Agenda and minutes

Rachel Wadsworth (Nottingham College), Rebecca Butcher substituting,

Becky O'Brien (Director of Nursing AHPS and Quality)

Karon Foulkes (NHS ICB)

Ailsa Barr (Director of Children’s Integrated Services, NCC)

Jon Rea (Children and Families Engagement and Participation Lead, NCC)

Caroline Henry (Police and Crime Commissioner)

Of the meeting held on 27 June 2023

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2023 were confirmed as a true record.

None.

Further to the lack of any nominations at this and the last meeting, and in support of good governance, Councillor Samina Riaz was nominated and is appointed Vice-Chair for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Presentation by Erica Doran, Interim Head of the Violence Reduction Partnership, and Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry.

With the unavoidable absence of Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry, Erica Doran, Interim Head of the Violence Reduction Partnership, delivered a presentation which is included on the agenda, outlining how the Police are responding to young people's needs and expectations, as set out in the Youth Charter, which has been designed by young people, for young people.

Highlighted points and responses to members’ questions are summarised and included:

a)  Specific funding is in place for the Violence Reduction Unit until March 2025 so it's important to ensure that the mechanisms established are effective, sustainable and their capability embedded throughout the broader system;

b)  The presentation provides details on the vision, mission and principles applied by the Service, with regard to the three following priorities to prevent violence:

  i.  Provide inclusive system leadership - working with system partners to reduce violence in the long term;

  ii.  Make the best use of data sharing insight and evidence - using multi-agency data to help understand the nature and causes of violence, from which methods to address this can be considered;

  iii.  Deliver and evaluate early intervention and prevention activity - provision of interventions co-designed with partners to address the causes of serious violence and feed into the national collecting of evidence;

c)  The presentation sets out the background and context, along with objectives and aims of the Strategy and the next steps;

d)  Quality youth work is recognised as the key to preventing crisis for young people. As a result there is to be a skills audit to ensure that practices are fit for purpose, and that standardised training pathways exist through a single training provider, with nationally recognised youth work qualifications within a Youth Work Charter and framework;

e)  The majority of this work is currently taking place with voluntary and community organisations across the City and County, with further engagement work to be done on how best to work with schools and the education sector, which can prove a key to activity;

f)  New legislation includes a ‘Serious Violence Duty’, which builds on previous work of the ‘Ending Youth Violence Network’, and requires partners to consider and take action against serious violence drivers, so joint working will be especially beneficial, with the Crime and Drugs Partnership taking the lead;

g)  The majority of known City organisations/partners have signed up in response to the Youth Strategy.

Committee members commented:

h)  The Education Sector welcomes a co-ordinated approach and working together with schools, particularly where there are the additional challenges of heightened deprivation.

Presentation by Karla Capstick, Small Steps Big Changes Programme Director

Karla Capstick, Small Steps Big Changes Programme Director, delivered the presentation, which is include in the agenda pack, and outlines the background to the programme, the progress made to date in providing early years support for children and families from pre-birth to 4 years old.

Highlighted points and responses to members’ questions included:

a)  The programme consists of a board of partner organisations and is focused and operates in the most deprived areas of the City of Aspley, Bulwell, Hyson Green and Arboretum, and St Ann’s. SSBC works to reduce the gap in achievement and development by providing additional parental support and child support. This includes specific focuses on developing language and communication skills, social interaction and enrichment skills with parents, care providers and communities involved and able to guide and direct activity throughout the programme;

b)  Having started in 2013, the programme is entering its final years and is due to conclude in March 2025. It has provided a range of more than 40 different activities/training/projects, including mentors working with 4,500 family members. Uptake of opportunities has been very good and feedback of experiences from parents and carers has been positive;

c)  The local level evaluations are summarised in the presentation, with significantly improved outcomes for children and families who have taken part, compared to those who have not;

d)  Evaluation has been supported with the ongoing involvement of Trent University as a local evaluation partner which has advised throughout the programme;

e)  Further evaluations focusing on diet and nutrition are yet to be completed but are part of the funding requirements;

