Agenda and minutes

Note: Prior to the meeting commencing Board Members received training in Regulation 33 and Climbe visits, conducted by Christine Taylor – Divisional Manager, Children in Care and Nigel Moorhouse – Divisional Manager, Children in Need.

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd February 2009 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes be noted.

            It was reported that no public questions had been received.

            The Board considered a report which contained the minutes relating to the Children and Young People Portfolio which had been considered by the Executive Board and Executive Board Sub.

            The Board noted that the OfSTED results were outstanding and thanked all the officers and schools for the work carried out.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes be noted.

            The Board received the minutes of the Specialist Strategic Partnership held on 2^nd April 2009.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes be noted.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director Corporate and Policy which provided an amended version of the Sustainable Community Strategy Document for comment.

            It was advised that local authorities were required to prepare and implement a Sustainable Community Strategy. It was noted that the Council was expected to work with partners through the Local Strategic Partnership to agree priorities and to engage and involve local communities. It was reported that the current Sustainable Community Strategy was adopted in 2006 and contained the long-term vision and objectives with delivery targets for the period 2006 to 2011. It was advised that since it was prepared a number of changes had taken place which made it necessary to conduct a mid-term review of the Sustainable Community Strategy. The Board was informed that this was an update and not a complete revision.

            The Board was advised that recent perception surveys and the revised State of the Borough Report 2009 confirmed that the underlying vision and priorities from 2006 remained relevant. Widespread engagement had therefore not been undertaken for this mid-term review. However, in 2010/11 work would commence on a full review and roll forward of the strategy with wide engagement and would link up with work being done on the Local Development Framework Core Strategy.

            The main objectives of this mid-term review were outlined in the report for Members’ consideration. The draft of the Mid-Term Review had been drawn up following consultation with partners and was considered by the Halton Strategic Partnership Board on 20^th May 2009. It was reported that the revised Sustainable Community Strategy had to be adopted by full Council as per the Local Government Act 2000. Following consultation with the Policy and Performance Boards it was planned to take the final draft to the full Council meeting on 22^nd July with a recommendation from Executive Board for final adoption. The draft Mid-Term Review document was included in the report for Members consideration.

            Arising from the discussion the Board queried the monitoring procedures for commissioned services in relation to young carers.  In response it was noted that a detailed review of all commissioned services had been carried out and services were self evaluated against performance management framework.

            RESOLVED: That the draft Mid Term Review of the Sustainable Community Strategy be received.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Young People which sought recommendation to enable two representatives from the Dioceses of Chester and Liverpool be appointed to the Children and Young People’s Policy and Performance Board.

            It was reported that the Diocese of Chester and Liverpool were entitled to nominate two representatives to sit on the Children and Young People’s Policy and Performance Board – one from the Church of England diocese and one from the Roman Catholic diocese. The Board was informed that at present both positions were vacant, however a name for one of the position had been submitted. It was further noted that views of the Dioceses would be expressed operating as an independent representative.

            RESOLVED: That the Executive Board and Full Council be requested to agree the appointment of a Dioceses representative for Chester and Liverpool, as a non-voting co-optee on the Children and Young People Policy and Performance Board for a period of four years, commencing from the date approval was given.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Young People which outlined the developments regarding the priority for Children’s Trust “children and young people do well whatever their needs and wherever they live”. (Narrowing the Gap). The report also sought a decision on strategies which would support, monitor, evaluate and challenge developments for how well “children and young people do well whatever their needs and wherever they live”.

            It was reported that to narrow the gap was defined as closing the distance in outcomes between children who do well and those who do not. This could be, for example, in terms of health and/or education. It was noted that the gap represented a complex mix of factors relating to people and places such as prevailing cultures and subcultures, the ability to access services, economic activity, migration patterns, educational achievement and perceptions around life chances. It was advised that the Council was dealing with areas and people where a complex range of factors presented barriers to accessing the full benefits of a thriving Borough.

It was further noted that this could not be solved simply, but needed to be approached with the tool box containing the widest range of services and measures and with a built in flexibility that allowed some local variation and response to community engagement. To support where the “gap” needed to be narrowed required services that could respond to non-normative conditions, i.e. those found on the wrong side of the gap. It was reported that this was how the Council could avoid simply compensating for the gap.

            Outlined in the report were some groups of children that were more likely to fall behind than others and many children that belonged to more than one group and for most the gap was more than the outcome. Some illustrative examples of the groups were children and young people were more vulnerable of falling behind were also outlined in the report for Members’ consideration.

            The Board was advised that in Halton there had been a considerable amount of success in terms of, for example, education. It was noted that the Council needed to ensure however that all young people were making and having the same opportunity of achieving.

            It was advised that the Children’s Trust had as one of its key priorities “children and young people do well whatever their needs and wherever they live”. In order to address this area and ensure that there was progress and impact on priority 2, key approaches were being taken which were outlined in the report. It was advised that building on the good practice already existing in the Borough and to develop new ways of approaching this priority, the target was to ensure that “children and young do well whatever their needs and wherever they live”.  

            In receiving the report Members noted that teenage pregnancy rates and the health agenda among children was an issue in Halton. Tabled at the meeting were key indicators derived from a recent survey,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic director, Children and Young People which requested Board Members to decide on work programme of 2 or 3 scrutiny topics to be undertaken in the next municipal year under the broad heading of “improving health outcomes for children and young people in Halton”. The report also sought decisions on strategies to develop, monitor, evaluate and report on scrutiny topics and other key health developments specifically for children and young people.

