Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 21^st February 2011, having been printed and circulated were signed as a correct record.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any personal or personal and prejudicial interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda, no later than when that item is reached and, with personal and prejudicial interests (subject to certain exceptions in the Code of Conduct for Members), to leave the meeting prior to discussion and voting on the item.

            It was reported that no public questions had been received.

(NB: Councillor Lloyd Jones declared a personal interest in items related to health due to being a non-executive director of Halton and St Helens Primary Care Trust)

            The Board received a report which contained the minutes relating to the Children and Young People Portfolio which had been considered by the Executive Board Sub-Committee since the last meeting of the PPB.

 

            In relation to EXB124 Academy Update, it was reported that the deadline for the two schools who had formally notified the Authority that they intended to convert to Academies under the new arrangements had now been put back to the 1^st June 2011.

 

            RESOLVED: That the Minutes be noted.

            In receiving the Minutes Members discussed the Health and Wellbeing Board and it was noted that the details regarding the format and relationships with Scrutiny Boards had not yet been determined.

 

            Members considered Youth Offending and the proposals to move the Youth Justice Board responsibilities to local councils, numbers of NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training), learners suffering from dyslexia, options for the replacement of the EMA Payments to Students and plans to work with providers through the 14 – 19 Partnership regarding a Halton policy for provision of bursary schemes for students.

 

            RESOLVED: That the Minutes be noted.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director for Children and Enterprise which provided Members with an annual report outlining the work carried out by the Board and Officers in 2010 to March 2011. The Chair wished to note on record his thanks to Members for all the work carried out throughout the year.

 

            RESOLVED: That the Annual Report be received.

A verbal update will be provided at the meeting.

            The Board received a verbal report from Nigel Moorhouse, Operational Director Children and Families Services which provided an update on the Scrutiny Topic for Young Carers. It was reported that a sub-group was formed last year in order to scrutinise work and developments within the Young Carers area.

 

            It was noted that staff had joined a group of Young Carers in order to obtain feedback from their own experiences.  From this a need for joined up working with adult services had been identified. The group was looking to establish a similar implementation team as used for adult services for Young Carers.

 

            It was further noted that a meeting was planned for week commencing 30^th May 2011 in order to discuss further options and progress with regard to the Scrutiny Topic.

 

            RESOLVED: That the update be received

The Board will discuss Scrutiny Topics for 2011-12.

            Members discussed various areas to be adopted for scrutiny for the year 2011/12, areas to be considered were suggested as follows:-

 

·        A joint scrutiny Topic with the Employment Learning, Skills and Communities PPB around apprenticeships;

 

·        Provision of Mental Health services and Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services CAMS in the Borough;

 

·         Transition from Young People to Older People’s Services;

 

·        Young Homelessness provision; and

 

·        Provision for Young People with Special Educational Needs in relation to Real Life Skills aspect.

 

It was noted that the Young Carers’ Topic would be completed and the Board would set future topics at a later date. It was further noted should Members have any other ideas for a Scrutiny Work Topic to e-mail the Chairman.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)       the ideas for Scrutiny Topics be noted; and

(2)       Members notify the Chair of any further ideas for Scrutiny Work                         Topics.

A verbal update will be provided at the meeting.

            The Board received a presentation from Gerald Meehan, Strategic Director Children and Enterprise which outlined the following:

 

·        Update from Prof. Munro’s report in relation to Safeguarding and early help and prevention services;

 

·        Key recommendations from the Munro report for the government to take forward;

 

·        Children in Care and Implementation of Halton’s Strategy;

 

·        Halton’s performance in relation to childcare; 

 

·        OfSTED Action Plan, arising from the Safeguarding and Looked After Children Inspection 2011;

 

·        Budget Planning for 2012/13;

 

·        The role of Councillors in Scrutiny regarding Regulation 33 and Climbiè visits; and

 

            Arising from the presentation, Members discussed the need to determine what the priorities were for Children and Young People in relation to budget reductions and reduce these in line with the priorities.  The Board also considered the possibility of reclaiming costs of children placed from out of Borough.

 

            RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise which provided an overview of the findings and performance impact that projected under the management of the Compass Steering Group has had since commencement of the Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) funding in June 2009.

 

            It was reported that during July 2008 the Government published the Youth Crime Action Plan which set out a comprehensive package of measures to prevent and tackle youth crime through a triple track approach of tough enforcement, non-negotiable support and prevention.

 

            It was further noted under the YCAP proposal £700,000 had been made available to Halton over two years up to 2011. Following on from this the Compass Steering Group was established and joint planning and commissioning framework was essential in order to progress with these projects. It was noted that the Compass Strategy Board oversaw the implementation and monitoring of the various projects carried out over the two years which were outlined in the report for information.

