Agenda and minutes

Nick Lee

Sarah Fielding

Stephen McLaren

Nicky Bridges

Councillor Eunice Campbell-Clarke

Michelle Strong

Karla Capstick

None

The minutes of the meeting held on the 29 June 2021 were confirmed as a true record.

Due to technical issues at the previous meeting, the item listed on the agenda as Supporting Families: ‘Family Hub in Nottingham City’ was deferred to the next meeting of the Children’s Partnership Board to be held on the 28 September 2021.It was explained that this was not on the agenda but would be presented to the next Board meeting on the 14 December 2021.

Presentation from Janine Walker- Head of SEND and Vulnerable Pupils,

Janine Walker, Head of SEND and Vulnerable Pupils (NCC) gave a presentation to the Board and highlighted the following information:

a)  The SEND Code of Practice 2015, defines a child as having Special Educational Needs and/or a disability if the child is of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

i)  ‘has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age’

ii)  ‘has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions’

b)  A disability under the Equality Act 2010 is defined as ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. The SEND Strategy for Improving Outcomes 2018 – 2023 was to give all children and young people with SEND to have the best possible start in life and be able to achieve their full potential,

c)  Early identification of SEND required joined up working with various agencies including Education, Health Social Care and other partners. In Nottingham City, there were 47,335 children in school: 7,418 of those had been identified as being SEND which equated to 15.7% of the school population. 55% of children in Nottingham City Schools are BAME and a significant proportion of pupils have English as an additional language, with a significant cohort of refugee and asylum-seeking citizens and families.

d)  There remains a link between SEND and deprivation. Deprivation affects a significant number of families in Nottingham City and the more deprived wards have significantly higher levels of children and young people with SEND

e)  The most prevalent Primary needs of those children and young people identified with SEND were:

 (23%) Social, emotional and mental health

 (20%) Moderate learning difficulty

 (18%) Autistic spectrum disorder

 (17%) Speech, language & communication needs

 Approximately 60% of young people in the Youth Justice Service have SEND.

Following comments and questions from board members further information was highlighted:

f)  There was a need to understand how services were being provided and the pathways to them. It was apparent that families want easy access to services and only have to relay their circumstances once.

g)  Working in unison and strengthening the diagnostic pathway, with follow up interventions afterwards would be beneficial and would reduce work being undertaken in isolation.

h)  Mental Health Support Teams in Schools that had been provided by the NHS it was a pilot scheme based within the CHAMS team which was hoped would reach 24% of City schools by 2024 demonstrating a commitment to recognise and priorities SEND.  

Report of Nicole Harris- Acting Service Manager, Children and Families

Nicole Harris- Acting Service Manager, Children and Families (NCC) presented her report and the following information was highlighted:

a)  The Domestic Abuse Act (2021) became law in April 2021 with a statutory definition of Domestic Abuse which recognises that domestic abuse can take many forms. These include physical violence, emotional harm, coercive and controlling behaviour and economic abuse.

b)  For the first time, a child who sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, domestic abuse and is related to the person being abused or the perpetrator, is also to be regarded as a victim of domestic abuse in their own right.

c)  Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPO) will consolidate the various existing orders relating to domestic abuse (including domestic violence protection orders and non-molestation orders). Further guidance about DAPOs was expected and it was thought that anyone who is caught breaching a DAPO, would be committing a criminal offence and would carry a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. The new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Domestic Abuse Protection Order will be piloted before being implemented throughout England and Wales.

d)  Revised legal measures had been updated and additional special measures introduced in Court which would mean that perpetrators would no longer be able to cross-examine victims and survivors in family and civil courts. GPs and other health professionals will no longer be able to charge a survivor for a letter to support a legal aid application

Paul Martin, Family Intervention Project Manager updated the Board on the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme in Nottingham and made the following points:

e)  The Early Intervention Foundation had been commissioned by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The research completed had indicated that parental conflict had significant impacts on children, when it is was frequent, intense and poorly resolved.

