Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Katrina Cope  Senior Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

10.

Apologies for Absence / Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs W Bowkett, S R Parkin and replacement member Mrs J E Killey.

 

Apologies for absence were also received from Mrs P J Barnett (Parent Governor Representative) and Reverend P Johnson (Church Representative).

 

It was noted that the Head of Paid Service, having received notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Councillors C L Strange and Mrs J E Killey to replace Councillors Mrs W Bowkett and S R Parkin respectively, for this meeting only.

 

The Committee also noted that the Head of Paid Service, having received notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Councillor R L Foulkes to the vacancy position until further notice.

 

An apology for absence had also been received from Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE (Executive Councillor Adult Care, Health and Children's Services).

11.

Declarations of Members' Interest

Minutes:

Councillor M A Whittington wished it to be noted that he had an adopted son aged 22, who was now receiving support from Barnardo's; and as a result would not be taking part in the debate and voting thereon in respect of agenda item 6 – Commissioning of Lincolnshire Leaving Care Service from 2020.

12.

Minutes of the meeting of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee held on 7 June 2019 pdf icon PDF 243 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 June 2019 be agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

13.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services and Chief Officers

Minutes:

The Vice-Chairman advised that he had been honoured to attend the Lincolnshire Media Golden Apples Education Awards 2019.  The evening event had celebrated education and learning across the County.

 

The Executive Support Councillor for Children's Services also extended his congratulations to those nominated; and to the success of a remarkable event.

 

The Interim Director of Children's Services advised that the results of the Ofsted inspection held in May 2019 for Children's Social Care Service had been published on 11 June 2019.  The Committee was advised further that the judgment had been that the service was found to be 'outstanding'.  Thanks were extended to everyone within the service for all their hard work.

 

The Interim Director Children's Services – Education also advised that innovative practice in supporting Lincolnshire Children and Young People's Mental Health had been recognised at the recent Health Plus Care Conference.  The Committee was advised further that the project to develop the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Crisis at Home Treatment Service with both Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Lincolnshire County Council had been announced as a winner at the Healthcare Transformation Awards in the Innovation in Mental Health Care category.

14.

Children's Health Service 0 -19 pdf icon PDF 266 KB

(To receive a joint report from Linda Dennett, Lead Nurse, Children's Health and Sally Savage, Assistant Director, Commissioning, which advises the Committee of the progress and improvement in performance of the Children's Health Service 0 -19 since the service was in-sourced in October 2017) 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Interim Director of Education provided the Committee with a short update on the situation regarding the Lincolnshire Health Visitors.  The Committee was advised that the Council was still in dispute with one union who represented some of the health visitors.  The Committee noted that further strike days were planned.  It was noted further that the Council valued the professional work undertaken by health visitors and the support they provided to Lincolnshire families.  It was felt that the offer made by the Council was a fair and reasonable one.  Reassurance was given that cover had been arranged and that no one would be left without support.

 

The Interim Director of Education highlighted that the Health Visitors strike action should not detract the Committee from the report presented, which provided a very positive picture of the Children's Health Service 0-19.

 

Linda Dennett, Lead Nurse, Children's Health presented the report making reference to the background behind the service.  The Committee was advised that the Children's Health Service 0-19, alongside others supported the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme across Lincolnshire for children and young people and their families (aged 0-19 years) and up to the age of 25 years for young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.

 

It was reported that the health visiting service delivered five mandated universal reviews: antenatal 28+ weeks; new baby 10-14 days, 6-8 weeks, 9-12 months, and 2-2½ years.  It was noted that where it was identified a child/family required further support, for example if there were to be safeguarding concerns, the health visitor would then work as part of a multi-agency team to ensure the child's needs were met (Universal Partnership and Universal Partnership Plus). 

 

Key Performance Indicators for the Mandated Contracts were shown on page 16 of the report.  The Committee noted that overall performance had improved.  Particular reference was mentioned to the two/two and a half year review, which had shown significant improvement from 39.5% at December 2018 to 75.5% at the end of May 2019.  The Committee was advised that the latest performance figure was 80%.  The Committee noted that this progress was testimony to all staff involved.  It was noted further that the service currently had 14 vacancies, but from September 2019, the service would be fully established.

 

It was reported that an independent survey of parents had been carried out in February 2019, with over 100 parents being contacted; out of the 100, 71 parents had taken part in the survey.  A summary of the results were detailed at the bottom of page 17 of the report.  The Committee was advised that overall, comments received had been very positive.

 

The Committee noted that the number of complaints received had been consistently low; and that the three complaints received had not been upheld.

 

It was reported that the Single Point of Access had been well received. It was highlighted that parents and professionals accessed the service via a single contact point and phone number.  It was highlighted further that responsiveness through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Commissioning of Lincolnshire Leaving Care Service from 2020 pdf icon PDF 124 KB

(To receive a report from Bridie Fletcher, Commissioning Officer, which invites the Committee to consider  the Commissioning of Lincolnshire Leaving Care Service from 2020, which is due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services on 29 July 2020)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Interim Director of Children's Services, which invited the Committee to consider the commissioning of the Lincolnshire Leaving Care Service from 2020, which was due to be considered by the Executive Councillor Adult Care, Health and Children Services on 29 July 2019.

 

Attached at Appendix 1 to the report was a copy of the Executive Councillor report and associated Appendices. 

