Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

The Scrutiny Panel noted that the Youth Cabinet had suggested the following subject areas for possible inclusion in the 2009/2010 work programme of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel:-

- road safety outside schools;

- the effectiveness of school councils;

- Personal Health and Social Education curriculum in schools.

A further report on the work programme would be submitted to the first meeting of the Municipal Year.

FOR DISCUSSION

The Annual Health Check of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2008/2009 was now taking place, jointly involving Members of both this Scrutiny Panel and of the Adult Services and Health Scrutiny Panel.

Further to Minute No. 78 of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 8th February, 2008, consideration was given to a report presented by Ian Atkinson, Kevin Stevens and Tom Whyman (NHS Rotherham) containing a summary of the developments and investments made across Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provision during the last twelve months, in line with the 2008 – 2011 CAMHS Strategy. The report included details of:-

i) the ten key priorities for development within the CAMHS strategy;

ii) the substantial joint NHS Rotherham (£325,000) and Borough Council (£103,000) investment (£428 000 in total) into local CAMHS provision across all tiers of service, in an attempt to meet some key priority areas highlighted within the CAMHS strategy;

iii) the role of the CAMHS partnership group and the emphasis upon joint working;

iv) further developments to meet the requirements of the CAMHS strategy, proposed for 2009/2010, which are subject to approval of the necessary funding;

v) one of the proposed further developments is the identification and provision of a CAMHS specific building to allow for the co-location of all CAMHS commissioned services;

vi) there is to be investment within the Tier 3 Specialist Support service to extend the service to see all young people up to the age of 18, enhance transition and reduce waiting times for access from receiving referral from the Single Point of Access team.

The Scrutiny Panel’s discussion of this item included the following salient issues:-

- ensuring service provision for young people up to the age of 18 and through the transition to adulthood;

- mental health service provision by organisations such as Rotherham MIND (a visit to one of these organisations was suggested);

- staff training;

- waiting times for children and young people referred to CAMHS services;

- service budgets and the differences between the separate tiers of service provision;

- the importance of joint working and the possibility of the co-location of CAMHS services;

- some children and young people are ‘repeat users’ and have to access CAMHS services at several stages in their lives;

- CAMHS service provision for the black and minority ethnic communities (and the role of community development workers);

- the absence of specific ‘out-of-hours’ CAMHS services, although ‘out-of-hours’ referrals to CAMHS services were usually received from General Practitioners and/or the hospitals’ accident and emergency departments;

- the importance of counselling and of crisis services provided by organisations such as R-DASH.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That this Scrutiny Panel acknowledges the developments being undertaken locally within Rotherham CAMHS and welcomes the continued work programme for future development.

(3) That a further progress report be submitted to a future meeting of this Scrutiny Panel, with specific reference to (a) the provision of ‘out-of-hours’ CAMHS services; (b) service provision affecting transition to adulthood; and (c) service provision for the black and minority ethnic communities.

(4) That arrangements be made for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Commissioning Officer, Children and Young People’s Services concerning the key findings from the recently undertaken alcohol and substance misuse needs assessment, how services are currently delivered and the key strategic priorities for 2009/10. It was noted that these key priorities are fully outlined in the attached Young People’s Substance Misuse Treatment Plan and that the Alcohol and Substance Misuse Strategy should endeavour to reflect national and local strategic direction in terms of children and young people’s services. The report outlined:-

i) the Alcohol and Substance Misuse Strategy proposal and details - overall direction and purpose of the strategy;

ii) profile of young people accessing treatment and changing trends;

iii) the way in which the alcohol and substance misuse treatment system is functioning;

iv) the likely demand for specialist substance misuse treatment interventions for young people;

v) the prevalence of unmet need and of vulnerable groups of young people;

vi) the key development areas in relation to alcohol and substance misuse;

vii) Early intervention teams working in each of the Borough’s locality areas;

viii) the key priorities identified within the partnership strategy; the current needs assessment and the desired treatment outcomes;

ix) funding for alcohol and substance misuse services – primarily Government allocations via the Area Based Grant.

A copy of the young people’s specialist substance treatment plan 2009/2010 planning grids was included with the report.