            The Board was advised that in February 2009 the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Schools and Families published “Healthy Lives, Brighter Futures: The Strategy for Children and Young People’s Health”. It was noted that the strategy identified parents as the key to achieving the best physical and mental health and well-being outcomes for their children. The strategy set out the principles of the relationship between parents and services and would establish what parents and their children could expect from their services.

            It was reported that children and young people were healthier today than they had ever been but it was recognised that to deliver the Government’s ambition of making England the best place for children to grow up by 2020, the Council needed to support families in securing world-class health and well-being outcomes for their children. Better support in the early years and through childhood and adolescence would lay the foundation for better health and life chances in adulthood.

            It was noted that the strategy set out the plans for universal, targeted and specialist support across three life stages – early years and pregnancy; school-age children and young people as well as the additional support for children and young people in need of acute or ongoing health care. Crucially, the strategy identified how the range of services in contact with children and young people could work better together and with families to achieve common aims.

            It was reported that using information from the strategy and also bespoke information needs the needs of children and young people in Halton the Children and Young People PPB would decide and develop scrutiny topics based on the common themes and services linked to physical, mental and sexual health. This work would also support the narrowing health inequalities.

            The Board was advised that a scoping document would be circulated once the composition of work topics had been completed

            <1>RESOLVED: That a finalised scoping document be circulated to Board Members outlining the development topics to be included in the Board’s 2009/10 work programme.

            The Board received a report of the Chief Executive which detailed the fourth quarter performance management reports on progress against service plan objectives and performance targets, performance trends/comparisons, factors affecting the services etc. for

• Business Support and Commissioning
• Preventative Services
• Specialist Services
• Universal and Learning Services

            In receiving the fourth quarterly monitoring report the following points were noted.

• the outline business case for Building Schools for Future (BSF) was submitted in 22 April 2009;
• the Primary Capital Programme strategy had been revised and re-submitted to thye Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), it was now confirmed that this had been approved;
• the My  Place bid was confirmed as approved and had been moved forward to be signed off this coming August / September; and
• schools had received a very positive OfSTED report;

Arising from the discussion the Board queried whether there was any problems in relation to young people with mental health problems, having difficulty obtaining beds for treatment during weekends.  In response it was noted this would be investigated and a reply would be emailed to Board members.

            RESOLVED: That the 4^th quarter performance management reports be received.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy which outlined the progress made towards meeting Local Area Agreement targets at the end of the first year of the Agreement.

            The Board was advised that the revised Local Area Agreement (LAA) was signed off by the Secretary of State in June 2008. The purpose of the LAA was to agree a set of targets for Halton with Government and local partners. It was noted that named partners had a duty to co-operate in striving to achieve those targets. There were 34 indicators in the LAA, together with statutory education and early years targets. The agreement covered the period April 2008 to March 2011.

            The Board was advised that the Agreement was refreshed in March 2009. The indicators and targets were reviewed with Government Office and there were a number of gaps and estimates in the original agreement, therefore the principal changes were to fill these gaps using information that had become available between June 2008 and March 2009 such as the results of the Places Survey. A summary of the changes were attached as an appendix to the report for Members’ consideration.

            It was further advised that the economic downturn would inevitably have an impact on the likelihood of achieving some targets relating to the economy and housebuilding, and the Government had identified a list of indicators for which targets would be reviewed before the end of March 2010, by which time the impact of the downturn would be clearer.

            Outlined in the report for consideration was progress over the first year of the Agreement which covered the indicators that fell within the responsibilities of the Children and Young People’s Policy and Performance Board. It was noted that this was based on the targets in the refreshed agreement. Members were advised that in reading the report it should be noted that all the national indicators were built into the quarterly service plan monitoring reports and certain indicators were only reported some time after year end, therefore in those cases no progress report was yet available. There were also some survey based indicators for which no further data would be available until the survey was repeated in 2010.

            The Board was advised that LAA reflected the priorities in our community strategy for improving the quality of life in Halton. It was the main mechanism by which Government would performance manage local areas and it was therefore important that Council monitored progress and that members were satisfied that adequate plans were in place to ensure that the improvement targets were achieved.

            Arising from the discussion the Board discussed the need to tackle high teenage pregnancy rates in the Borough. It was noted that following a visit from the National Support Team it was reported that the Council was actively doing everything possible to tackle this issue.  Members also queried the number of pupils under the age of 16 who had not reached level 1 or 2.  It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

            The Board considered the report of the Strategic Director Children and Young People which outlined the Children and Young People’s Policy and Performance Board’s Annual Report for 2008/09. The Chairman thanked the Members of the Board for a successful 12 months and noted that in July  2008 Halton received the results of its first Joint Area Review (JAR) of Children’s Services and it confirmed significant progress by all partners working together for the children of the Borough. It was noted that this was great news for both the Council and the Local Strategic Partnership and set out a strong foundation to build upon for further improvements in the future. The full Board met six times during the year and the main initiatives that the Board had worked on during the year were as follows:

• Educational Attainment and Achievement 2008
• Child Health in Halton
• Regulation 33 and Climbié Audits
• Service Plans
• Performance Issues
• Work Programme for 2008/09; and
• Safeguarding

            It was also noted that the attainment of children at Key Stages 2 and 4 were outstanding and congratulations were passed on to the students of the Borough that did so well.

                        RESOLVED: That the Children and Young People Policy and Performance Board Annual Report for 2009 be received.

            At the end of the meeting the Chairman commended Lorraine Butcher on the excellent work given to the Council and wished her well in the future. The Chairman also thanked Tony Crane and Nigel Moorhouse on their temporary appointments to Operational Director, Preventative and Specialist Services.