Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Rachel Boothby (Parent Partnership Co-ordinator), Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell (Executive Councillor Adult Care and Health Services, Children's Services), Chris Cook (Chairman of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children's Board), Mandy Cooke (Lincolnshire County Council), Andy Fisher (Boston Borough Council), Lee Freeman (Lincolnshire Police), Kerry Mitchell (Barnados), Semantha Neal (East Lindsey District Council), Chris Seymour (Pilgrim School), Nicki Silver (LCHS) and Pam Townsend (The Walton Girls High School)

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2013 be signed       by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman reported that a regular pattern of pre-meetings with David McWilliams had now been arranged, and he wanted to use the formal meetings and development days to work together in constructive way, and ensure that the other groups and sub-groups which reported to this Partnership were held to account.  It was thought that the Partnership was starting to develop a structure that would work.

It was understood that the transfer of health visitors to the local authority had been confirmed for October 2015.  This would represent a significant move in terms of local authority's becoming responsible for this service.  It was suggested that this was an area that could be discussed in greater detail at a development day.

The Executive Director Children's Services reported that lessons were starting to be learned following the first and second tranches of Ofsted inspections.  It was noted that the inspections seemed fair as inspectors were speaking with the right people including social workers, parents and carers.  It was expected that Lincolnshire would have its inspection in May/June 2014.

It was noted that inspections of LSCB's had been less encouraging with all but one requiring improvement.  Lincolnshire would be learning from all boards.  However, it was noted that Ofsted appeared to be having difficulty in how best to review partnership arrangements.  There was a need to be very clear about how partnership arrangements were working.

A number of staffing changes were highlighted to the Partnership, including welcoming Sally Savage, Assistant Director Children's Services.  It was noted that this was a joint appointment with the CCG.  It was also reported that there would be significant changes within the school improvement service, as Jill Hodges would be leaving the authority, and Tim Culpin would be leaving to work for CfBT nationally.  Interim arrangements would be confirmed shortly.

An update on the LSCB was provided by Andy Morris, on behalf of the Chairman of the LSCB, Chris Cook.

Members were advised, that in terms of the Ofsted inspections, it was thought that the Lincolnshire LSCB was in quite a strong position compared to some others.

It was also reported that the Board was currently involved in work regarding child sexual exploitation and child trafficking with care homes in the south of the county.  Work with legal highs was also underway as this was a big problem in Lincolnshire, as well as nationally.  The Board was working with the Community Safety Partnership, and would be employing a Policy and Audit Officer.  Once this person was appointed it was hoped that there would be a greater understanding of the problems in the county.

It was noted that the number of sub groups of the LSCB had reduced from 8 to 4, and the Terms of Reference had been reviewed.

A number of comments were made by members of the Partnership, in relation to the update provided, which included the following:

·         It was noted that there was a serious problem with child sexual exploitation in Cambridgeshire, which was in close proximity to Lincolnshire and there were concerns that it would be very easy for the problem to cross county boundaries.  The Partnership was assured that officers were working closely with Cambridgeshire Police on this issue;

·         It was highlighted that some of the work which had been done in relation to child sexual exploitation had raised issues regarding cross border working;

·         The links between the police and Children's Services were very strong;

·         Peterborough would be carrying out a serious case review shortly;

·         It was noted that the Safeguarding Board had developed an action plan around tackling child sexual exploitation, and it was queried whether it would be useful to share it with the Partnership;

·         The partnership was advised that the Lincolnshire LSCB had good communication with the Cambridgeshire LSCB;

An update was received from Andrew Garbutt, Participation Team, in relation to the work of the Lincolnshire Participation Action Group (LPAG).  It was reported that Kerry Mitchell, who was the current chairman of the LPAG, was coming up to the end of her two year term as Chairman, and was likely to step down at the end of her term, as she was taking on more responsibility in her main role.  It was reported that Francis Porter was happy to take over this role, and there would be a handover period.

