A NEW plan will be produced after statistics showed Rossendale had the highest number of excess winter deaths in the country.

Following ONS stats which cited the borough as having the highest number of excess winter deaths (70) in the country for 2015/16, a task and finish group was established to investigate the causes.

After investigation members found there was not a specific problem in Rossendale and that over a three-year period, the rate of excess winter deaths was not higher than the average for England.

But a health and wellbeing action plan will be created to help prevent the situation from occurring again in the future.

Excess winter deaths are defined as the difference between the numbers of deaths in winter months compared to non-winter months.

Councillor Adrian Lythgoe who chaired the group said: “We are determined to better understand the issues around excess winter deaths. That’s why we undertook this investigation and I am grateful to all the professionals who took part in the scrutiny day.

“Going forward, we hope that an action plan will now be produced which will lead to different organisations working together more effectively to help stop people in the borough falling ill in the first place.”

The councillors investigated the reasons for Rossendale’s figures, what action could be taken to reduce the number of deaths and what role the council could play in this.

Cllr Barbara Ashworth, Rossendale Council’s portfolio holder for health and housing, added: "I welcome this report and wish to thank everyone who contributed to it.

"Although our excess winter death rate over three years is in line with that nationally, there was an increase in 2015/16. Everyone has a role to play in tackling this and it is important that we challenge ourselves and our partners to do more to keep our most vulnerable residents safe."

Their report concludes that Rossendale’s excess winter death rate for 2013 to 2016 was not significantly higher than the England rate, and that there are many contributory factors.

The report also recommends that the borough’s health partnerships create an action plan to improve collaborative working and better co-ordinate services.