Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor D Brailsford, Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell, K Smy, J Tubb, A Fisher, S-A Caunter, S Carlton, J Allen, R North, C Seymour, R Cumbers, K Mitchell, M Follows MBE and L Davidson who was represented by A Clarke.

The Chairman was disappointed by the number of apologies received, despite meeting dates being fixed twelve months in advance.  Although the Terms of Reference did not include quoracy rules, the Chairman felt it appropriate to write to all members advising that the attendance at these meetings is inadequate.  She agreed to copy the letter to all.

RESOLVED

          That the Chairman write to all members of the Children & Young People Strategic Partnership in regard to attendance.

Matters Arising

a)Ginny Blackoe provided an update for Minute Number 96, bullet point 5, explaining that a review had been undertaken of paediatric services across provider organisations, the findings of which were presented to the Chief Executive.  No response had yet been received.

b)The Chairman reported that Chris Slavin had also chaired a group looking at the autism pathway which identified that a clearer pathway was required in addition to a wider range of services for people with behavioural challenges and autism.  It was agreed that a commissioner led review would be set to look at previous reviews to meet the needs of children with autism.  The scope of this review would be circulated at the next meeting.  Public Health, CCGs and Children's Services for the Local Authority had agreed to appoint a joint Assistant Director post which would review all services from all providers to children with autism.  A job description had been agreed and it was anticipated that the post would be advertised in the next couple of weeks.

c)    Minute Number 56, bullet point 8 – the Chairman reported that the bid submitted for Fulfilling Lives had been unsuccessful although no feedback had been received.

d)Minute Number 61 – Welfare Reform – Janice Spencer confirmed that Local Authority foster carers had been isolated in order to support them through the Welfare Reforms.  They were mindful, however, that the profile was constantly changing.

e)Minute Number 62 – Infant Feeding Strategy – Ginny Blackoe noted that she was in agreement with the comments made at the last meeting, in respect of there being too many actions on the plan.  She reported that a detailed action plan would be included in the strategy as an appendix with guidance to be used as a working document.

RESOLVED

1.         That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 February 2013 be confirmed and agreed as a true record.

2.         That a paper detailing the scope of the Autism Pathway Review be considered at the next meeting.

(Debbie Barnes)

The Partnership received an update from Debbie Barnes, Chair, which highlighted key areas to the Partnership:-

1.  The National Children's Improvement Board set up with a national budget of £8m per year to support programmes such as ALICSE.  This budget had now been withdrawn, with no notice.  However, due to an underspend in the East Midlands, plans agreed for this year would continue but would be relooked at for next year.

2.  Local authorities were to provide 15 hours of early years education for all two year olds in disadvantaged areas and were required to meet a target of 20% by September 2013 and reach 40% by September 2014.  The Chairman was confident that these targets would be reached.

3.  The Government had launched a programme for local authority involvement in early years education, however the inspection of early years providers had been transferred to OfSTED.

4.  The Children and Families Bill was in the final stages in the House of Commons and expected to be passed imminently.

5.  Block allocations for primary and secondary schools were to be the same and the Government had asked for comments.  A number of strategic issues had been raised, in relation to a further tranche of school funding, by the partnership and it was hoped that the Government would change their stance on this issue. 

6.  OfSTED were consulting on a new inspection on school improvement services, although academies had previously been responsible for their own school improvement.  This would now cover both maintained schools and academies although no guidance had yet been received if academies would be expected to pay for this.

7.  Public Health were leading on a mental health promotion strategy which they had asked for comments on.

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

(Chris Cook)

The Partnership received an update from Chris Cook, Chair of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board:-

1.    A piece of work was underway by a multi-agency group relating to Team Around the Child (TAC).  This had identified some issues to be addressed and further work regarding the quality of practice had been requested.  Recording processes had been identified and pursued with most found to be of a very good standard.  The group had been asked to provide a full report by 10^th June 2013.

2.    The post of Child Sex Exploitation (CSE) Coordinator was now ready to be advertised.

3.    The Public Protection Board was coordinating a number of boards, including MAPA, Community Safety, Adults, Domestic Abuse, children's etc, with a view to identifying key themes.  Item 9 would cover one particular area of this work.

4.    A lot of work was currently being undertaken around Serious Case Reviews but, due to the confidential nature of each case, no detail was discussed.

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

(Kerry Mitchell)

David McWilliams advised that no update had been received as apologies for the meeting had been received from Kerry Mitchell.  He agreed to request a written update along with the work programme to circulate with the minutes.

RESOLVED

          That David McWilliams would request a written update to circulate with the work programme.

(Maggie Freeman)

No update for this item was available, unfortunately.  The Chair agreed to request a written update for this item.

RESOLVED

          That a written update be requested from relevant officers.

(Debbie Barnes)

a)    The Chair provided a verbal update to the partnership, explaining that the District Councils and local authority faced challenges in respect of homeless people aged 16/17.  The Southward Enquiry omitted that there was a requirement for a number of options to be made available to this group of people rather than making them Looked After Children (LAC).  A draft strategy and pathway and a commissioning plan were currently being worked on with the strategy out for consultation on 3^rd May 2013.  This would be brought to the next meeting of the partnership.

b)    It was explained that the pathway was a single gateway in risk of homelessness, advocacy would be provided but they young person would have to live at home and housing stock for young people was available in some district in the form of individual housing options.  Due to the new reforms, young people would not be able to afford accommodation other than one room in a shared house so the options available would need to be reconsidered.  The possibility of investing in support lodgings was also being considered that the details of that work would be presented to the partnership as part of the consultation.

