Agenda item

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Young People which provided information on the involvement and VOICE of children and young people within organisations, schools and council services and how this linked into the drivers for Children and Young People’s Services.

 

            A Participation Strategy had been accepted by the Children and Young People’s Alliance Board in July 2006 which agreed the development of the involvement of children, young people and parents/carers using the Hear by Rights standards. A pilot led by the Cross Alliance Consultation, Participation & Engagement Group, and supported by consultants from the Regional Youth Work Unit took place from October 2006 to March 2007, it involved 8 organisations across sectors and ages and offered a set of recommendations for the development and roll out of a Halton-specific set of Hear by Rights standards.

 

The Board was advised of the principal findings of the pilots and of the principal recommendations from the pilot, which were detailed in the report.

 

The Board was further advised of the progress made since the pilot, in particular that:

 

·        the Hear by Right standards had been reviewed and the format for a Halton specific version completed together with year one floor targets across all 7 Hear by Right areas, as detailed within the appendix to the report;

 

• The 1^st draft of the Hear by Right Plan had been written and would deliver the full framework over a three year period;

 

• The “Shared Values” within the 2006-2009 C&YP Plan vision stated that “All providers of services were accountable to the children and young people they serve”. This remained the foundation stone of the development of the participation of children & young people agenda. This shared value would be enshrined in a proposed Hear by Right Pledge which organisations and departments/services would be asked to sign up to as part of the 3 year plan; 

 

• The 2^nd draft of Job Role document for the Elected Member Champion had been developed along with ones for Chief Officers and was detailed within the appendix to the report;  

 

• The Consultation, Engagement and Participation Group (CPE) organised a multi agency planning workshop which took place on 20^th June 2007 and developed the framework and timelines for the 3 year Hear by Right plan detailed within the report;

 

• Arrangements had been made for the workforce development pilots to embed Hear by Right workforce requirements in their planning;

 

• An Under 11s Participation worker was in the process of being seconded for 12 months from Brookvale Children’s Centre to the Youth Service Participation Team via Barnados. This would bring capacity to support organisations working with under 11s to develop the Hear by Right standards within their organisations. The post was joint funded by the borough’s Children’s Fund and Barnados; and

 

• In July 2007 the Youth Cabinet, supported by the Youth Bank and Area Youth  Fora,  launched the Integrated Youth Support Services. 120 young people attended the all day conference where all workshops were facilitated by young people for young people. Young people looked at their needs, preferred outcomes, and their experiences of services.  The full conference feedback was awaited, which would inform workforce development pilots, and the structure of future Integrated Youth Support Services. One resounding piece of immediate feedback was their demand to be involved in decisions that affect them now and would affect them in the future. Two examples were given: Building Schools for the Future programme and the proposed second crossing. 

 

RESOLVED: That the three year ‘Hear by Right’ Delivery Plan is approved.