It was reported that the last event had focused on the story board for the anti bullying film, and it was noted that there was a need to maintain consistency in terms of the young people attending these events.  It was noted that the film would be available on the teen info links website.  At the next event, the focus would be on working on developing the website and app ideas.  It was hoped that following the next event, officers would be in the position to bring something back to this Partnership.

It was noted that dates during half term and school holidays would be the best times for holding events for young people.  Officers would work with the LPAG to set these dates.

It was queried a joint meeting of the partnership was needed with the young people, and members were advised that the intention was for some of the young people to attend a future meeting once the web and app ideas had been developed.

The Partnership received an update from Karen Parsons in relation some of to the work of the Children and Young People's Voluntary Sector Forum (CYPVSF) over the past year.  It was reported that the Forum had undergone a review, and it would continue to receive a grant from Lincolnshire county Council through Children's Services.

Some of the activities which were highlighted included networking at the regular meetings and also specialist sessions on a targeted subject matter; representations from different partners including CYPSP, youth housing, Participation Action Group and families working together steering group; consultation activity including ensuring that information was distributed across the network as well as targeting particular information at specific members; and communication through their pages on www.lincolnshirechildren.net as well as e bulletin's and updates which were sent out regularly.  It was noted that decision had been taken to not have a dedicated website, in order to drive internet traffic through the www.lincolnshirechildren.net website.

It was reported that the next meeting would be held on 13 March 2014, with the focus of 'what's important for going forward' and what areas of work members would like to see the Forum engaged in.

Members were advised that workforce development would be on the agenda for the next meeting, and would include the national workforce strategy.  It was also commented that there was a need to improve people's opportunities for learning and training within Lincolnshire.

An update was received from the Executive Director Children's Services in relation to Child Poverty, and members were advised that a session on this issue was being held by City of Lincoln Council in the coming week and Boston Borough Council were carrying out a scrutiny review into this issue.  It was noted that the county council had been asked to take part in the scrutiny review.

It was suggested that it might be helpful if a list of all events which were coming up was attached at the end of the minutes.

Members were reminded that they should have received an invite to the launch event for the Youth Housing Strategy which was taking place at the Bentley Hotel on the 6 March 2014.

The Partnership received an update from Richard Cumbers in relation to the work of the Childhood Obesity Task and Finish group.  An update was circulated which showed the headlines from the results of the National Child Measurement Programme for the academic year 2012-13 in Lincolnshire.  It was reported that 92% of children in reception and 915 of children in year 6 participated in the programme.  It was noted that 174 parents opted out of their child taking part in the programme.

A sub group was working on the school meal offer, and this group was being chaired by Tony McGinty.  A strategic plan was being pulled together before being presented to DMT and the relevant scrutiny committee.  The membership was being refreshed and the group met every six months.

It was noted that a number of schools had opted out of the Programme, however, one had only opted out of the year 6 programme, but had included the reception class.

A discussion of the data presented followed and some of the points raised by members of the Partnership included the following:

·         It was thought it would to be useful to have the reasons why some parents had chosen to opt out of the Programme;

·         This was the first year of data where the same children who were measured in reception were also measured in year 6;

·         One complaint had been received in relation to a child who had opted out of the Programme in reception class, and this opt out had not been continued in year 6;

·         The data indicated that obesity levels doubled between reception and year 6;

·         Members were advised that any children who had not been included in the NCMP were likely to have been off sick or on holiday on the day of the measurements;

·         Going forward officers would be able to do better data analysis as they would be able to drill down further into the data;

·         It was stated that the current methods for tackling obesity were inadequate;

·         The next meeting of the Task and Finish group would be at the end of March 2014, and any members of the Partnership were welcome to attend;

·         It was requested that a more thorough evaluation of the information, including details of the gaps in the data, be brought back to a future meeting of the Partnership as an agenda item;

·         It was queried how Lincolnshire compared to other counties in terms of this data, and whether there were any examples of best practice which could be of benefit;

·         It was queried whether the measurement programme was commissioned from the same organisation that provided the intervention?  It was suggested there could be merit from commissioning them both together, and a payment by results system would be of benefit;

·         Work was underway to improve the participation rate;

·         The Healthy Schools programme was still in place, and now sat within Public Health.  Members of staff from the food in schools team would be transferring to the healthy schools team;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40e

This would be covered under a later agenda item.