f)  1 in 5 married or cohabiting couples are in a relationship which are classified as distressed; this is where couples are often witnessed arguing a lot, regularly consider separating and/or regret being in the relationship. There are many issues that trigger confrontation and conflict and most commonly involve Money issues, work-related issues, Health and the arrival on a new baby.

g)  There was a need for a clear definition prior to offering training to staff between the differences between Domestic Abuse and Parental Conflict.

h)  Staff had attended the East Midlands Reducing Parental Conflict (Virtual) Conference 2021 workshops delivered during the first two weeks of March 2021 with continued training being rolled out in September 2021 onwards

Presentation by Amy Goulden - Community Cohesion Team Manager

Amy Goulden, Community Cohesion Team Manager (NCC), gave a presentation, updating the Board on the Voluntary and Community Sector in Nottingham. The following points were highlighted:

a)  There has been a shift in demands during the pandemic, with assistance needed initially with remote support, food delivery and other urgent help.

b)  This then progressed, once the restrictions started to ease and

Community Centres run by volunteers, supported to manage the buildings and use the building to support the local area.

c)  There had been an increase in the number of people with mental health concerns, having to fight for support. There had also been a loss of reserves, no core costs with staff, premises, insurance, training infrastructure all being project based and a loss of income from the public sector.

Jules Sebelin, Chief Executive (Nottingham CVS)highlighted the following information:

d)  A ‘State of the Sector 2021’ survey had been opened and allowed people to feedback on their challenges and struggles with 25% of current respondents expressing concerns that they would either have to reduce their services of close completely.

e)  There were major cash-flow issues and 40% of respondents had reported that there referrals; with a need the services to be smarter with their money and also to ensure there is some accountability. It was anticipated that the survey, once it finishes on the 15 October 2021, would also assist in trying to explore ways of measuring the impact of the Community and Voluntary Sector in Nottingham.

f)  The voluntary sector has performed outstandingly well during the Covid pandemic with little help or assistance and to get the message across not only about their work, but the survey too, was being shared widely with the County Council and the Nottingham City Integrated Care Partnership (ICP).

Update from Jon Rea - Engagement & Participation Lead Officer

An update from Jon Rea - Engagement & Participation Lead Officer was provided to the Board and the previous Co-Chair of the Youth Cabinet was introduced and participated in the presentation.

The following information was highlighted:

a)  The Board were informed that the Youth Leadership Conference Summer 2021 had been successfully held with the overarching theme being ‘motivation’ which was used to explore the impact of Covid, the various lockdowns, austerity and other issues which affect young people’s ability to develop and learn.

b)  Five workshop sessions had been held and the former co-chair of the youth cabinet gave a presentation and updated the board.  Another small conference would be held in October 2021 and a further Youth Leadership Conference in the summer 2022.

c)  It was confirmed that there was financial literacy training in some secondary schools and some progress towards introducing it into primary schools.

d)  There was partnership working that needed to be done in order to improve the placements being offered as part of the apprenticeships scheme as whilst they were considered good they did not always lead to a properly paid job. It was also noted that the experience of the workplace is critical, but getting good work placements isn’t easy was not always easily attainable.

e)  It was recognised that there was a need for children to build networks especially with BAME young people having role models that looked like them and supporting them into their adult life. It was also imperative that the Independent Skills for care leavers be examined to make sure it is fit for purpose

Update from Sophie Russell -Head of Children’s Strategy & Improvement

Sophie Russell -Head of Children’s Strategy & Improvement gave an updated to the Board on the feedback from Inspections – Ofsted Focused Visit.

The following information was highlighted:

a)  The purpose of the inspection was to look back at services in need of improvement identified in the previous inspection.

b)  There had been a very rapid improvement journey which was recognised by the inspectors and their report had been published on the Ofsted website.

c)  They also recognised the challenges delivering the level of improvements and reported that the direction of travel was very positive,

d)  Despite NCC starting from from quite a low base the inspectors wanted to continue to see further improvements.

None

Having been deferred from the previous meeting, held on the 29 June 2021, it was agreed that the ‘Supporting Families: Family Hubs in Nottingham City’ would be considered at Partnership Board to be held on the 14 December 2021.

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