Agenda for Children & Young People's Trust Board on Monday, 20th July, 2009, 5.00pm
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Agenda, decisions and minutes
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Contact: Nara Miranda, Democratic Services Officer
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Procedural Business
(b) Declarations of Interest by all Members present of any personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Members regard the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.
(c) Exclusion of Press and Public - To consider whether, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting when any of the following items are under consideration.
NOTE: Any item appearing in Part 2 of the Agenda states in its heading either that it is confidential or the category under which the information disclosed in the report is exempt from disclosure and therefore not available to the public.
A list and description of the categories of exempt information is available for public inspection at Brighton and Hove Town Halls. Minutes: 10a Declarations of Substitutes
10.1 Councillors Randall and Alford declared they were attending the meeting a substitutes for Councillors Fryer and Kemble respectively.
10b Declarations of Interest
10.2 There were none.
10c Exclusion of Press & Public
10.3 In accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (‘the Act’), the Children & Young People’s Trust Board considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during an item of business on the grounds that it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press or public were present during that item, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information (as defined in section 100A(3) of the Act) or exempt information (as defined in section 100I(1) of the Act).
10.4 RESOLVED – That the Press and the Public be not excluded from the meeting. |
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Minutes of the Previous Meeting Minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2009 (copy attached). Minutes: 11.1 RESOLVED – That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 8 June 2009 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
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Chairman's Communications Minutes: 12.1 On behalf of the Chairman, Darren Grayson, PCT, informed Members that Julian Lee, currently the Deputy-Chairman of the Board, would be standing down as the Chair of the Brighton & Hove Primary Care Trust from the end of July 2009 and that Denise Stokoe would be replacing him in interim arrangements. Julian Lee had accepted an appointment with the Brighton & Sussex Universities Hospitals.
12.2 The Chairman passed on her congratulations to Julian Lee on his new appointment and, on behalf of the Board, thanked him for his work and contribution to the Children & Young People Trust Board. |
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2008/09 Final Outturn and Budget 2009/10
Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the total CYPT underspend of £2,725k, including an underspend of £1,308k on pooled budgets and an underspend of £1.417k on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) items, be noted.
2. That the movements in budget since Month 6, including the additional contributions from NHS Brighton and Hove (specified in table in paragraph 1.3 of the report), be noted.
3. That the budget for 2009/10 (specified in table in paragraph 3.4 of the report) be noted.
Minutes: 13.1 The Board considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services, which detailed the final outturn figures for the CYPT 2008/09 and outlined the budget for 2009/10 (for copy see minute book).
13.2 The Director of Children’s Services reported that the department had performed under budget in 2008/09. She pointed out, however, that this situation would be shortly sustained in view of the challenges that were foreseeable for the future. The Director indicated that, in 08/09, the department was not feeling the full impact of the Baby P and the Harrington case. She noted that the effects of the above events had been more visible recently with the increase of referrals, which would have an impact on the budget for next year.
13.3 Members enquired whether any consideration had been given to a potential cut in the education section as a way of achieving further savings.
13.4 The Director explained that the schools budget was a protected budget, though she recognised that some flexibility existed where Dedicated Schools Grant was concerned. She noted that schools had the final say on how they spend that money; however, the CYPT was able to have some input on it as well.
13.5 The Board welcomed the report. The Chairman noted the work carried out to produce the report and registered her thanks to all the officers involved in producing it.
13.6 RESOLVED – That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Board accepted the following recommendations:
(1) That the total CYPT underspend of £2,725k, including an underspend of £1,308k on pooled budgets and an underspend of £1.417k on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) items, be noted.
(2) That the movements in budget since Month 6, including the additional contributions from NHS Brighton and Hove (specified in table in paragraph 1.3 of the report), be noted.
(3) That the budget for 2009/10 (specified in table in paragraph 3.4 of the report) be noted.
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Parent's Forum Annual Report and Presentation Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the Parents’ Forum Annual Report 06-08 (The story so far) and the presentation from the Chair of the Parents’ Forum be noted. Minutes: 14.1 The Board considered a report from the Director of the Children’s Services concerning the Parents’ Forum Annual report, which updated Members on the work carried out and the progress of the Brighton & Hove Parents’ Forum (for copy see minute book).
14.2 The Parents’ Forum representatives and the Parents’ Forum Development Coordinator highlighted the activities in place to promote the involvement of the fathers; the work carried out for parents and teenagers; and was pleased with the growing emphasis given to consultation to capture service-users comments for further improvement. The representatives noted the good work done and achieved so far, but also recognised that a lot more work was still required (see appendix 1 to the minutes).