This would be covered by a later agenda item.

It was noted that this would be on the on the agenda as a substantive item for the next meeting in April 2014.

The Partnership received a progress report from the Early Help Steering Group in relation to developments within Team Around the Child (TAC).

The Assistant Director Children's Services guided the Partnership through the report and advised that the recommendations made to CYPSP had all been accepted, and provided a progress update for each one.  During discussion, the following points were noted:

·         An Early Help conference was being held on 7 July 2014;

·         There was a huge amount of work which needed to be done, and would be carried out;

·         Work was underway to start addressing trigger points.  Quality assurance would be built in;

·         There was a need to be clear about supervision arrangements, and where officers could go to talk to someone about any concerns they had;

·         Part of the early help consultations would include advice;

·         Part of the assessment would involve deciding on the best of action for the child;

·         The aim would be for people to carry out a holistic assessment based on signs of safety;

·         Effective supervision requirements were essential;

RESOLVED

            That the progress report be noted.

The Executive Director Children's Services reported that there had not been much progress in relation to the Sustainable Services Review since the last meeting of the Partnership.

It was reported that Price Waterhouse Cooper had been commissioned to assist with Phase 2 of the Review.

The Partnership was advised that this would be brought back to the next meeting.

The Partnership received an update from the Executive Director Children's Services in relation to LCC and CCG Governance.  It was reported that this was still a work in progress.

It was reported that it was felt that strategically there was a need to look at the commissioning arrangements, and ensure that they were robust.  There would also be a need to match governance arrangements with what was happening in the Sustainable Services Review.

It was proposed to establish a single joint commissioning board, with four delivery boards based on the Sustainable Services Review workstreams.

During consideration and discussion of this report the following points were noted:

·         The chart attached at appendix a of the report did not include how the work of the Partnership connected to the commissioning structure;

·         The Children and Young People Strategic Partnership would report to the Health and Wellbeing Board, and there was a need to ensure that this was clear.  The Executive Director Children's Services would feed this back into the process.

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

An update was received from the Executive Director Children's Services in relation to the SEND Reforms.  It was reported that Part 3 of the current Children and Families Bill, which was due for Royal Assent in Spring 2014, sought to streamline and align the system of SEN assessment, support and provision for young people 0-25.

The SEN reforms set out in the Bill were highlighted to the Partnership and some additional point discussed included the following:

·         There would be a need to advertise the local offer;

·         The timescale for implementation of the new statements was 1 September 2014;

·         The authority was receiving approximately 25 requests per month;

·         There would be a need to have systems and processes in place prior to implementation;

·         There would be a three year transition period to transfer children with existing statements to the new Education, health and Care (EHC) plan.  There were currently 3,000 children in Lincolnshire with a statement;

·         There would be a huge issue in terms of expectations, and anxiety from parents would be expected;

·         It was expected that these changes would speed up the process and would hopefully prove more cost effective;

·         It was queried whether this was something which should be looked at in more detail at a development day? It was agreed that the Partnership should receive an update at a later date.

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

The Partnership was advised that the report had been received on the previous Friday, and it would now need to be circulated and an action plan produced.  It was reported that the Assistant Director would be attending the action plan scheduled for 4 March 2014.

The published report would be circulated to the Partnership for information.

It was reported that following the last meeting of the Children and Young People Strategic Partnership, one meeting had been held, and there would be a need to schedule a report back to this Partnership to set out what the offer to schools would look like.

(To receive an update from David Ashcroft, CYPSP Chairman)

It was noted that a number of subjects had been identified as being suitable for the development days, as well as some items which needed to be reported back to this meeting at a later date.

The Chairman stated that he would work with David McWilliams to ensure that these items were included in the planning process for future meetings and development days.

(None received)