Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Tracey Blackwell (SKDC), Andy Cook (LCC), Paul Fisher (LCC), Michael Follows (Schools' Forum), Tony McGinty (LCC – Public Health), Frances Porter (LPAG), Nikki Silver (LCHS NHS Trust) and Joanna Tubb (LCC)

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2014 be approved and       signed by the Chairman.

Comments from the Chair of the CYPSP included that there was a need to think about how to make the link between the Partnership and the Health and Wellbeing Board, and how the safeguarding issues linked in.

The Chairman of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children's Board provided an update in relation to the work of the Board.

Updates were provided in relation to the following issues:

·         The Safeguarding Board and the Health and Wellbeing Board were trying to establish a joint protocol, and it was hoped that something could be signed soon;

·         Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) was high on the government's agenda, and there had been some high profile cases in the media.  This was one of the Boards' strategic priorities.  A multi-agency conference had been held at the end of 2013, and a toolkit for practitioners had been launched.  This would be used as part of a training programme.  It appeared, from available data, that CSE involved offenders that were operating alone or on line, and there did not appear to be gang activity in the County.  Trafficking was linked to CSE and would remain high on the agenda;

·         One of the critical things to note was that these crimes were not restricted by borders, and Lincolnshire bordered areas that had had high profile cases.  Any opportunities for cross border working would be taken up.  There were some close links already in place with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and it was hoped to develop further cross border links with Nottinghamshire;

·         There were currently two serious case reviews (SCR) which were ongoing in the county.  One was a sad and sensitive case and involved a baby that died, and the young mother had since been convicted of infanticide.  It appeared that the authorities had not known about this pregnancy.  The second involved a young man who had committed suicide following online bullying.  There had now been six deaths of young people and joint work with the police would be taking place.  It was suggested that when the review was complete, it might be useful for the report to come back to this Partnership as there may be implications for its future work;

·         A review of the autism strategy was underway as there had been a couple of child deaths who were on the autistic spectrum.  An audit had been carried out around these deaths and a task and finish group had been formed to implement the recommendations in the report;

The Partnership received an update from the Executive Director of Children's Services in relation to the following areas:

·         GCSE results were still unvalidated, but nationally there had been a decrease.  It was noted that it was very difficult to compare last years' results to this years.  There had been a move to end of subject exams rather than continuous assessment through coursework.  It was thought the results were about 60% A – C grades in English and maths, which was just slightly below the national average.  Results at key stage two had been a little disappointing, at foundation stage outcomes were superb, and there had been a radical change in how the performance targets were measured.  There had been a peer review by Derby, and there was a need to continue to moderate and challenge performance targets;

·         In relation to families working together, an announcement was expected fairly soon in relation to confirmation of whether the authority would be in phase two.  It was noted that the representative from East Lindsey District Council had attended an away day at the end of July on Families Working Together, and had found it really useful;

·         It was thought that the reduction to the proportion of the grade for English made up by speaking and listening would have an impact on the grades of the lower ability students;

(To receive any updates from the Partnership's Task and Finish Groups)

The Partnership received an update from Andrew Garbutt, Participation Officer, on behalf of the Lincolnshire Participation Action Group (LPAG).  The following was highlighted to the Partnership:

·         It was reported that the Group had been working in producing short videos to support an anti-bullying campaign.  It was noted that the story boarding and filming had been done on the same day to ensure consistency.  There were concerns about the low overall hit rate on the teen info lincs website;

·         It was hoped that an update on the participation strategy and charter would be brought back to a future meeting;

·         Work had been taking place in Greater Manchester in relation to anti-bullying, and it was suggested that it may be useful to look at this in more detail;

·         It was suggested whether it would be helpful if the teen info lincs website could be linked to the safeguarding board's website;

·         Areas that were being focussed on by LPAG were anti-bullying and legal highs.  It was noted that Mark Housley, Assistant Director Safer Communities would be presenting a paper at the Public Protection Board the following week on legal highs;

·         In terms of signs of safety, a lot of information had been cascaded at officer level, but there had not been as much training at manager level;

·         There had been a lot of debate regarding how the voluntary sector could engage with the Health and Wellbeing Board and the JSNA.

(To receive a verbal update from Paul Fisher, Schools Engagement Project Manager, in relation to the Schools Engagement Project)

The Partnership received an update from Debbie Barnes, Executive Director of Children's Services, in relation to the Schools Engagement Project.  This project started in June 2014 and a key aim was to develop a more effective and efficient use of the public resources which were utilised in delivering preventative education to children and young people in the school setting.

Some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue had attended a meeting mid-august in relation to this project along with 20 primary schools and 2 secondary schools;

·         A very early draft of the scoping work had been produced.  There were concerns that the scope was moving to include service provision, and it was thought this could be a misunderstanding by schools.  There was a need for the careful use of language within the document;

·         There was a need for the first draft to be finished by the end of September 2014;

·         It was important to note that this project was about engagement and access not provision;

·         The scope was limited to an education offer within schools to help pupils to make positive decision their lifestyles;

·         The governance board for the project should report to this Partnership;

·         It was noted that the absence of Paul Fisher at this meeting was unfortunate;

·         It was suggested that there was a need for a report to come back to a later meeting to confirm the governance arrangements with the Partnership.