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·         Now that the initial issues had been work through, the group would be widened although this would require further debate.

·         Following the Southward ruling, there was difficulty in placing babies into foster care as places were being filled by 16/17 year olds.

RESOLVED

1.    That the update be noted.

2.    That the strategy would be brought to the next meeting of the partnership.

3.    That consideration of wider representation on the group be given.

(Debbie Barnes)

a)    The Chair introduced the report considered by the Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board, which would become a statutory committee following the May Full Council meeting.

b)    The Secretary of State had established a Health Outcomes Forum to assess how the health and wellbeing of young people could be improved and a number of questions were posed to the Health and Wellbeing Board as a result.

c)    The relationship between the Health and Wellbeing Board and this partnership had not yet been developed although there were a number of members who sit on both groups.  It was, therefore, hoped that a good relationship could be formed.

d)    The Chair noted that the Children's Trust Board should act as the strategic commissioner acting on behalf of the Health and Wellbeing Board and informal discussions had been held.  A review of the terms of reference to incorporate this change was required and a further review of the membership to ensure issues included in the terms of reference could be delivered. 

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·                       Challenges were anticipated to ensure the right representation covering all seven district councils, etc. 

·                       It was hoped that by linking the Children's Trust to the Health and Wellbeing Board that the partnership may be able to influence the board.

·                       Work on key deliverable priorities would be undertaken at the next CYPSP Development Day.

RESOLVED

            That the report be noted.

(Janice Spencer)

a)    Janice Spencer, Assistant Director for Children's Services, provided a verbal update to the partnership.  Despite preparing for a multi-agency inspection and meeting with partners, they had been advised that these inspections were no longer being undertaken as OfSTED had withdrawn the framework for these types of inspections.  An interim inspection had been undertaken which focussed solely on child protection processes.  Had the interim framework continued, an inspection was expected in May 2013 and, although it was thought the inspection would not take place, officers continued to ensure they were inspection ready in case it did go ahead.

b)    It was thought that OfSTED intend to merge two inspection frameworks together from August/September 2013 but confirmation had not yet been received.  There was, however, continuation of the fostering and adoption inspections and also with a number of smaller looked after/leaving care regulations, although more detail was awaited.

RESOLVED

          That the update be noted.

(Debbie Barnes)

a)    The Chair provided a verbal update to the partnership and suggested holding a half day workshop to develop what this type of hub should look like in Lincolnshire.  A model had been prepared which was thought to be successful, initially using a triage type system although there was a gap in information available for that system from schools.

b)    Following triage, the county would be dissected into four areas in line with the CCGs where there would be a locality MASH with co-located team managers.  There would be a central MASH and, depending on the outcome of the triage, cases would be referred to the locality MASH for action.

c)    It was agreed that additional work and discussion would be required at the workshop to develop this further.

RESOLVED

          That the updated be noted.

(Debbie Barnes)

a)    The Chair introduced the report and explained that she had visited Northumberland County Council and was impressed with this piece of work.  As a result, they were looking to implement the system within Lincolnshire.  Following a tragic incident, Northumberland County Council had changed their processes and systems, implementing a vulnerability check list which covered a wide range of issues.  If a high risk case was identified from that checklist, this would be brought to a multi-agency panel to look at the plan for that individual.

b)    A DVD was shown to the partnership which explained how the system worked in Northumberland, including interviews with individuals and officers involved the process.

During discussion, the following points were noted:-

·         This had also been considered by the Strategic Board of the LSCB who had been impressed and were supportive of it.

·         It was asked if the process was dependent upon the young person being part of the process and what would happen to them if not.

·         The authority knows, as a result of this process, how many cases there are and what point of the process they are at which was beneficial to all agencies but, most importantly, the young person involved.

·         In principle all agreed that this was a good model but that further work was required to link into MASH groups and develop a pilot model for Lincolnshire.

RESOLVED

            That the partnership support, in principle further work to develop suitable model for Lincolnshire.

(Allan Kitt)

The Chair presented the report to the partnership which provided an update on the changes to the NHS in Lincolnshire.

RESOLVED

          That the update be noted.

(Stuart Carlton)

a)    David McWilliams introduced and facilitated the item and tabled papers and activities for members which provided the context to the discussions.  The purpose of the session was to shift the focus of the partnership from activity and priorities to "Outcomes".

b)    David McWilliams gave a short presentation which was followed by a workshop.

RESOLVED

1.          That comments made during the workshop would be used to agree the key Strategic Outcomes for the next Children and Young People's Plan.

2.          David McWilliams to bring forward this work to the Development Day on the 13^th June 2013.

Janice Spencer, Assistant Director for Children's Services, agreed to provide a summary update to all partnership members.  The deadline for the Working Together 2013 reviews and comments was 15^th April 2013.

David McWilliams also asked that this summary be shared with Keith Batty at CfBT for information at the next Heads/Governors meeting.

It was also suggested that this be included as part of the 'business risk' element of the Development Day.

RESOLVED

1.    To circulate a summary update to the partnership (Janice Spencer).

2.             To share the summary update with Keith Batty for discussion at the next Heads/Governors meeting.

3.    To include Working Together 2013 at the next CYPSC Development Day.

Development Day – Thursday 13^th June 2013 9.30am to 4.30pm, The Showroom, Lincoln.

CYPSP Meeting – Wednesday 7^th August 2013 9.30am to 4.30pm, The Showroom, Lincoln.