Agenda for Children & Young People's Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Monday, 4th July, 2011, 5.00pm
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Agenda and minutes
PDF 196 KBVenue: Committee Room 1, Hove Town Hall
Contact: Sharmini Williams, Scrutiny Support Officer
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Procedural Business (Copy attached). Minutes: 1a. Declarations of Substitutions 1.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Vanessa Brown, Mike Wilson – representative for the Diocese of Chichester and Amanda Mortensen – Parent Governor Representative. Councillor Denise Cobb was substituting for Councillor Vanessa Brown.
1b. Declarations of Interest 1.2 The Chair declared a personal interest as she works at the Friends Centre which provides careers advice for all age groups.
1c. Declaration of Party Whip 1.3 There were none.
1d. Exclusion from the Press and Public 1.4 In accordance with section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it was considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of any items contained in the agenda, having regard to the nature of the business to be transacted and the nature of the proceedings and the likelihood as to whether, if members of the press and public were present, there would be disclosure to them of confidential or exempt information as defined in section 100I (1) of the said Act.
1.5 RESOLVED – The press and public be excluded from Agenda Item 7 – Public Question. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting Minutes of the previous meeting held on the 23 March 2011. (Copy attached). Minutes: 2.1 The minutes from the 23 March 2011 were approved by the Committee. |
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Chairs Communications Minutes: 3.1 The Chair welcomed all Members of CYPOSC to their first meeting. Members were informed that the next meeting would be at Brighton Town Hall in Committee Room 1. The Committee agreed to start the meeting at 4pm.
3.2 The Chair congratulated the Scrutiny Team on their recent national award for Innovation at the Centre for Public Scrutiny.
3.3 The Committee noted that there had been a change to the agenda as the Chair had accepted a letter from a member of the public and this would be heard as Agenda Item 4. |
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Letter from Ms. Paula Donovan was been received. Minutes: 4.1 The Chair informed Members that a letter from a member of the public had been received and that she had invited Ms. Donavan to introduce the letter to the Committee.
4.2 Ms. Donovan informed the Members of experiences with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services ((CAMHS), Sussex Partnership Trust (PCT)) in their failing to diagnose their son with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) in the 2 to 3 years he was under CAMHS. The correct diagnosis had to be made privately.
4.3 The main issues were substandard practices, which resulted in a formal complaint. The complaint was acknowledged and the Trust informed Ms. Donovan that a restructure of Sussex PCT – CAMHS would result in preventing these types of malpractices in the future.
4.4 The Committee were told that Ms. Donovan had heard from another family and Amaze that the same substandard practices were still continuing. These concerns needed to be addressed to improve the future diagnosis of children with ASC and other conditions and also to improve practices with parents. Ms. Donovan was advised to bring this matter to CYPOSC so that they could investigate this further.
4.5 The Committee were informed that further references were available on this particular case plus other national publications.
4.6 A Member informed the Committee that the School Exclusions Scrutiny Panel completed in 2010 heard evidence from families who raised concerns about CAMHS practices. The Scrutiny Panel made recommendations to CAMHS and that these recommendations would be reviewed later on the year. The Committee were also advised that there were different sections to CAMHS eg. Community and Clinical and that there was good practice within each of these.
4.7 RESOLVED - The Committee agreed to have a report to investigate the issues raised within the letter at their next meeting. |
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Questions & letters from Councillors No questions and letters have been received. Minutes: 5.1 There were no Councillor questions and letters. |
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CYPOSC Work Programme report Additional documents: Minutes: 7.1 Members were informed that ideas for the work programme had been collated and any further ideas could be forwarded on to the Scrutiny Officer.
7.2 Members had a discussion about the topics raised and agreed on the agenda for the next meeting.
7.3 The Committee also agreed to have a workshop on Council provision for children who are homeless, Children’s homes and the cost of emergency hostel provision in the City.
7.4 RESOLVED – (1) The Committee agreed to have the following reports at their next meeting : · Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) commissioning arrangements · An update on the Child Poverty Strategy · Special Educational Needs (SEN) Pilots
(2) Members agreed to have a workshop on Homelessness, Children’s homes and the cost of emergency hostel provision in the City. |
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Introduction to Children Services
Presentations from the:
On their priorities and challenges
Minutes: 6.1 The Strategic Director, People- Terry Parkin presented the “Overview of Services to Children” and is the accountable officer for safeguarding; partnership working across the city for education (public and private schools), children’s health (Sussex Partnership Trust and Sussex Community Trust) and social care.
6.2 The Lead Commissioner for Schools, Skills & Learning – Gil Sweetenham gave an overview of schools within the city, annual cohorts and the priorities which included secondary school standards and capital funding, school places and admissions and the SEN Green Paper.
6.3 The Lead Commissioner for Children’s, Youth and Families told Members how all children and families could access up to Level 3 services, progress through to other services, plus go back into support services. The planning of future services was focussed on early intervention. Priorities included partnership working with the GP consortiums/community services, the voluntary sector in the commissioning of disability services and Community CAMHS.
6.4 The Head of Service for Children and Families informed the Committee how this delivery unit provided Sure Start, Schools and Communities Support, Social Work, Fostering and Adoption, Intergrated Child Development and Disabilities, NHS Nursing and governance and Youth.
6.5 In response to a question on the education provision for life skills, stress management, careers advice and drug and alcohol education for children and young people, Members were told that the curriculum for schools came under the responsibility of Headteachers and not the local authority. Schools operate themselves with different curriculums and the local authority intervenes when necessary.
6.6 In answer to a question on the high demand for primary school places in Hove, the Committee were informed that the Connaught would open in September 2011 and be fully subscribed with 3 forms for reception pupils. Benfield had become an all-through Primary School to help meet the pressure for primary places in Hove/Portslade.
Further to this Davigdor Infant School and Somerhill Junior School had been expanded to help with the demand for local places. Westdeane, Goldstone and Queens Park had also expanded for September 2011.
6.7 A Member reiterated that targeted services such as personal and health education were required. In response to a question on youth services which previously worked with young people not in education, employment and training and how was this area being covered in the future, the Committee were advised that the Employability Project targeted getting young people into work. The Council were still waiting for the government to confirm this service within schools. The Project were engaging with young people however the legitimate issue of large numbers of graduates applying for the same jobs showed that the city had a limited entry into employment. Currently there was a Website and telephone number to support young people into employment.
6.8 In answer to a question on getting young people into employment who are Looked After and in Care, Members were informed that this was a significant problem and City College and the 14-19 Partnership were services that worked with these young people.
6.9 In response to a question on the progress of the Child Poverty Strategy and when would CYPOSC be consulted on the draft Strategy, the Committee were informed that the draft was due to go to the Public Service Board. CYPOSC agreed for the draft Child Poverty Strategy to be heard at their next meeting.
6.10 RESOLVED – CYPOSC agreed to hear the draft Child Poverty Strategy at 15 September meeting. |
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PART TWO SUMMARY |
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Ofsted Inspection of safeguarding and looked after children services Report of the Strategic Director, People – Exempt Category 3 (circulated to members only). Minutes: 8.1 The Committee went into Part two to discuss the Ofsted report for safeguarding and looked after children as a draft Action Plan was provided to address the “Areas of Improvement” detailed within the inspection report.
8.2 RESOLVED - The Committee agreed to :
(1) Receive information via e-mail on an explanation of Section 17 & 47 (2) Have a report on the SEN pilots at the next Committee meeting. (3) Receive a further update on the action plan. |