Agenda item

Report of the Director for Children’s Integrated Services

Sophie Russell, Head of Children’s Strategy and Improvement, presented the report on CYPP Priority Safeguarding and Supporting Children and Families. Along with Shelley Nicholls, Strategic Lead for Youth Offending they highlighted the following points:

(a)  The AQA qualifications are an innovative way to encourage children and young people into learning. There over 180 modules ranging from basic gardening and life skills, to team work, PSE and communication skills. Nearly 190 young people have achieved 1 or more qualification since they have been introduced;

(b)  During the last Ofsted inspection challenged Nottingham City to further improve its approach  to young people presenting as Homeless. There has been a strong collaborative approach across the Local Authority and Partnership organisations;

(c)  When a young person presents as homeless their initial contact is now with a family support worker who, where appropriate, works with the young person and family members towards rebuilding relationships;

(d)  Out of the 56 young people who presented as homeless the vast majority were reunited with their families, a very small percentage became children in care and a handful were supported into a tenancy by Nottingham City Homes;

(e)  The Street Aware Programme will be presented to all Nottingham City secondary schools. This programme helps young people improve their resilience, and confidence to not carry weapons. A similar, but adapted programme has been taken up by the majority of primary schools within Nottingham City. Both are presented by Police, PCSO and support workers;

(f)  Care leavers are now able to ask for services up to the age of 25. The Council will also contact all care leavers up to the age of 25 annually to remind them that they are able to access services. The Council will be contacting Partnership organisations about services they offer directly;

(g)  Nottingham City Council is ambitious for all of its care leavers and is committed to offering a percentage of jobs or apprenticeships to them. Nottingham City Council would like to invite Partner Organisations to make a commitment to offer a percentage of its available jobs or apprenticeships to care leavers;

Following questions and comments from the Board the following points were highlighted:

(h)  Schools across the City have engaged very well with the Knife Crime programme. The programme is tailored and can be more targeted where needed;

(i)  There is a work stream dedicated to collating data on incidents in school where knives have been involved. Nottingham Safeguarding Board are taking the lead and asking schools and other agencies to become involved so that a fuller picture of the extent of the issue is known;

(j)  A similarly adapted programme on knife crime can be offered out to further education colleges, again this can be tailored to suit the audience and can be more targeted where there is the need;

(k)  Care leavers have been involved in designing the local offer, feedback through the Care Leavers Council, directly from young people and Young Peoples forum have all contributed;

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Note the content of the report and to thank Sophie Russell and Shelly Nicholls for their attendance; and

(2)  Partners to look at contributing to the various works streams discussed and to feedback to the relevant NCC officer;