Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Moorgate Street, Rotherham. S60 2TH

Contact: Dawn Mitchell, Senior Democratic Services Officer 

Items
No. Item

197.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 51 KB

-       Minutes of meeting held on 23rd January, 2013

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 23rd January, 2013, were considered and approved as a correct record.

 

Further to Minute No. 191(5) (Families for Change), it was noted that a report would be submitted to the next meeting.

198.

Issues and Concerns

·           LAC Council

·           Youth Cabinet

·           Parent and Carers Forum

Minutes:

Looked After Children’s Council/Youth Cabinet

There had been a piece of joint work for the Safeguarding Children’s Board the previous week.

 

The main themes were not so much as what was happening in the home but what was happening outside the home, particularly in parks, and concerns about public transport, travelling from A to B.  The issue of transport had been raised in another meeting with Elected Members. 

 

As a follow up from the Eleven Million Take Over Day, a meeting was to take place with the Manager of the Rotherham Transport Interchange to look at young people and issues of safety.  The Police were also looking at commissioning work at the Interchange and some members of the Youth Cabinet were going to visit with the Police.  Some of the young people were to attend a Young Peoples’ Bus Summit and also meet with representatives from other local authorities.

 

Young Carers Card

The Card was for those young people who, before they arrived at school/college, had to look after a relative which might mean they were continually late.  They would show the Card to the teachers who would then understand the reasons for the late arrival.

 

It was hoped to launch the Card in May at the next Children, Young People and Families Partnership.

 

Parent and Carers Forum

There had been issues raised regarding respecting confidentiality and the support of the Forum for parents of the children that were referred to CAMHS.   A meeting had been held with members of the Forum, RDASH and the Strategic Director to resolve.

199.

Y&H Regional Health and Wellbeing Collaborative - Action Plan for Rotherham Improving Outcomes for Children Action Plan pdf icon PDF 24 KB

-          Joyce Thacker, Strategic Director, to present

Minutes:

In accordance with Minute No. 193 of the previous meeting, Joyce Thacker, Strategic Director, presented a draft pro forma that could be used as an effective audit tool to assist agencies’ self-awareness on how Rotherham was responding to improving outcomes.

 

Once approved, the document would be submitted to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

 

Discussion ensued on the document with the following points raised/clarified:-

 

-          There was no mention of any improving health outcomes for children e.g. vaccinations

 

-          How did it map the Performance Framework for the Health and Wellbeing Board which had 4 priorities which fit for children - Obesity, Alcohol, Smoking and NEETS.  Important that they all aligned

 

-          There had been issues raised regarding respecting confidentiality and the support of the Forum for parents of the children that were referred to CAMHS.   A meeting had been held with members of the Forum, RDASH and the Strategic Director to resolve.

 

-          There would be an accountability framework locally through the Health Protection Committees

 

Agreed:-  That agencies provide any comments on the draft pro forma before 28th March, 2013.

200.

Rotherham Report Card pdf icon PDF 909 KB

-          Joyce Thacker, Strategic Director, to report

Minutes:

Joyce Thacker, Strategic Director, reported that work had been taking place on producing a “Report Card”, an annual report of the work of the Partnership.  The report submitted was a draft for members of the Partnership to comment on the content.  It was hoped to have the 2012/13 report by June, 2013.

 

Sean Hill, Commissioning Officer, reported that it had been based on the Annual Account produced by Adult Services.  It was split into 7 sections:-

 

-          What are Children and Young People’s Services

-          How are Children and Young People’s Services viewed externally and locally?

-          Key facts about how money is spent in Children and Young People’s Services

-          What customers think about the Services we deliver

-          How we improve outcomes for Children, Young People and Families in Rotherham

-          Our Plans for improving Services

-          Strategic Commissioning

 

The 2012/13 document would include the work that had been undertaken on gathering the voice of children and young people. 

 

Discussion ensued on the document with the following issues raised:-

 

·           Who was the target audience?

·           Need to be smarter in publicising the good news stories and not waiting for an annual report

·           Should the National Commissioning Board be represented on the Partnership?