14.3 The Board very much welcomed the report and the presentation and noted its content. A question and answer session followed and members enquired about the inclusion aspect of the services and how foster and looked after children were taken account of in this process.
14.4 The Parents’ Forum Development Coordinator explained that officers utilised various methods in order to reach all parents, both working and non-working parents. Some of those tools were the printed reports and the services’ website. It was noted that children’s centres played a major part in the work of the Parents’ Forum and that, in this environment, mothers were mostly the target audience. It was recognised that more work was required with fathers.
14.5 In terms of foster and looked after children, officers recognised that this matter was part of what they still needed to work on. They explained that the events organised were open to all parents generally and, in this way, they were not targeted at any particular group of service-users. It was also noted that staff shortage in the section had an impact on how much and how quickly things could be implemented.
14.7 The Board reiterated its welcome of the report. The Chairman also registered her appreciation to all the volunteers involved with this work and thanked the Parents’ Forum representatives and the Parent’ Forum Development Coordinator for the presentation.
14.8 RESOLVED - that the Parents’ Forum Annual Report 06-08 (The story so far) and the presentation from the Chair of the Parents’ Forum be noted. |
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Performance Improvement Report Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the data and analysis in the PIR be noted and the action being taken to improve performance be agreed.
2. That the Board agrees to the inclusion of an additional indicator in future reports – ‘The number of children with a child protection plan’ - in order to monitor the sharp increase in child protection activity.
3. That the indicator ‘First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice System’ be removed as an exception report as performance was well above target during 2008/9.
Minutes: 15.1 The Board considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services concerning the Performance Improvement report, which presented the analysis for the final quarter 2008/09 (for copy see minute book).
15.2 The Assistant Director Strategic Commissioning & Governance highlighted the areas that were moving positively, namely in terms of the breast feeding record, under which Brighton & Hove came as the third best authority nationally. He pointed out that a number of challenges still remained, such as the issues around teenage pregnancy, child obesity and bullying in schools.
15.3 Councillor Randall referred to the young people not in education or training. He enquired what work was being done in this area for disabled children and queried whether children with ADHD were also considered in this work.
15.4 The Assistant Director confirmed that significant work was done in supporting children into mainstream school and to special schools and that the work also included transition support. The Director clarified that children with ADHD were also considered in this work, though in the lower range of the spectrum.
15.5 Councillor Alford referred to bullying in schools and enquired how the participants were recruited and how the information was recorded. The Assistant Director agreed to look into this information and report back to Councillor Alford.
15.6 Darren Grayson, PCT, reported that the teenage conception conference had taken place in the previous week and that the teenage conception plan had been relaunched. He proposed that regular updates be brought to the Board on the progress of that work. The Members were agreeable to this proposal.
15.7 RESOLVED – That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Board accepted the following recommendations:
(1) That the data and analysis in the PIR be noted and the action being taken to improve performance be agreed.
(2) That the Board agrees to the inclusion of an additional indicator in future reports – ‘The number of children with a child protection plan’ - in order to monitor the sharp increase in child protection activity.
(3) That the indicator ‘First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice System’ be removed as an exception report as performance was well above target during 2008/9.
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The Young Offenders' Employment project Presentation by the Brighton & Hove Youth Offending Team. Minutes: 16.1 The Board considered a presentation by the Brighton & Hove Youth Offending Team, concerning the Young Offenders’ Employment Project. The presentation informed Members about the project, which worked with young offenders with the aim of supporting them into the work environment and, in this way, also facilitating their re-integration into the community (see Appendix 2 to the minutes).
16.2 The Board very much welcomed the report and recognised that this work would contribute to breaking the cycle of worklessness for this group of vulnerable people. Discussions took place and clarification was sought as to how officers assessed the success rate of the project and whether there was an analysis in place to assess the level of re-offending.
16.3 The Education, Training and Employment Officer indicated that officers had a post-placement questionnaire in place. She noted, however, that only 33% of those taking up a placement completed it to the end. She stated that she did not think this low figure was necessarily negative and explained further that officers worked hard with the users to help them understand what they have achieved. In terms of the analysis of the nature of re-offending, the Officer indicated that no work had been done on that specifically, though it was something her team wished to follow up. She indicated, however, it was information which was hard to measure because the reasons for re-offending might be varied.