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

(To receive a report from Keith Batty, Director of Programmes – CfBT, which updates the Partnership on the Closing the Gap Strategy)

Consideration was given to a report presented by Helen Spoors, the lead for the Closing the Gap agenda, which explained the achievement gap between children from poorer backgrounds and other vulnerable groups and their peers and outlined plans for helping schools to 'close the gap'.

It was reported that there was a gap in attainment between those children who received free school meals, and those who did not.  However, it should be noted that the results for 2014 had not yet been validated.

The Closing the Gap offer to schools would contribute to Lincolnshire's Child Poverty Strategy by focusing on closing the educational gaps for vulnerable groups, particularly with those children and young people eligible for free school meals (FSM).  It would offer a robust challenge to schools on how they spent their pupil premium.  A lot of schools spent this funding in different ways.

There would be some very targeted actions, particularly in relation to Key Stage 4 students, where performance was worse than the national average, in relation to the gap between non-FSM and FSM pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades at GCSE including English and Maths.

There had been some implementation of new interventions.  There was a need to raise literacy levels or it would begin to impact on other areas.  a lot of interventions had been in relation to literacy, and CfBT would be working with schools to evaluate the success of these interventions.

Members of the Partnership were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         There were some outstanding head teachers and teachers in Lincolnshire schools, and it was thought that more needed to be done to utilise these skills;

·         Officers would like to work with both Bishop Grosseteste College and the University of Lincoln on this issue;

·         The interventions would be as engaging and relevant as possible to encourage as many schools as possible to take part;

·         There was a need to know how schools were spending the pupil premium, and they should be challenged on this.  officers had already spoken with some schools who welcomed the challenge, as they wanted to make sure that they were doing the right thing;

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

(To receive an update from Stuart Carlton, Assistant Director Children's Services in relation to work on Early Help)

The Partnership received a verbal update and presentation from Stuart Carlton, Assistant Director Children's Early Help, on work which had taken place in relation to early help since the Partnership's development day in June 2014.

The Partnership received a presentation which provided further details in relation to the following areas:

·         Background and context:

·         CYPSP to establish a mechanism for effective quality assurance of the TAC process;

·         Early Help Consultant Activity;

·         Key areas of advice and support provided;

·         Early Help Consultant Activity: Quality Assurance;

·         Identification of Key Themes;

·         Early Help Consultant Activity: Feedback;

·         Admin Team: CSC Contact Follow up;

·         Early Help Conference: 7 July 2014;

·         Performance – number of TACS initiated;

·         Performance – step up and step down in 2013-14

·         Performance – TAC closure outcomes April – July 2014

·         Performance – Lead Professionals

Members of the Partnership were provided with the opportunity to discuss the information contained in the presentation, and some of the points raised included the following:

·         This was a good piece of work;

·         In terms of feedback, would it be useful to ask the families engaging in the process for feedback?

·         There was senior manager oversight of this, and all had signed up to this as a way of working;

·         It was queried whether there was a need for an early help liaison officer?

·         In terms of quality assurance, it would be useful to have a follow up update in relation to the Early Help Consultant activity which was listed as inadequate;

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

It was suggested that this item be deferred to the next formal meeting, when an officer would be available to provide an update to the Partnership.  It was also requested that the action plan that accompanied the report should be brought for consideration as well.

It was commented that this report and its action plan had gone through some of the districts' Health Scrutiny Committees.

(To receive a verbal update and presentation from Sally Savage, Assistant Director Children's Services in relation to Commissioning)

The Partnership received an update and presentation from Sally Savage, Chief Commissioning Officer – Children's Services, in relation to Commissioning.  The presentation provided the Partnership with information in relation to the following areas:

·         Joint Commissioning Governance;

·         Women and Children's Delivery Board;

·         Current Priorities;

·         LCC Commissioning Strategies;

The Partnership was provided to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the presentation, and some of the points highlighted during discussion included the following:

·         Concerns were raised regarding children and young people who presented at A&E because they had self-harmed.  Partners were assured that young people would be signposted to the services they needed as well as any other treatment they required.  Nurses who specialised in dealing with self-harm cases would be available;

·         Partners were encouraged to by the boundary arrangements for CAMHS;

·         Concerns were raised regarding the Joint Commissioning Governance, as although the CYPSP was shown on the diagram, it did not show who it reported to.  Therefore it was difficult to see how the Boards linked together;

·         It was confirmed that the online counselling service would continue as it was really valued.

RESOLVED

            That the update and presentation be noted.

(To receive a report from Debbie Barnes, Executive Director Children's Services, in relation to progress on the Lincolnshire Play Strategy)

Consideration was given to the Lincolnshire Play Strategy and Policy.  Concerns were raised regarding the circulation of this document for comments by Partners, and it was reported that all relevant officers had had sight of the document and they should have communicated this back to their organisations.

It was suggested that the document be signed off by e-mail after the meeting, once Partners had satisfied themselves that their organisations had had the opportunity to feedback comments on the Strategy.

(An opportunity for Partners to update the Partnership in relation to any work taking place within their organisation which would be relevant to the work of the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership)

There were no updates from Partners.

(Development Day – 23 October, commencing at 9.30am  - Lincoln Golf Centre, Moor Lane, Thorpe on the Hill, Lincoln LN6 9BW)

The next meeting would be a Development Day, and would be held on 23 October 2014 at Lincoln Golf Centre.  David Ashcroft and David McWilliams would meet to discuss and design the programme for the day.