Venue: Sparkenhoe Committee Room, County Hall, Glenfield
Contact: Mrs. J. Twomey (0116 305 6462) Email: joanne.twomey@leics.gov.uk
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Also in attendance Mr I. Ould CC Mr G. Hart CC |
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Apologies for absence Apologies for absence were received from Canon Mary Lawson, Mr John Perry and Mr Bernard Monaghan. |
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2013 were taken as read, confirmed and signed. |
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Question Time. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35. |
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Questions asked by members under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5). Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5). |
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Urgent Items. Minutes: There were no urgent items for consideration. |
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Declarations of interest. Minutes: The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting. Ms. K. Knaggs CC, Mr D. Snartt CC,
Mr L. Spence CC and Mr G. Welsh CC declared personal interests in matters
relating to schools as they had family members who taught in Leicestershire. Mr L. Spence CC and Ms K. Knaggs CC indicated that, whilst
this did not amount to an interest to be declared at this meeting, they felt it
relevant to report that they were employed by academies within the County. Mr Snartt CC and Mr T. Pendleton CC declared a personal
interest in agenda item 9, ‘Supporting Leicestershire Families Performance Monitoring
Report’ as members of the Supporting Leicestershire Families Board. |
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Declarations of the Party Whip in accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 16. Minutes: There were no declarations of the party whip. |
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Presentation of Petitions under Standing Order 36. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no petitions had been received under Standing Order 36. |
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Performance Report for First Response Central Duty and Children's Social Care. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services, the purpose of which was to present the performance of the First Response Central Duty Team and the Children’s Social Care Team over the first two quarters of the 2013/14 business year (1 April to 30 September 2013). A copy of the report is filed with these minutes. Arising from discussion, the following points were noted: i.
Reassurance was sought that the number of cases being
audited were adequate and proportionate to the number of calls being received
through the service. It was noted that
the auditing of eight case files formed only part of the performance audits
being undertaken and therefore the information detailed in the report
highlighted only a small sample of those cases assessed; ii.
The Signs of Safety toolkit had been produced
with considerable input from practitioners, making use of their knowledge and
expertise of dealing with difficult cases.
It had been academically verified and was being increasingly used by
partners. Staff had been trained to
ensure they were competent and confident in using this toolkit and feedback had
been very positive. Training was also
available to partners through the Leicestershire Safeguarding Children Board; iii.
Concern was raised about the difficulties
experienced in obtaining GP support for Adoption Panel meetings and the delay
and distress this caused to families. It
was noted that the Department had sought the requisite paediatric help, but
that, locally, GPs had limited time available to support the Panel on a regular
basis. Action had been taken to try to
commission this support from elsewhere but, at present, this had been
unsuccessful. The matter would be taken
to the Health and Wellbeing Board for further consideration with partners; iv.
Leicester City Council, following a review and
re-modelling of its own working arrangements, had given notice that it would no
longer be able to provide the Emergency Duty Team service for the County Council’s children and young people’s and adult social
care services. Arrangements had therefore
been made to provide the service in house. However, the number of calls being
received had been higher than expected and therefore, to ensure the service was
resilient for the future, growth funding of £200,000 had been proposed in the
current budget; v.
The children and young people and adult social
care emergency duty teams were kept separate due to the differing nature and
volume of calls received. The majority
of adult social care cases related to either care packages or mental health
matters. For children and young people,
this focused on protection matters and the need for early help. The expertise required to manage these calls
varied significantly; vi.
Members applauded the work of the Children’s
Voice project and the film created by the children in care following a visit to
Auschwitz – Birkenau.
Members strongly supported use of the film on a wider basis and the
Chairman requested that members who might have a suggestion for the constructive
use of the film to notify officers; vii.
The Strengthening Families Team worked solely
with children who were subject to a child protection plan. There was overlap in this Teams approach to
families and that adopted by Family Support Workers under the Supporting
Leicestershire Families (SLF) programme.
The SLF team had recently been transferred to the Children and Young
People’s Service and a review of current structures would be undertaken which
might see these teams working more closely in future. For now, strong links between the two teams
had been established and information was being shared on an ongoing
basis. RESOLVED: (a) That ... view the full minutes text for item 36. |
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Supporting Leicestershire Families Performance Monitoring Report. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services, the purpose of which was to present an overview of the first six months of the Supporting Leicestershire Families Service and the outcomes for families. A copy of the report is filed with these minutes. Arising from discussion, the following points were noted: i.
The Supporting Leicestershire Families Service
now formed part of the Children and Young People’s Service which, in future, would
be called Children and Family Services; ii.
Members welcomed the work being undertaken
through the programme and the outcomes achieved so far. The Committee unanimously supported the view
that a whole family approach provided long term benefits both for the
individuals being supported and the County Council and its partners through
reduced need for other services; iii.
