Agenda and draft minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 January 2024 as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission, held on 30 January 2024 be approved as a correct record of 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 of business on the agenda that required the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting.

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 advised that all the items regarding communication were covered on the agenda.

To consider any updates from the Corporate Parenting Panel.

The Chair advised that there had not been a meeting of Corporate Parenting Panel since the last update provided to the Commission. The next meeting of Corporate Parenting Panel would be on the 19 March 2024 and a further update would be provided to the new commission in the new municipal year.

The Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board commissioned the Local Government Association to carry out a Peer Review in July 2023 which identified a number of areas to further strengthen the safeguarding offer for Rotherham. Following the Peer Review, the Board held a Development Day in November 2023 to discuss the findings and recommendations.  An action plan was subsequently developed to reflect the areas for improvement as a result of learning from the Peer Review.

This agenda item follows a presentation of the initial findings to the Improving Lives Select Commission in October 2023, as part of the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report. It will also present the formal action plan developed in response to the Peer Review for Safeguarding Adults. 

In July 2023, the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board (RSAB) commissioned the Local Government Association (LGA) to carry out a Peer Review, which identified several areas to further strengthen the safeguarding offer for Rotherham. This agenda item followed a previous presentation of the initial findings to the Improving Lives Select Commission in October 2023, as part of the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report. This item presented the formal action plan developed in response to the Peer Review for Safeguarding Adults, to members of the Commission.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Kirsty Littlewood, Assistant Director for Adult Care and Integration, Moira Wilson, Independent Chair of the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board, Andrew Wells, Head of Service for Safeguarding and Mental Health and Jackie Scantlebury, Safeguarding Adult Board Manager.

The Chair invited Moira to introduce the report and lead on the presentation, during which the following was noted:

The LGA was invited to complete a Peer Review on the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board between the 11^th- 13^th July 2023. Peer challenges were an important part of ensuring continuous improvement.

The Two Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE)-

·       The Peer Review also looked across the board at all aspects of safeguarding, however the RSAB asked the Peer Review Team to focus on two specific KLOE’s which were:

?   Outcomes for and the experiences of people who used the services, this theme looked at what differences there had been to the outcomes people experiences in relation to adult safeguarding and the quality of the experience of people who used the services provided.

?   Leadership, strategy and working together, this theme looked at the leadership of the RSAB and how statutory duties were delivered. There was a recognised and active leadership to safeguard adults in each of the statutory partner organisations.

The Key Messages from the Peer Review-

·       All reviewers were positive in relation to the commitment in Rotherham.

·       Voices were listened to in Rotherham, but not yet heard at the RSAB.

·       The RSAB could go further on collaboration and constructive challenge.

·       To be an outstanding RSAB, sufficient resources were required to provide support and robust processes were required to plan and deliver the strategy.

·       Mainstreaming the pockets of excellent practice was advised and to celebrate the good work to show residents what was working well.

Recommendations-

To support RSAB on its improvement journey the peer team advised RSAB to act on the following recommendations:

·       To use the groups and mechanisms which already existed in partner organisations, to start to increase voice in the work of the Board. They also advised that RSAB ensured time would be taken to think what questions the RSAB would want to ask these groups.

·       To set aside time for a development session, to better understand the relevance of the various meetings, such as who attends them and why. The review team recommended reconsideration of the best way to include representation of the independent care provider market.

·       To review how agendas are set to encourage oversight of broader safeguarding related matters,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 162.

This agenda item will provide an update on the progress of the transformation project, associated with the Family Hubs and Start for Life Grant. This update  follows a previous update to Improving Lives Select Commission in March 2023.

This agenda item provided an update on the progress of the transformation project, associated with the Family Hubs and Start for Life Grant. The update followed a previous update to the Improving Lives Select Commission, in March 2023.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Councillor Cusworth, the Cabinet Member for Childrens and Young Peoples Services (CYPS), Robert Savage, Business Service Manager, Kelly White, Head of Service for First Response and acting Assistant Director for Early Help, Kirsty Woodhead, Locality Manager and Alex Hawley, Public Health Consultant.

The Chair invited Councillor Cusworth to introduce the report and Alex Hawley to lead on the presentation, during which the following was noted:

Rotherham was one of seventy-five local authorities that was chosen for the Family Hubs funding, due to high levels of deprivation. The funding was provided by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Care. The funding was provided for transformation work and only 5% was available for capital works.

Changes to management oversight-

·       The newly appointed Acting Assistant Director for Early Help and Business Support would lead the design of the refreshed Early Help Strategy, over the next few months.

·       To provide related support in the short term, the Interim Service Manager for Early Help and the Family Engagement Service had accepted additional responsibilities for the operational Early Help Service. The Consultant in Public Health with the Best Start and Beyond portfolio would lead the continuing Family Hubs transformation, and the Departmental Business Service Manager (CYPS) would support on the Family Hubs programme management.