·           How did it fit with the Children’s Plan and Plan on a Page?

·           Going forward the document would reflect the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, work with partners, priorities of the Health and Wellbeing Board

·           Single agency approach to enable customers to hold you to account with inclusion of a section on partnership

·           Comprehensive Spending Review and the implications for local councils

 

Agreed:-  (1)  That the document be a single agency document.

 

(2)  That a Partnership section be included illustrating some of the key successes of the Partnership.

 

(3)  That success stories be publicised as they happen rather than waiting until the year end.

201.

Children and Young People's Plan pdf icon PDF 104 KB

-          Presentation by Sue Wilson, Performance and Quality Manager

Minutes:

Sue Wilson, Performance and Quality Manager, gave the following powerpoint presentation:-

 

-          The Authority no longer had to produce a Children and Young People’s Plan

 

-          The Partnership had developed 1 around its joint key priorities and linked it with the Health and Wellbeing Strategy plan on a page style

 

-          “Working together to improve the lives of all Rotherham’s children and young people”

We are responsible for all Rotherham children and young people in our care or who had unmet needs

The voice of children and young people will be listened to and acted upon

All children and young people will get support early to stay healthy

All children and young people will have the opportunity to adopt healthy lifestyles

All Rotherham learners will achieve; no one will be left behind

We will challenge any inequality

 

-          Our Vision for Rotherham

Keeping children and young people safe

Prevention and early intervention

Tackling inequality

Transforming Rotherham learning

 

-          Needs Assessment

Needs highlighted in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy/Joint Strategic Needs Assessment:-

Low birth weight and high infant mortality

High smoking rates in pregnancy

Low breastfeeding rates

High teenage conceptions

High obesity rates

Low attainment, skills and aspirations

Low levels of physical activity

High rates of emotional, behavioural or attention deficit disorders

High levels of worklessness and benefit culture

High emergency admissions

Meeting the needs of increasingly diverse minority ethnic and migrant communities

High levels of oral disease

many families feel trapped in a cycle of poverty with little prospect to escape”

 

-          Our Priorities

We will ensure children have the best start in life

We will engage with parents and families

We will reduce the harm to children and young people who are exposed to domestic abuse, alcohol and substance misuse and neglect

We will work with partners to eradicate child sexual exploitation from the borough

We will focus on all children and young people making good progress in their learning and development

We will target support to families in greatest need to help access learning/employment opportunities

 

Next Steps

-          Develop a detailed action plan which underpins the high level plan

-          Develop a performance management framework to monitor the progress of the actions in the Plan and hold all partners to account including commissioned services

 

Discussion ensued with the following issues highlighted:-

 

-          A small working party of Head Teachers were working with officers who would join up at the next Head Teachers meeting.  The issue of the Authority influencing how the Government sports funding to Primary Schools was spent would be raised.  There was  concern that the schools could be working in isolation and it was hoped that discussion around the Plan on a Page would illustrate what a difference it could make to outcomes by them getting involved   

 

-          The All Party Select Committee had been hesitant about the impact of the Pupil Premium.  There were a number of vulnerable children in Rotherham and the Authority had a responsibility to ask schools how they were utilising  ...  view the full minutes text for item 201.

202.

Talent Match

-          Sara Graham, MIND, to report

Minutes:

Sara Graham reported that Talent Match had been successful in progressing to the next stage.   Sheffield Futures had to develop the business plan for submission by 24th June with the outcome being announced in September. Project delivery had to be set up by 6th January, 2014.

 

There were funds available for consultants to develop the business plan as well as setting up a young people’s consultation group.

 

Sheffield Futures was the lead for the Sheffield region and the Consortium lead for Rotherham; Rush House was the potential organisation from an operational perspective.

 

There were some areas still to be addressed and a meeting with the local Members of Parliament arranged.  It was also important to have private sector presence in the initiative. 

 

It was hoped a further report would be given to the Partnership in September, 2013.

 

Agreed:-  That the report be noted.

203.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

Resolved: -  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 4 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter).