As part of its amalgamation within Children and
Young People’s Services, a review would be undertaken to ensure the culture and
practices now adopted through the SLF programme were carried forward and
embedded across other parts of the Service.
This would ensure that those areas working well would continue, where
possible, beyond the envisaged 2 year timescale for the programme; iv.
The data collected so far had predominantly been
based on the information that central government required for the Payment By Results scheme.
Seventy families had been reviewed as part of the process, but this was
an early assessment, only six months into the programme; v.
It was intended that in 2014, focus would be
given to improving performance measures to ensure more outcomes and cost
benefits were assessed. Both high level
and specific measures would be identified.
The process would also be joined together with other performance
monitoring arrangements currently undertaken by the Service, in particular with
Early Help. RESOLVED: That the performance of the Supporting Leicestershire Families Programme as at December 2013 be noted. |
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Medium Term Financial Strategy 2014/15 - 2017/18. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services and the Director of Corporate Resources on the proposed Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the period 2013/14 to 2016/17 as it related to the Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS). A copy of the report is filed with these minutes. The Chairman
welcomed to the meeting the Cabinet Lead Member for Children and Young People,
Mr I. D. Ould CC, and the Cabinet Support Member, Mr G. Hart CC, who attended
for this item. The following
points arose from discussion and questions: Overall Context i.
The
Children and Young People’s Service had already made savings of £30m since 2010
and was now required to find a further £12.7m from a budget of £59m; ii.
Savings
proposals had been developed in consultation with service managers. Focus had been given to ensuring that Child
Protection Services were not adversely affected. Also, wherever possible, frontline Child Care
Services would be protected. However,
this would not mean that such services would continue as at present, they would
be subject to review to ensure that where possible any additional efficiency
savings were realised; iii.
Some of
the savings proposals outlined were aspirational, particularly efficiency
savings arising from item S2 (Supporting Leicestershire Families Programme)
which were dependent upon the programme continuing successfully to reduce
pressures across the Department; iv.
The
budget proposals made no provision for additional national service pressures
that were likely to arise from changes to the Special Educational Needs
assessment process. There were also some
uncertainties; for example, an analysis of the financial implications of the
change to enable children to stay within the foster care system up to the age
of 21 had been undertaken, but this was an estimate and the true costs would be
unclear for some time; Growth v.
Recognising
the difficult financial situation the growth included in item G4 (Quality of
Education) was particularly welcomed; Savings vi.
Item S2
(Supporting Leicestershire Families Programme), S17 (Safeguarding Services) and
S18 (Early Help/Early Intervention) – An assurance was sought that savings
arising from these proposals would not adversely impact on the quality of
safeguarding services or undermine the good work that had been achieved by the
Supporting Leicestershire Families Programme in reducing demand for CYPS
services. The Cabinet Lead Member
indicated that he was relatively satisfied that current standards would be
maintained, but there were some uncertainties which meant that the budget and
priorities proposed would need to be monitored and reviewed throughout the
year; vii.
Item S4
(Homeless 16/17 year olds) – There would be no reduction in services arising
from this saving. The savings had been
achieved as a result of joint re-commissioning by the Children and Families and
Adults and Communities Department of the existing Supporting People contract
for care leavers; viii.
Item S5
(Short breaks for disabled children) – This budget had been underspent in the
previous two years and the saving of £300,000 was the proportion of the budget
that had not been used; ix.
Item S7
(Voluntary Sector Support) – A discussion had taken place at an early stage
with Voluntary Action LeicesterShire and other
voluntary groups regarding pressures on the Council’s budget and the need for
the Council to re-focus grant support for the voluntary sector which would
realise a majority of the savings. The
remainder of the savings could potentially be achieved by voluntary sector
service providers coming together, thereby reducing overheads; Dedicated
Schools Grant x. Leicestershire continued to be a low funded authority. The committee noted the work of F40 (The Campaign Group for Fairer Funding in Education) ... view the full minutes text for item 38. |
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Date of next meeting. The
next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on Monday 24 March
2014 at 2.00pm. Minutes: RESOLVED: It was noted that the next meeting of the Commission would be held on 24 March 2014 at 2.00pm. |
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Chairman's Announcements. Minutes: Supporting Leicestershire Families Service The Chairman reminded members that they had recently been notified that the Supporting Leicestershire Families Service would be showcasing their work in the Members Lounge from 3.00pm. Members had been invited to visit the display, meet the team and hear about some of the work that has been taking place across the County. Canon Mary Lawson The Chairman reported that Mrs Lawson, the Church of England co-opted member on the Committee, would be leaving her position as Church of England Director of Education at the end of the month. The Chairman felt sure that the Committee would wish to join him in thanking Mrs Lawson for her contribution to the Committee over the years and wishing her well for the future. Ashmount School,
Loughborough The Chairman reported that an opening event for the new special school in Loughborough called Ashmount School would be held in February and that invitations to attend this would be distributed shortly. |