 

            Members were advised that as a direct result of the projects the Steering Group had implemented, Halton could report a significant reduction in youth-related anti-social behaviour. It was further reported that police recorded incidents relating to youth anti-social behaviour had been reduced by a staggering 48% when compared to the period of the same time before the projects began.

 

            It was reported that the YCAP funding came to an end in March 2011. However, due to commitment and input from Steering Group Members and the dedication of all staff connected to the project, Halton had been able to continue with the projects which were set out in the report for information.

 

            Arising from discussion of the report, Members raised concerns in relation to costs occurred to the Borough as a result of children from other authorities being housed in the Borough into private homes and exhausting Halton’s resources such as social services, police resources and health service provisions, especially around the Missing From Home agenda. In response, it was noted that the Borough was working closely with police and the service had been reconfigured.  Prevention Teams had also been established and links with the CRMZ have been made. It was further noted additional work with independent home care providers would be carried out.

 

            In relation to the cost occurred to the Borough, from children from outside authorities it was reported that teams were investigating the numbers of young people from out of Borough placements to determine any patterns from certain authorities. Members also discussed the possibility to charge authorities for care provision of children from their area and it was noted that this was something that could be monitored. Members requested further investigation be carried out in relation to Partnership Commissioning and joint work with Police and other agencies to tackle the issues. It was noted that resources were also provided and utilised from Cheshire Rescue and Fire Service, Housing Associations and the Police.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be received.

(NB: Councillor Loftus declared a personal interest in the following item due to being an employee of Riverside College)

            The Board received a report of the Chief Executive on the Performance Monitoring Reports for Quarter 4 2010/11.

 

            Members were requested to consider and raise any questions or points of clarification in respect of the performance management report on progress against service plan objectives and performance targets, performance trends/comparisons and factors affecting the services etc. for:

 

·        Children and Families;

·        Children’s Organisation Provision; and

·        Learning and Achievement.

 

            Arising from the report, Members considered the key highlights in relation to strategic discussions and OfSTED, it was reported there was a plan in place for working with the Early Years settings in order to raise the standards of Childminders in the Borough. It was reported that a seminar would be provided for Members in the future presenting more information.

 

            With regard to the Care First system, it was reported that it had not been implemented by April, however front line teams would be using it by June 2011.

 

            In relation to the opening of the CRMZ it was reported that there was a heavy footfall.  The college had reported that a high percentage of their pupils attending during lunch then returned back in the afternoon, resulting in increased attendance levels.

 

            With regard to teenage pregnancies there had been a lot of positives in terms of the uptake in the Sexual Health Clinics, C. Card distribution scheme and testing for Chlamydia.

 

            Members also discussed strategies around breast feeding and joint working schemes with Warrington Road Children’s Centre and various baby friendly initiatives, in addition to the commercial side with baby welcome schemes present in shops in Halton.

 

            RESOLVED: That the fourth quarter Performance Management Reports be received and comments made be noted.

 

 

            The Board considered the report of the Strategic Director Children and Enterprise which provided information on the progress in achieving targets contained within the Sustainable Community Strategy for Halton.

 

It was reported that the Sustainable Community Strategy was a central document for the Council and its partners which provided an evidence-based framework through which actions and shared performance targets could be developed and communicated.

 

            It was noted that following extensive research and analysis and consultation with all stakeholder groups including Elected Members, partners and the local community and representative groups. A new Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) 2011 - 26 was approved by Council on 20^th April 2011.

 

            Members were advised that there was an increase in the percentage of pupils making the expected two levels of progress in English and Maths at Key Stage 2 compared to 2009. For teenage pregnancy the last available data was from December 2009 and was calculated on a rolling quarterly average basis.  There were a number of initiatives which had been established since December 2009 and future statistics would determine if these initiatives were having an affect.

 

            In relation to obesity rates among Primary School children in year 6, the commentary had been revised therefore the figure was 21.6% for the academic year 2009/2010.  Steps being taken in Halton to reduce obesity further were outlined by the PCT.  A supplementary paper was circulated to Members.

 

            Arising from discussion of the data Members commented on the role of the School Nurse and whether there were sufficient School Nurses in Secondary Schools to deal with the wider range of problems that could arise with teenage children. It was further noted that multi-services had been developed within schools to support and improve the service School Nurses provided including work around drugs and alcohol, sexual health and various aspects covered by Youth Workers. All the agencies involved had undertaken a comprehensive training package for working with children and continued support would be provided. Members suggested that a paper be brought to a future meeting to determine how effective the School Nurses were in relation to the wider workforce and whether an exercise could be carried out to ascertain the hours required for Nurses in the school setting and whether benchmarks and toolkits could be established.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be received.