f)  Not all challenges along the way have been addressed, including funding and a reduction in supply businesses and strains on families which have slowed local community needs and the pace of progress and outcomes;

g)  Analysing and attributing cost benefit has been difficult, particularly with the national impact of the pandemic which affected children and families in multiple ways;

h)  Not all interventions worked as hoped at a local level, but this proved that it is vital to know and understand local communities, although some issues related to local partners being unable to upscale or expand their successful work streams;

i)  Co-production has proved hard work, but worthwhile. However, despite every effort, once SSBC concludes, there will be a gap in provision as although good progress and outcomes can be evidenced, further funding is not available. In addition to the individual unmet needs, there will also be an impact on the voluntary sector and there are concerns that the legacy model and development work to date will be lost;

j)  It is hoped that the Family Mentor achievements can be rolled out across the City. Some funding has been secured for pregnancy mentors, and training will continue with regard to involving fathers, Health Champions and the Child Friendly City;

k)  The programme has benefited hugely from the community voluntary sector based input of mentors and ambassadors, with much learnt, but still more learning to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Update by Ailsa Barr, Director of Children’s Integrated Services

In the absence of the Director of Children’s Integrated Services Ailsa Barr, Sam Morris, Head of Children’s Strategy and Improvement, delivered the presentation, which is included in the agenda.

The following points were highlighted and questions responded to:

a)  The presentation sets out the inspection journey since 2020 and the 8 areas for improvement identified in 2022 as follows, with an overall rating of inadequate:

  i.  Effectiveness and timeliness of responses to children’s needs when first presented to the multiagency safeguarding hub;

  ii.  Management Oversight and direction of front-line work and the local authority designated officer;

  iii.  Social Work Capacity;

  iv.  Placement sufficiency for children in care and those with complex needs;

  v.  The service response to care leavers age 21 and over;

  vi.  The service response to young people who are aged 16 and 17 who present as homeless;

  vii.  The quality and timeliness of return home interviews;

  viii.  Oversight of children missing from education and those who are electively home educated;

b)  In the summer of 2023 a monitoring visit took place in which inspectors examined progress against Children in Need and Children with a Child Protection Plan (including disabled children) services, for which the Council provided a self-assessed update outlining the Transformation Programme workstreams, including an outline of the reorganised team structure and workstreams to support good practice;

c)  The inspectors acknowledged the new and emerging areas of strength and the confirmed that the annual report and self-assessment was accurate, including the identified areas for further improvement such as;

  i.  improved recruitment;

  ii.  additional frontline training to improve good practice;

  iii.  a refresh of the quality assurance framework;

  iv.  a more child and family focused approach;

  v.  timelier responses;

d)  The Ofsted monitoring review findings, are set out in the presentation, and it is noted inspectors recognised the skill and dedication of the workforce;

e)  Further Ofsted inspection and monitoring visits are anticipated, with at least one expected to take place before the end of the year.

Members of the partnership welcomed the progress and encouraging outcome of the visit.

Child Friendly City (CFC)

Ekua Ghansah, Child Friendly City Programme Lead, provided a brief update on the development of the CFC programme with UNICEF UK.

Following consultations, 7 priority themes have been identified including ‘healthy’, ‘safe and secure’, and ‘education and learning’, and further priorities identified by young people of ‘have great opportunities to learn’, ‘have a healthy, active lifestyle’, and ‘live in a kind and inclusive city’.

Partners have been coming together and considering the feedback from consultation and developed an Action Plan for the next 2 years, with 6 month’s contingency. A child friendly/easy read version of the Action Plan will be available in November, but initial feedback has been positive from young people, partners and UNICEF. Testing, the Action Plan will begin during November.

The Action Plan is available online, aiming to enable positive changes in the City to hearing the voices of young people and supporting their rights.

The provisional agenda for the next meeting is proposed to include:

·   School attendance (Jennifer Hardy TBC)

·   Children and Young People’s Substance Misuse (TBC)

A report on the ‘Early Help Strategy’ has also been requested.