Agenda and minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 December 2020 as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Resolved: - That the minutes of the meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission held on 15 December 2020 be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items requiring the exclusion of the public or press. 

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

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

To receive communications from the Chair in respect of matters within the Commission’s remit and work programme.

The Chair noted that she had attended the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel on 5 January and advised that a full written update would be circulated to members.

The Chair advised that an additional meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission had been scheduled for Monday 22 March to enable members to receive a report on key performance indicators across the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate.

The Assistant Director - Adult Social Care and Integration and the Safeguarding Adults Board Manager attended the meeting to present the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board 2019/20 Annual Report.

It was noted that the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board (RSAB) worked to protect adults with care and support needs form abuse and neglect with its key objective being to ensure that local safeguarding arrangements and partnerships acted to help and protect adults at risk or experiencing neglect and/or abuse. The report stated that the RSAB was a multi-agency strategic, rather than operational, partnership that was made up of senior/lead officers within adult social services, criminal justice, health, housing, community safety, voluntary organisations. It was noted that the main role of the RSAB was to coordinate the strategic development of adult safeguarding across Rotherham and to ensure the effectiveness of the work undertaken by Partner Agencies in the area.

The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager made a presentation to the meeting that included information on:

·       The priorities of the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board.

·       Achievements during 2019/20, including:

·       Completing the first joint self-assessment with the Rotherham Children's Safeguarding Partnership.

·       Carrying out a training needs analysis across the partnership to develop a refreshed safeguarding training offer.

·       Holding a successful Safeguarding Awareness Week in 2019.

·       Plans for future activity.

The Assistant Director - Adult Social Care and Integration advised that a key area focus of activity for the RSAB in the coming year would be the issue of hoarding and self-neglect with the objective to improve the level of support provided in this area. The Assistant Director stated that work would also continue be carried out in order to ensure that all safeguarding activity was based around the individual needs of each service user.

The full Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board 2019/20 Annual Report had been included in the agenda pack for the meeting.

Members asked for further information on the training that had been provided across the RSAB membership and whether training had been provided to voluntary sector organisations. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager stated that training had been provided to voluntary sector organisations and noted that a new training provider was now working with the RSAB, with the training programme due to be relaunched in Spring 2021. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager noted that the demands of the pandemic had resulted in a reduced take up of training but advised that the imminent relaunch of the training would aim to increase the uptake of training opportunities.

Members noted the multiagency approach of the RSAB and asked for further information on the different organisations that had accessed safeguarding training. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager stated that it was a key objective of the RSAB to deliver safeguarding awareness training as widely as possible, noting that banks and supermarkets held leaflets on to increase awareness on safeguarding issues and advised that banks had assisted in the delivery of awareness training regarding financial abuse.

The Chair asked for further information on the work that was being carried out to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Neighbourhood Working, the Strategic Director – Children and Young People’s Services, the Assistant Director - Early Help and Family Engagement and the Service Manager - Evidence Based Hub and Youth Offending Team attended the meeting to present a report that detailed the outcomes of the HM Inspector of Prisons inspection of the Rotherham Youth Offending Team (YOT) that had taken place between 14 and 17 September 2020. It was noted that due to the impact of the pandemic that the inspection had been carried out remotely. The inspection had looked at YOT activity over the three domains of Organisational Delivery, Court Disposals and Out of Court Disposals.

Jenny Lingrell, Joint Assistant Director, Commissioning, Performance and Inclusion, Alison Cowie and Paul Theaker from Rotherham NHS/CCG, Catherine Barnett, Youth Justice Board Acting Head of Innovation and Engagment, Yorkshire and Humberside and Inspectors Natalie Gilmour and Abdul Aziz of South Yorkshire Police also attended the meeting for this item.

The Inspection report had been published on 17 December 2020 with the Overall judgement being “Requires Improvement”. The full inspection report was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

In introducing the report, the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Neighbourhood Working noted the disappointment that had been felt across the service when the outcome of the inspection had been announced as “Requires Improvement”. Despite the disappointment , the Deputy Leader advised that he was pleased to note the swift response taken by the Assistant Director - Early Help and Family Engagement, the Service Manager - Evidence Based Hub and Youth Offending Team to implement the recommendations that would address the areas of concern that had been detailed in inspection report. The Deputy Leader noted that while the outcome had been “Requires Improvement” that the inspection report had highlighted many examples of good practice across the service.

The Strategic Director – Children and Young People’s Services echoed the disappointment in the outcome of the inspection that had been expressed by the Deputy Leader. The Strategic Director noted the extra challenges that an inspection carried out virtually had created for reducing the opportunities for officers across the YOT to have the type of communication with the inspection team that would have been possible had the inspection taken place physically. The Strategic Director advised that she would also now be attending YOT Board meetings along with Chief Superintendent Steve Chapman of South Yorkshire Police.

The officer’s report provided a summary of the activities that were planned to address the issues raised in the inspection. The full Inspection Action Plan was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

The Assistant Director - Early Help and Family Engagement and the Service Manager - Evidence Based Hub and Youth Offending Team made a presentation to the meeting that presented the findings of the inspection and detailed the activities planned to address the areas of concern highlighted in the report.

As a result of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 134.

To consider and approve the Commission’s Work Programme.

The Committee considered its Work Programme for 2020/21.  

Resolved: -  

1)    That the Work Programme be updated as discussed.

2)    That the Work Programme for 2020/21 be approved.

To monitor the progress of recommendations made by the Improving Lives Select Commission

The Committee considered the outstanding actions on the Monitoring Report.  

Resolved: - That Monitoring Report be noted.

For the Chair/project group leads to provide an update on the activity regarding sub and project groups of the he Improving Lives Select Commission.

The Chair provided a progress report on sub and project group activity.  

Resolved: -   That the update be noted.

To consider any item(s) the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

The next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Tuesday 9 March at 5:30pm as a Microsoft Teams Meeting.  

Resolved: -   That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Tuesday 9 March 2021 at 5:30pm as a Microsoft Teams meeting.