 

Minutes:

Resolved: -  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended 2006 – information relates to finance and business affairs).

204.

Sexual Exploitation

-        Strategy and Action Plan

Kelly White, Safeguarding, to present

Minutes:

Discussion took place on the work that had taken place since the last meeting which included:-

 

-          Fact finding visits to Bradford and Rochdale, both cities that had had similar experiences to Rotherham, on what had worked for them and the pitfalls.  Very much concentrated on data analysis, correct data recording, the importance of day-to-day management and the need to look wider than Child Sexual Exploitation

 

-          The Police and Crime Commissioner now holding bi-monthly South Yorkshire wide meetings with key players.  Rotherham would be leading on the awareness of sexual exploitation across South Yorkshire and the barriers to data sharing at the next meeting

 

-          Safeguarding Conference held in Rotherham on 8th March.  A regional plan and report would be produced shortly

 

-          Website now up and running

 

-          Need for a Communications Strategy to keep members of the public informed of the work taking place.  Would be updated on a monthly basis

 

-          The need to get Health representation in the multi-agency team or, if not possible, a robust information sharing protocol

 

-          How to get the voluntary and community sector better involved in the multi-agency team

 

-          Visits had been made to the multi-agency team by Elected Members as well as undertaking Child Sexual Exploitation training.  The next target audience would be School Governors and Parish Councils

 

-          South Yorkshire Police had developed a tactical group involving the 4 local authorities due to the Force-wide issue

 

-          The Police and Crime Commissioner had provided funding for 5 extra Detective Constables who would work across the 4 Boroughs and a data analyst for Rotherham to co-ordinate and pass information onto partners

 

-          Although massive improvements had been made in a very short space of time, there was still a need for steep change

 

-          The Home Affairs Select Committee had yet to publish its report, but it was felt that it would state that multi-agency teams were the way to tackle CSE.  The Blackburn and Darwin model was made up of the local authority, Police, voluntary and community sector, Health and other partners in 1 team in the same building doing the same jobs at the same time.  The Authority may be open to criticism if it was not in a similar position by the time the report was published

 

Kelly White, Service Manager, Safeguarding, presented the draft Child Sexual Exploitation Strategy and Action Plan which had been drawn up with the influence of good practice and other models from around the country.

 

The Strategy covered the 3 Ps – Prevention, Protect and Pursue.

 

The documents had been considered by the Safeguarding Board and Improvement Panel and had been out to consultation in a very short period of time.  Following a few amendments the documents would then be launched by the end of the month.

 

It was noted that lead responsibility for the Plan rested with the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board.  

 

Agreed:-  (1)  That it be noted that key messages would be produced monthly to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 204.

205.

CAMHS Developments in Rotherham

-          Karen Etheridge, RDaSH, to present

Minutes:

Karen Etheridge, Assistant Director, and Dr. Alison Davies, Clinical Director, presented a report on the new service model aimed to improve patient experience of the CAMHS Service, provide timely interventions and to ensure expert advice and support was available 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

 

There had been no extra financial resources invested in the Service, however, the Service redesign and implementation of the model highlighted in the report enabled a more efficient and timely service for children who required mental health services.

 

Discussion ensued with reference made to:-

 

-          Recruitment of staff

-          Aim to have all the Service working in the community

-          4 Support Workers working around the transition from Children to Adult Services

-          The service would be in place from 2nd April.

 

The changes to the Service would be communicated to front line practitioners, together with the change of telephone numbers.

 

Agreed:-  That the report be noted.

206.

Helen Talbot, RCAT

Minutes:

The Chairman reported that it was Helen’s last meeting as she was retiring very shortly.

 

Helen was thanked for her input and wished a long and happy retirement.

207.

Date and Time of Next Meeting.

-          Wednesday, 22nd May

-          Wednesday, 17th July

All meetings will commence at 2.00 p.m. in the Town Hall, Rotherham

Minutes:

Agreed:-  That a further meeting be held on Wednesday, 22nd May, 2012, in Rotherham Town Hall commencing at 2.00 p.m.