Agenda for Children's Partnership Board on Wednesday, 13th July, 2016, 4.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions

Contact: Phil Wye  Email: phil.wye@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Joint Chairs

Minutes:

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor David Mellen and Councillor Sam Webster as joint Chairs of the Board

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Alison Michalska

Sean Kelly

Mike Manley

Chris Wallbanks

3.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

None.

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 274 KB

Meeting held on 30 March 2016 (for confirmation)

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 March 2016 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

5.

Appointment of Vice Chair

Minutes:

RESOLVED to appoint Sean Kelly as Vice-Chair of the Board

6.

Changes to Membership and the Terms of Reference pdf icon PDF 336 KB

To note the Terms of Reference and the appointment of the following new members:

 

·  Gaynor Rossiter representing DWP Job Centre Plus;

·  Maria Ward as Voluntary Sector representative;

·  Jackie Newton and Sally Pearce as Primary School representatives;

·  Klaudia Cander and Chelsea Owen as Youth Cabinet representatives.

Minutes:

RESOLVED to note the revised terms of reference for the Board, and to welcome the new members

7.

CYPP Priority: Safeguarding and Supporting Children and Families

7a

Family Support Pathway Refresh 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 210 KB

Report of the Director of Children’s Integrated Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Sara-Jane Brighouse, Families Information Service, and Sophie Russell, Head of Children’s Strategy and Improvement, introduced the report presenting the short term refresh of the Family Support Pathway for 2016/17 and the updates that have been included. The following information was highlighted:

 

(a)  the refresh makes the purpose of the Family Support Pathway clearer, and includes the following updates:

·  recommendations and learning from serious case reviews;

·  legislation e.g. PREVENT;

·  Think Family and Priority Families;

·  re-written introduction;

·  principles of Early Help;

·  use of language ‘Early Help and ‘Early Help Assessment;

·  Signs of Safety;

·  access to support from Children’s and Families Direct and a Multi-Agency Request Form;

·  indicators of need

 

(b)  the short-term refresh will be followed by a long term refresh for 2017-2020 to align with the Safeguarding Board’s Business Plan.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  approve the updates in the short term refresh of the Children’s Partnership Family Support Pathway;

(2)  approve the long term plan for refresh of the Children’s Partnership Family Support Pathway and consultation.

7b

Young Carers Interim Joint Protocol pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Report of the Director of Children’s Integrated Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Tajinder Madahar, Head of Children’s Duty and Targeted Services and Rosaleen Lynch, Action for Young Carers, introduced the report presenting the Young Carers Interim Joint Protocol which sets out the pathway for support for young carers and the responsibilities of Nottingham City Council Children and Adult Services and the main commissioned provider, Carers Federation-Action for Young Carers (AYC) in light of the Children and Families Act and the Care Act 2014. The following information was highlighted:

 

(a)  the law changed for Young Carers from April 2015, and the local authority must now ensure that a Young Carer’s Needs Assessment is carried out to decide what type of help the young carer and their family might need, if the young carer or their parents request this or it is identified that the young carer is negatively affected by their caring role;

(b)  the Interim Joint Protocol sets out the work needed to provide suitable support services, one to one provision, group activities. These are provided by AYC who also link with schools and local services;

(c)  whilst the adult assessments have been revised, the current children’s assessments carried out by the council do not meet the requirements for the Young Carer’s Needs Assessment, and so have been updated on an interim basis prior to permanent CareFirst system updates;

(d)  AYC currently work with 274 young carers, 141 of which having concerns that services may be required or the child’s health or development may be impaired due to their caring responsibilities;

(e)   the close joint working has reduced isolation of young carers and improved their educational outcomes, and there has been positive feedback from families;

(f)  an app has been developed for young carers and is now on its second phase which, following consultation, will include rewards for engagement.