16.4 The Education, Training and Employment Officer referred to the employers’ profile and reported that the three long standing supporters of this work had been the Hove YMCA, the Rainbow Builders and the Honeycroft Nursery. She reported that the council currently offered no placements with this group.
16.5 The Education, Training and Employment Officer further indicated that officers wished to take advantage of every development in the city in order to include an automatic clause in their contract with the city to offer a percentage of jobs to young offenders. She reported that this approach was being currently negotiated with the Falmer Academy development.
16.6 The Director of Children’s Services confirmed that the Schools Futures Project Director was currently working with the Kier group of the Falmer Academy Development and the Youth Offending Team to support this work and invited the Employment Officer to contact him directly for further discussions and updates. She also reported that discussions were also taking place with the Housing department to get them involved with this project.
16.7 Members also offered suggestions, such as the Albion and the NHS Downs Health Trust, as further employers whom the Youth Offending Team should approach to discuss this project with. Councillor Randall agreed to take up with the Leader of the Council the proposal for the B&H City Council also becoming a prospective employer involved with this project.
16.8 The Director of Children’s Services noted that the Youth Offending Team had never had a prominent place on the Board’s agenda, which tended to focus on the more obvious issues around children and young people. She indicated that it was valuable that the Board had welcomed the presentation and showed such interest in this work. She proposed that the Board might be willing to look at ways of continuing to engage in this area, which was a vulnerable and necessary area of work.
16.9 Members echoed the Director’s comments and supported the proposal that the Board should also be focusing on this area of work. Members requested and welcomed regular updates, so they are kept informed of its progress.
16.10 Members welcomed the presentation. They thanked the Education, Training and Employment Officer and her team for working on such a project and for bringing it to their attention. Members recognised the work as an important service for this vulnerable section of the community.
16.11 RESOLVED – That the presentation and its content be noted. |
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Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the change management programme outlined in the report be endorsed.
2. That Members complete a self-analysis exercise as part of that change management programme (set in paragraph 3.6 of the report).
Minutes: 17.1 The Board considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services, which outlined work with the new national Commissioning Support Programme sponsored jointly by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Department of Health (DH) and asked the Board to participate in a short self-analysis as part of initiating a wider change management programme (for copy see minute book).
17.2 The Assistant Director, Strategic Commissioning & Governance, pointed out that this was the first step for the Board to engage with this proposal to enable them to start to construct a more encompassing commissioning arrangement for Brighton & Hove. He requested that Members sent their responses to the CYPT Board’s Committee Administrator by 3 August 2009, either online or via hard copy.
17.3 Members welcomed the report and the opportunity for the Board to engage as a body, with the inclusion of all the stake holders. Members sought clarification about the analysis of the responses and how that analysis would be utilised.
17.4 It was explained that the responses were likely to produce contextual information, relevant to each service consulted. The analysis would then be collated and brought to a future meeting of the Board, probably to its September meeting.
17.5 The Assistant Director requested that Members contacted him if any clarification was required in relation to the completion of the questionnaire.
17.6 RESOLVED - That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Board accepted the following recommendations:
(1) That the change management programme outlined in the report be endorsed.
(2) That Members complete a self-analysis exercise as part of that change management programme (set in paragraph 3.6 of the report).
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Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the Board agrees to adopt the Code of Practice for the CYPT.
2. The Director of Children’s Services is asked to ensure services produce more detailed guidance and develop systems to meet legal requirements (eg: provision of lockable storage), as required.
Minutes: 18.1 The Board considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services concerning the Code of Practice for information sharing for Brighton & Hove Children & Young People’s Trust. The report reported on the clear guidance requiring Children’s Trusts to produce a Code of Practice outlining expectations and duties for staff and managers about Information Sharing practices (for copy see minute book).
18.2 Members sought clarification about the next stage of the process following today’s meeting and enquired which body would take responsibility for monitoring its use.
18.3 The Assistant Director, Strategic Commissioning & Governance, clarified that once the Code of Practice had been passed by the Board, each partner was required to take it away to their own services and share it with their staff. He explained that monitoring would be part of a training strategy, which would be available for new staff taking work with the Children & Young People Trust.
18.4 Members welcomed the report and noted that these were important and significant steps in the process of information sharing. Members commended all the officers involved with this work and requested that information leaflets available on this matter be sent to all Members for information.
18.5 RESOLVED - That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Board accepted the following recommendations:
(1) That the Board agrees to adopt the Code of Practice for the CYPT.
(2) The Director of Children’s Services is asked to ensure services produce more detailed guidance and develop systems to meet legal requirements (eg: provision of lockable storage), as required.
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