gateway and I will circulate the new address as soon as possible.

There is a lot to be done and please bear with us as we get on with the job but I thought that you would like to know that something is happening. Also please expect many more calls for information and help to bring the gateway back to its former glory.

Indicators for social capital

BCA conducted a review of approaches to measuring social capital for the Commission for Racial Equality.

You can download the report, in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format, by clicking on the link below:

Social Capital Indicators in the UK (pdf, 475kb)

Social capital is a concept that is both contested and often indistinctly defined. It runs throughout discussions about social cohesion and the integration of deprived and minority groups who are socially excluded from relations with mainstream society.

The research project had three main objectives:

• Understand the available data sources underpinning social capital indicators in the UK;
• Provide clear information about available data sources underpinning social capital indicators in the USA
• Understand the extent to which UK data can reliably map onto indicators in the USA

The ability to measure social capital will, in theory, allow policy-makers to gage levels of social cohesion and integration in neighbourhoods and communities. This will in turn suggest ways in which policies might be adapted to nurture and strengthen integration and social cohesion.

International Association for Impact Assessment

Preparations are underway for the next IAIA conference. This will be in Pert, Western Australia in 2008. The health section has a number of activities planned. The resources section has a link to the IAIA website.

HIA conferences

Please find some notes below from the International HIA Conference in Dublin.

Healthy Public Policy - Is HIA the Cornerstone? Dublin (16th to 17th October, 2007)

Workshop title: Strategic Environmental Assessment: the most important public health legislation?

• Conclusions: SEA is a ready-made opportunity for public health to get 'upstream'.
• Workshop predominantly looked at UK context for SEA. [Must identify and disseminate examples from across Europe].
• There were varying degrees of comprehension about SEA.
• There was concern about capacity of Public Health to adopt the necessary leadership role for ensuring adequate input to SEAs – public health in UK currently transfixed by attending to health service and not enough time on strategic planning. PH should be the outward looking bit of the health sector PH does not have a wealth of experience of IA in general and SEA in particular.
• Many sectors feed into SEA. Most sectors may feel that their topic would merit more attention. [Implicit message: public health has to be robust, clear and confident about its key messages/requests].
• As SEA rolls out we also have to acknowledge that most SEAs will be done by other professions, eg environmental specialists, and that the key issue is to make it easy for them to access information and understand what is required to cover population and human health in a robust way that can withstand legal challenge.
• This is the challenge for the next version of the DH guidance and will be especially important in the English context as the new planning legislation is likely to include health in National Planning Policy Statements.

Plenary 2

Ross Marshall: gave a challenging speech about the need for HIA practitioners, and the health sector, to engage in dialogue with other impact assessment practitioners.

Catherine Ross: spoke about a programme in Georgia that has necessitated close links between planning and public health. Great progress has been made but Dr Ross spoke convincingly of the process they have gone through and the importance of working hard at building understanding between planners and public health.

Dianne Katscherian: described the work being carried out to address health issues within the Department of Health in Western Australia and about a focus on the health effects of climate change.

Plenary 3

Mary Harney the Minister for Health and Children addressed the conference.

Fintan Hurley: spoke about the importance of quantification and the massive importance of using numbers sensitively and appropriately. If you don't quantify you assign a zero value to the effect. It is better to try but vitally important to acknowledge the limits of the quantification.

Anthea Cooke: looked at the role of consultation in HIA and argued that it continues to be important.

Emer O'Connell: described work on air quality and the importance of the process of discussing and agreeing the analysis with the stakeholders.

Plenary 4

Joan Devlin: described the ongoing and extensive work of the Healthy Cities programme in which HIA plays a central role.

Matthias Wismar: provided a political science perspective arguing that HIA is one of many cornerstones in the policy process. Policy-makers get information and advice from many sectors.

Paul Hunt provided an inspiring closing speech to the conference. Paul is UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health. This is an inalienable right for each person. Governments have to achieve a constant improvement on health status for their citizens. They need to be able to demonstrate this progress. HIA could/should have a role in assisting countries in this process
(see pdf for transcript of a 2004 interview).

Protocol on SEA

The final draft of the health chapter/annex to the Resource Manual to Support Application of the UNECE Protocol on SEA is available by clicking on the following pdf link

Environment Agency Framework contract

Ben Cave Associates Ltd is a Support Team Partner to Halcrow on a framework commission for the Environment Agency.

Ben Cave Associates and a number of other specialist companies, individuals and academic institutions make up the Support Team Partners. The diversity of technical competencies within Support Team Partners means that the members of this consortium are able to respond to requests for services across all relevant technical disciplines.

As part of this framework Ben Cave Associates are able to access the range of skills across all of the specialisms represented in the consortium.

New and recent contracts

BCA have been awarded the following contracts

• Fit for the Future: reconfiguration of services in West Sussex (for client West Sussex PCT);
• Integrated impact assessment of the Health Inequalities Strategy for London (for client GLA);
• Integrated impact assessment of Healthcare for London (for client London Health Commission).

BCA has recently completed the following HIAs:

• Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (for client Department of Health);
• Sherford New Community (for client: Devon County Council);
• Cranbrook New Community (for client: Devon County Council);
• Towcester Vale (with BirleyHIA for client: Persimmon Homes);
• Upton Lodge (for client: English Partnerships and Redrow);
• Victoria Station Upgrade (with Mott MacDonald for client: London Underground Ltd);
• Croydon Tramlink Extension (with Mott MacDonald for client: Transport for London); and
• Relocation of traveller site: option appraisal (for London Borough of Lewisham);
• Energy from Waste: assessment of new facility (for client SITA).

Health impacts: a strategy across Government

In 2006 the Council for Science and Technology published a report looking at ways in which central Government can address health issues when preparing policies. The report is available by clicking here .

The CST cite a number of good practice examples. BCA was involved in two of these

• North West Regional Spatial Strategy – BCA provided input to the SA/SEA
• HIA of the Mayor of London’s draft Culture Strategy

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