 

RESOLVED to approve the Interim Joint Protocol between Children’s and Adult services and Action for Young Carers

7c

Update on SRE Charter pdf icon PDF 288 KB

Report of the Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Catherine Kirk, Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) Consultant, introduced the report providing an update on the number of schools that have signed up to the Nottingham City SRE Charter and outlining future plans to ensure that all schools in the city make a commitment to quality SRE. Catherine highlighted the following:

 

(a)  40% of schools have signed up to the Charter since its launch on 12th January 2016. The target is 85% by the end of March 2017, though it is hoped this may be even higher;

(b)  to encourage more schools to sign up a sharing event is planned for 2017 to share good practice. Catholic Schools are also being supporting through discussions with the diocese due to additional concerns they have. The Charter is also being highlighted in SCENE and the media;

 

The following answers were given during the discussion which followed:

(c)  some schools that have not yet signed up may already be delivering SRE but have not signed the charter. These will be identified and encouraged to sign up;

(d)  alternative provision providers, youth groups, and possibly independent schools could also sign the charter as the principles will cross over.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  continue to support the SRE Charter as a vehicle for schools to pledge their commitment to effective SRE;

(2)  continue to support the work commitment of the SER Consultant;

(3)  endorse the plan for progressive sign-up of schools to the SRE Charter.

8.

Children's Behavioural, Emotional and Mental Health pdf icon PDF 360 KB

Report of the Director of Quality and Personalisation, NHS Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Lucy Anderson, Assistant Director of Quality Governance, Children and Learning Disabilities, NHS Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group, and Lucy Peel, Programme Lead, Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report providing an overview and update on the Future in Mind programme and progress in implementing the recommendations from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Pathway Review in 2013/14. The following points were highlighted:

 

(a)  Future in Mind is an integrated, whole-system approach to transforming children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, ensuring that agencies work well together across the NHS, local authorities, voluntary and community services, schools, and other local services;

(b)  the five themes of Future in Mind are as follows:

·  promoting resilience, prevention and early intervention;

·  improving access to effective support;

·  care for the most vulnerable;

·  accountability and transparency;

·  developing the workforce;

(c)  following a review which found that children and young people were often confused and frustrated by the current service offer, the city developed and launched in December 2014 a new pathway for behavioural, emotional and mental health services;

(d)  to support delivery of the transformation plan an additional £647,000 of national funding was made available to NHS Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group. £180,000 of this funding was specifically to fund a community eating disorder service for children and young people;

(e)  due to increasing national scrutiny of mental health it is likely that further national requirements will follow.

 

RESOLVED to note the progress made in implementing the children and young people’s mental health transformation plan and agree a timescale for future updates.

9.

Youth Cabinet Report Summer Term 2015-16 pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Report of the Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Additional documents:

  • Youth Cabinet Report Summer Term 2015-16

Minutes:

Rachel Armitage, Electoral Services Engagement Officer, introduced the report giving an update on the work of the Youth Cabinet, and also work being done to improve civic engagement of young people including a summary of voter registration activity. Rachel highlighted the following information on children and young people’s participation in governance:

 

(a)  a new annual student conference is being initiated in order to engage more young people on education improvement issues;

(b)  a Youth Council event called ‘Your Voice Counts’ was co-produced by young people from Central locality. This included three workshops designed and delivered by young people exploring community safety, cleanliness and personal contribution;

(c)  two Primary Parliament meetings in June engaged over 150 year 5 and 6 children from 34 city schools on the theme of ‘Building a Whole and Healthy You’;

 

Rachel then highlighted the following information on civic engagement and voter registration:

(d)  the Bite the Ballot Scheme encouraged 16-21 year olds to become active citizens and register to vote. This role has now been taken on by Nottingham City Council, with additional work on co-creating new resources with local partners such as workshops;

(e)  future work may expand into working with under 16s, potentially through  Opportunity Notts;

(f)  over 1000 eligible voters have been added to the electoral register between 2014 and 2015, which is higher than other East Midlands areas. There are strong working relationships with local schools, FE colleges, universities and third-sector organisations;

(g)  successful events have included DeDay in April 2015, which was a final push for voter registration before the 2015 general election, and the National Voter Registration Drive which takes place every February. There are also up to 60 young people interested in joining the volunteer programme, interested in encouraging voter registration and participation amongst their peers;

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

(h)   voter registration and engagement could be promoted to skills to help with their citizenship and British values requirements under Ofsted;

(i)  Electoral Services would not be averse to working with younger children of primary school age, as citizenship is something that should be instilled at an early age. Children of this age have shown interest in voting;

(j)  There needs to be some focus on voter turnout, in addition to registering to vote, as nationally there is lower turnout among young people. This will be incorporated into future workshops, looking at the barriers that young people find to voting.