Location of Family Hubs in Children’s Centres-

·       The Family Hubs programme was delivered across the Borough, using existing buildings which were familiar to children and families.

·       Sites were connected by the digital offer to provide face to face or virtual information, advice, and support for families.

Funded Strands-

·       Family Hubs transformation which included the branding and digital offer.

·       Perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships.

·       Parenting support.

·       Infant feeding support.

·       Home learning environment and speech, language, and communication.

·       Publishing the Start for Life offer.

·       Parent and Carer Panel.

Co-location in sights delivering the Family Hubs Programme-

·       Infant Feeding Specialist.

·       Three Nursery Nurses based in Family Hubs

·       Substance Misuse workers

·       Health including antenatal and 0 to19 services

·       MESMAC

·       Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

·       Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance (REMA)

·       Employment Support Advisers

·       Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

·       Digital Inclusion Team

·       Rotherham Rise

·       Voluntary Sector

·       Birth registration

·       Perinatal Mental Health

Locality Meetings-

·       Monthly multi-disciplinary meetings would bring together colleagues delivering or co-locating from buildings delivering the Family Hubs programme.

·       This would support strong communication between agencies and allowing a structured opportunity to share information about service delivery within the community.

·       It would support strong integration between agencies and practitioners and provide a forum to discuss joint working and shared delivery opportunities.

·       It would provide an opportunity to raise, discuss and resolve issues arising from co-location.

·       It would provide a forum to discuss the local community and arising themes or issues, and agree a joint  ...  view the full minutes text for item 163.

This agenda item will provide an update on Young Carers. A presentation will be provided to members, which will include a general update on the Young Carers agreement between September to December 2023, future priorities and engagement with schools.

This agenda item provided a presentation to the Commission on Young Carers following the Carers Strategy Update in July 2022. Two actions were identified relating to Young Carers which were:

·       That future reports in respect of Young Carers would include strong evidence of co-production and assurances that the perspectives of Young Carers are being heard. 

·       That the service would prioritise provision of leisure and culture activities for respite for Young Carers.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Helen Sweaton, Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning and Performance and Paul Stinson, Commissioning Manager.

The Chair invited Councillor Cusworth to introduce the report and Paul to lead on the presentation, during which the following was noted:

It was advised that the voice of children and young people was very important to the service and young carers attended the Children and Young People’s Partnership Board meetings on a regular basis.

Local Challenges and Opportunities-

·       Since January 2023, there was a statutory duty for all schools to identify young carers, and record who identified them in the Department for Education (DfE) school census data return. This was collected annually during the Spring census and sent to the council’s Performance and Quality Team. 

·       The first year of School Census data relating to young carers was released in June 2023. The data showed significant under-reporting of the number of young carers in school and of the 45,627 pupils, only 20 young carers were identified. The next return would be in May 2024.

·       Transition support for younger carers moving to secondary school and for young adult carers to transition to college and/or university was an opportunity to be considered in the future due to increasing demands.

·       Bereavement support for carers as they lose loved ones was an emerging issue.

·       Members of the Young Carers Council advised in November 2023, that they would like more links with leisure facilities to be held “outside of buildings” as young carers were often in their home, caring for long periods of time.

·       Partnership group work with health colleagues could be developed further to address mental health.

·       Barnardo’s supported the young carers they were working with in schools if needed, around absenteeism for appointments.

Young Carer’s Perspectives Were Being Heard-

·       Future reports in respect of young carers would include strong evidence of co-production and assurances that the perspectives of young carers were being heard. 

·       Specific questions in the lifestyle survey collated evidence of the perspective of young carers.

·       The young carers specification was being reviewed to ensure the perspective of young carers was included in all reports.

·       The young carers service would be co-produced.

Rotherham LifeStyle Survey Data Extract from Young Carers in Secondary School-

·       79% of Year Seven respondents (450) said caring for someone did not affect their school day.

·       81% of Year Ten respondents (329) said caring for someone did not affect their school day.

·       82% of Year Seven respondents (446) said it was very or sometimes important to them to have someone in school who fully understood their caring role  ...  view the full minutes text for item 164.

To consider and approve the Commission’s Work Programme.

The Chair advised that the Commissions Work Programme for 2023-2024 had been completed and the new Work Programme for 2024-2025 would be determined by the new Commission, in the new municipal year.

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

The Chair advised that the Preparation for Adulthood Spotlight Review was held on the 15 February 2024. The Review very productive and it highlighted that there was a robust partnership element and an imbedded strengths-based approach.

The Chair thanked all attendee’s and officers for the attending the Review and advised that there would be a further meeting on 12 March for members to discuss and agree the recommendations and next steps.

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

There was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on 18 June 2024 commencing at 10:00 am in Rotherham Town Hall.

The Chair advised that the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission would take place on 18 June 2024 commencing at 10am in Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved:- That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on 18 June 2024 commencing at 10am in Rotherham Town Hall.