Agenda and minutes

Councillor Mohammed Ibrahim – unwell

Councillor Sue Johnson – unwell

Councillor Brian Parbutt – work commitments (Councillor Carole-Ann Jones sent as substitute)

Councillor Georgia Power – work commitments

Councillor Christ Tansley – unwell

In the absence of Councillor Sue Johnson, the meeting was chaired by Councillor Glyn Jenkins.

None.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held 18 September 2018

The minutes of the meeting held 18 September 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years, updated the Committee on the performance of targets within the Council Plan which fall under his Portfolio remit, as per the PowerPoint presentation circulated with the first publication of the minutes. The Plan was started in 2015 and is coming to an end in April 2019. Councillor David Mellen highlighted the following points:

(a)  out of 29 targets, one is red (target will be missed), one is amber (target may be met), and the rest are green (target will be met);

(b)  Primary Parliaments are now held twice per term as there is so much demand from young people to be getting involved. Meetings are also regularly held of the Children in Care Council and the Youth council. Young people are always involved in the recruitment process for senior staff within children’s services, and the Children in Care Council and the Care Leavers Council regularly attend and report to the Corporate Parenting Board;

(c)  the Priority Families programme (the government Troubled Families scheme) supports families to avoid children having to be taken into care. Nottingham City Council is working to protect youth play services, children’s centres, social services and children’s services from cuts;

(d)  the Dolly Parton Imagination Library scheme’s initial target was rather ambitious, and the project would have cost £500,000.00 if that target was met. However the number of children receiving books through the scheme has more than doubled since 2015 and it is a positive achievement to be proud of. Part of the scheme is funded by Small Steps Big Changes, with the rest funded by businesses, voluntary and religious groups, and individual donations;

(e)  previously the coalition government had announced free school meals for children aged 5-7, and it looked like this would be extended to all primary school aged children. As this has not been extended, Nottingham City Council is now no longer in a financial position to make that commitment, so this target is amber;

(f)  all primary schools in the City did at one point have a breakfast club, however some have now stopped in recent months. Summer holiday hunger is an ongoing issue, with Nottingham City Council working closely with local business and charities to tackle its impact. There is increased child poverty, and more families have referred for support in recent months;

(g)  in the last 6 months there’s been a slight reduction from February 2018’s peak of children in care, and Nottingham City Council is bucking the national trend at the moment. Priority Families funding is not guaranteed past 2020, the case is continuing to be made to central government that this funding is valuable and is helping in Nottingham;

(h)  the introduction of Universal Credit has been a particular issue for Nottingham citizens. Access is online only, and the change to budgeting monthly has been challenging for some. The introduction of additional free early year’s childcare (low income families have 15 hours free from 2 years old, everybody  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Councillor David Mellen – Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years, Karla Capstick - Programme Director at Small Steps Big Changes (SSBC), and Steph Brannigan – Parent Champion for SSBC, presented an update on the Programme, as per the PowerPoint slides circulated with the first publication of the minutes. They highlighted the following points:

(a)  SSBC is funded by a lottery grant of £45,000,000.00 over a 10 year period to work with parents in four key wards. It is a large amount of money and a chance to work intensely and make a difference, and do things in a slightly different way;

(b)  the board is made up of 30-40, around half of whom are parents from those wards. There is a strong partnership with parents and professionals. The programme is about to enter its fourth year, so not yet halfway through;

(c)  the SSBC motto is “Growing our children together with love and respect”. Parents are engaged to make decisions, lead the programme, and are supported and guided by experts;

(d)  in terms of performance, cross partnership system change is the most difficult target to measure. Hopefully these early support schemes will help those children throughout their childhood, education, career and lives, supporting families and their children to thrive and reducing the need and cost for care interventions later down the line;

(e)  work takes place with local parent champions within communities. Aspley and St Anns each have one parent champion vacancy at the moment. Parents also play a vital part in scoring and developing tenders. SSBC tries to work as closely with the parents in those communities as possible, developing genuine co-production. Parent champions are voted into post by other parents in the community and have a 2 year term, after which they can stand for re-election if they wish;

(f)  35 volunteers have moved on to paid employment. There are currently 50 family mentors, but this will be expanding soon to coincide with upcoming ward boundary changes. These are paid roles, with 80% of family mentors living in those areas where they help;

(g)  currently SSMC is reaching 69% of families within the wards, which is slowly rising as children age as it is a from birth service. The rate is 72% in areas where it’s been running longer. Those families may be receiving books, visiting support groups, or receiving support visits. This is on top of statutory and other services offered universally, such as health visitors, children’s centres, priority families, family support, targeted services for teen parents etc;

(h)  91% of those families surveyed would recommend the service. There has been positive feedback from those who’ve accessed the support, with some going on to volunteer or work with SSBC. There have been over 45,600 interactions, over 62,480 books delivered, and 1,200 children attending groups;

(i)  it is recognised that there is a need to do some re-focusing work, now that SSBC has been operating for three years. There is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Zena West, Senior Governance Officer, presented the Work Programme for the remainder of the 2018/19 municipal year, which was unchanged from the agenda.