 

RESOLVED to

 

(1)  acknowledge and support the achievements of children and young people engaging in participation and active citizenship work through the Participation in Governance programme and the work of the Youth Cabinet;

(2)  recognise the importance of encouraging civic engagement and voter registration in helping children and young people become active and informed citizens who can confidently take part in civic life and make a contribution to democratic society;

(3)  support this work and promote, wherever possible, voter registration amongst its 16+ service users; and provide a lead contact for civic engagement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Partner update: Voluntary Sector pdf icon PDF 361 KB

Presentation by Maria Ward, NCVS

Additional documents:

  • Partner update: Voluntary Sector

Minutes:

Maria Ward, Nottingham Community Voluntary Service (NCVS), gave a presentation updating the Board on the work of the Children and Young People’s Provider Network and the Vulnerable Adults Provider Network, and their contribution to improving outcomes for children and families. Maria highlighted the following:

 

(a)  there are over 500 voluntary and community sector organisations providing services in Nottingham City. NCVS facilitates two networks for these providers who work in collaboration to improve outcomes for children and families. Each network has over 100 organisations as members;

(b)  the networks work to influence local policy and strategy, and to help organisations provide a high quality service. They are involved in a number of strategies and are represented in over 20 forums, steering groups, task and finish groups and committees in the city;

(c)  the Young People’s Provider Network works with 0-25 year olds, and the Vulnerable Adults Provider Network works with 18+ adults;

(d)  the networks influence services locally, as well as working with strategic partners on a national level to influence national policy. They can work with the council on this, as well as having the means to draw in funding that may not be available to the council or CCG.

 

RESOLVED to thank Maria for the presentation and note the information

11.

Children and Young People’s Plan

Report of the Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Helen Blackman, Director of Children’s Integrated Services, gave a presentation identifying key headlines, challenges and an overview of areas relating to children and young people. Helen highlighted the following, under the headings of the four shared action plan priorities agreed by the partnership:

 

Safeguarding and supporting children and families

(a)  the percentage of Common Assessment Frameworks (CAFs) where parents and children report an improvement in their circumstance has risen from 65.9% to 67.1%, and the number of children who became subject to a Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) meeting rose from 28 to 62 showing a rose in awareness of CSE;

(b)  following the appointment of a CSE Co-ordinator, 25 schools have signed up to the SRE Charter. The Safe Families for Children pilot is making excellent progress providing children with alternative care who might otherwise have been taken into care, and so has been extended until March 2017;

(c)  the number of Child Protection Plans continues to increase. This is being monitored, but outcomes from these remain positive. Also the number of offences where children and young people are victims and the number of Accident and Emergency admissions for children aged 0-4 years have risen and the reasons for this is being investigated;

Promoting the health and wellbeing of babies, children and young people

 

(d)  48% of infants are being breast fed at 6 to 8 weeks which is significantly higher than the England average. Obesity in Year 6 children and tooth decay in children aged 5 have dropped but are still above the target;

(e)  the rate of first time entrants to the youth justice system has dropped but is still over double the England average. The number of 16-18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training has also reduced but is high at 6.2%;

(f)  the smoking rate of 18.8% is higher than the England average of 10.5%. The number of hospital admissions for self-harm has reduced but is still higher than it was 2 years ago;

(g)  supportive actions encouraging people to be more active include the Sherriff’s Award and Opportunity Notts, and programmes exist for self-harm awareness and weight management;

 

Supporting achievement and academic attainment

(h)  there has been a 12.5% increase in two year olds accessing free nursery provision, which has exceeded its target. There has been a rise of 19% from last year on schools judged good or better by Ofsted, which is the best rate of improvement in the East Midlands;

(i)  Key Stage 2 pupils in Nottingham have maintained or improved in reading, writing and maths and match the England average. The gap between pupils with special educational needs and those without has reduced;

(j)  attainment at GCSEs remains a key challenge with 42.4% of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades including English and maths, against the English average of 53.8%. The attainment of Children in Care has also dropped. Another challenge is reducing the number of high performing pupils who choose to transfer out of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

  • Forward Plan

Minutes:

RESOLVED to note the forward plan

13.

Future meeting dates

Agree to meet on the following dates at 4pm:

 

5 October 2016

18 January 2017

22 March 2017

Minutes:

AGREED to meet at 4pm on the following dates:

 

5 October 2016

18 January 2017

22 March 2017