 

The Vice-Chairman welcomed to the meeting: Bridie Fletcher, Commissioning Officer, Mark Rainey, Interim Strategic Commissioning Manager and John Harris, Head of Regulated Services - Fostering.

 

The Committee was advised that Barnardo's had delivered the Lincolnshire Leaving Care Service contract since 2007.  It was reported that the current contract had been in place since 2015, and was due to expire on 31 March 2020. The annual contract value was reported as being £1,258,038.  It was highlighted that the current contract could not be extended further.

 

It was reported that a service review had been undertaken and completed; details of the findings were set out in the Commissioning Plan detailed in Appendix A to the Executive Councillor report.

 

The Committee was advised that some changes had been recommended to the service model.  The biggest recommended change was the earlier allocation of care leavers to the service at age 16; this was to ensure that care leavers could be supported by their Social Worker and a Leaving Care Worker for two years prior to fully transitioning to the Leaving Care Service at 18.  It was highlighted that there were significant benefits expected from the twin-tracked approach, as it would provide opportunities to develop effective and collaborative relationships with young people and other professionals, as well as supporting young people to independence, whilst achieving capacity within in-house social care teams to support other vulnerable children and young people.  As a result of the projected increase in the number of care leavers, the Committee was advised that it was recommended to increase the service budget to £1.5m annually.

 

It was highlighted also that it was recommended that the Leaving Care Service was commissioned through an open competitive tender process with a maximum contract period of five years (three years with the option to extend for up to two further years). 

 

The Committee was invited to comment on the proposal and to indicate whether it supported the recommendations as set out on page 44 of the report.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following issues:-

 

·         Procurement Process – The Committee was advised that the tender would go out on ProContract, the Council's Tendering and Contracts System.  This would allow suppliers from the national and international market to consider the tender and ensure a competitive process.  In addition, the stakeholders involved in developing the proposals would also be made aware of where to find the tender.  Staff at the current supplier would have the right to transfer to a new service provider ensuring continuity of staff for Lincolnshire's care leavers;

·         Labelling of the Leaving Care Service – Consideration should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Section 117 Joint Policy pdf icon PDF 82 KB

(To receive a report from Heston Hassett, S117 Specialist Project Manager, which invites the Committee to consider the creation of the Section 117 Joint Policy for Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust, which is due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services between 22 July and 2 August 2019)  

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to a report from the Executive Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which advised on the creation of the Section 117 Joint Policy for Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG's) and Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (LPFT), which was due to be considered by the Executive Councillor Adult Care, Health and Children's Services between 22 July and 2 August 2019.

 

The Vice-Chairman welcomed to the meeting Heston Hassett, Section 117 Specialist Project Manager.

 

The Committee was advised that Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended by the MHA 2007) provided a responsibility on Local Authorities and CCG's to provide/commission After-Care Services.  The Committee was advised further that this new multi-agency policy would replace existing arrangements in the three organisations.  It was noted that the policy had been ratified for use by LPFT's Executive Board and the CCG's Executive Officers.

 

Attached at Appendix 1 to the report was a copy of the Executive Councillor report and associated Appendices.

 

It was highlighted that as Section 117 of the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 applied to both adults and children, the policy was being considered by both the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.  The Committee was advised that comments from both Committees would then be passed on to the Executive Councillor Adult Care, Health and Children's Services for consideration, prior to the decision being taken.

 

The Committee was advised that a robust co-production and engagement process had been followed and where possible appropriately acted upon in the creation of the joint policy.

 

The Committee noted that putting in place a multi-agency policy would provide appropriate governance around how S.117 was discharged by the Council and the CCGs in Lincolnshire in accordance with its joint statutory obligations under the Act.  The Committee noted further that the multi-agency policy also included the involvement and engagement of Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust, as the provider of mental health services and also as provider of social care services to individuals in Lincolnshire whose primary needs were mental health needs.  It was highlighted that the joint policy would help provide clarity about how the joint arrangements would operate locally to ensure that the needs of those individuals requiring after-care services were properly addressed.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following issues:-

 

The Committee supported the recommendation to approve the Section 117 Joint Policy.  The Committee highlighted the importance of holding discussions with patients before they left hospital to ensure that any on-going mental health needs were met through the after-care service.

 

The Committee suggested that in the first sentence of paragraph 1, whether it should read "Clinical Commissioning Groups and/or the Local Authority" as this gave a different meaning to how the duty to provide after-care services would be applied.  It was confirmed that this was a joint responsibility so should only ever read "Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Local Authority".

 

Support was given by the Committee for the need  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 258 KB

(To receive a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider and comment on its work programme for the coming months)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which enabled the Committee to comment on the content of its work programme, to ensure that its scrutiny activity was focussed where it could be of greatest benefit.

 

The Senior Scrutiny Officer advised the Committee that there had been one amendment to the work programme.  The Committee was advised that a report on Housing Related Support Services had been added to the agenda for the 6 September 2019 meeting.  It was noted that the report was for pre-decision scrutiny prior to an Executive decision being taken on 1 October 2019.

 

The Committee was advised that following the meeting on the 6 September 2019, a briefing session would be held on the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework.  The Committee was advised further that an appointment would be sent out shortly to all members of the Committee.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Work programme be agreed subject to the inclusion of Housing Related Support Services being added for the 6 September 2019 meeting.

 

 
 
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