The following issues were raised during discussion of the report:-

- the proportion of young offenders accessing the service;

- the reasons why alcohol and substance misuse occurs;

- residential care provision (only two specialist residential treatment homes in England) – treatment is provided in local areas, with out-of-area placements/treatment being extremely rare;

- the role of the Early Intervention Teams and the need for proactive work;

- acknowledgement of alcohol and substance misuse as a high profile, costly national problem;

- parental responsibility for children and the Borough Council’s own corporate parenting responsibility;

- the incidence of steroid abuse;

- the limitations of the funding for service provision;

- the quality of information and services provided by organisations such as Know the Score; the national guidance for the provision of a needle exchange service and the issuing of clean needles to people who take substances.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That further consideration be given to the impact of alcohol and substance misuse by young people in this Scrutiny Panel’s 2009/10 work programme.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Principal Educational Psychologist describing the work of the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Strategy Group in Rotherham Children and Young People’s Services and reflecting the Services’ commitment to:-

- recognise the complexity of the autism spectrum;

- develop the services that work to help young people with ASD to gain support to remain within or close to their families and local community;

- develop resource and provision to meet the needs of children and young people who experience ASD;

- develop the understanding of ‘Personalisation, Pupil Progress and mainstreaming’;

- engage with families and children with ASD as final determinates of both quality and outcomes reflecting the Corporate Area Assessment agenda; and

- develop monitoring and quality control mechanisms;

- and, subsequently, to raise the attainment of all Rotherham’s children and young people.

The report stated that, often described as the invisible disability, autism is a complex lifelong developmental impairment. The range of autistic conditions is diverse and remains largely misunderstood.  There has been some excellent work in Rotherham on the inclusion of children with ASD in their local mainstream school. The Autism Strategy Group defines its work in four broad areas of activity:-

• Services and Provision around ASD
• Continued Professional Development
• Diagnosis and Assessment Procedures
• Involvement and Parents/Childs Voice and Influence

The purpose of this work is to raise the attainment and improve life long experiences of children and young people with ASD. The terms of reference of the Autism Strategy Group were appended to the report submitted.

The following issues were raised during discussion of the report:-

- the increasing number of children and young people with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder;

- spending on ASD during the current financial year; and awaiting the outcome of a bid for additional funding;

- service provision both pre- and post-diagnosis of ASD; the process of a child or young person being diagnosed with the condition and being statemented;

- the duty of care and the risk assessments of pupils in school - and the role of teachers and school governors;

- support for the parents/carers of children and young people with ASD;

- the challenge of co-ordinating service provision and all activity supporting children and families with ASD;

- the maintenance of confidence and trust at phase transition (ie; age post-16, further education provision and adult service care);

- developing a greater understanding of ASD and also the development of ‘autism friendly schools’;

- extension of services and short break, extended services;

- the continued refinement of assessment and diagnosis leading to improved intervention;

- the incidence of ASD in the black and minority ethnic communities.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That further consideration should be given to the following issues:-

(a) provision of services and support for children and young people in the black and minority ethnic communities who are diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder;

(b)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 119.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services stating that, during 2008, the Borough Council and NHS Rotherham commissioned a study to be conducted in Rotherham and undertaken by the Audit Commission to assess readiness for integration. The key lines of enquiry used were those that the Audit Commission had used earlier in 2008 when conducting a national study. The report outlined the main conclusions and the recommendations of the Audit Commission’s study. A copy of the final draft study report and action plan were appended to the report submitted.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That a progress report be submitted to a future meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel, after the current review of Children and Young People’s Services has been concluded.

FOR MONITORING

Further to Minute No. 96 of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 7^th March, 2008, consideration was given to a report presented by Review Group Chairman, Councillor Neil License, setting out the findings and recommendations of the scrutiny review into support for newly arrived children in schools. A copy the full report of this scrutiny review was attached as an appendix.

This scrutiny review had specifically examined:-

- support currently available in Rotherham schools for newly arrived children and young people;

- examples of good practice, both locally and elsewhere;

- the way in which existing resources can be best utilised; and

- the measures which should be taken in the long term to improve both the Borough Council’s and partners’ responses and the support available to newly arrived children and young people.

Resolved:- (1) That this Scrutiny Panel endorses the findings and recommendations of the scrutiny review report into support for newly arrived children in schools.

(2) That the report be forwarded to Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee for approval, and future submission to Cabinet.

(3) That the response of Cabinet to the recommendations of this scrutiny review be reported to a future meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel.

MINUTES

The Scrutiny Panel noted the contents of the Forward Plan of Key Decisions for Children and Young People’s Services, for the four months’ period 1^st March, 2009 to 30^th June, 2009.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 6th March, 2009 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Resolved:- That the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the Children’s Board held on 18^th February, 2009, be noted.

Resolved:- That the contents of the minutes of the meetings of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 27th February, 2009 and on 13th March, 2009, be noted.