Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services which provided an update on the wider impact of Covid-19 on children and young people in Leicestershire.  This included in Early Years, Safeguarding, the Children and Family Wellbeing Service and Education Effectiveness.  The report also detailed how the department had responded.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ is filed with these minutes. 

Arising from the discussion, the following points were raised:

i)                The Director stated that the Coronavirus pandemic had posed unprecedented pressures and challenges and it was known that this specifically presented a higher level of risk for some children.  It was pleasing to note that the service had adapted and changed the way it had delivered services to reflect the changing circumstances, guidance and restrictions and had dealt with the additional pressures presented by local lockdowns.

ii)               The Association for Young People’s Health had produced a report which suggested that children and young people had been disproportionately impacted by the social, educational and economic impacts of the pandemic.  There was evidence that many of the known risk factors for poorer outcomes for children and young people had been increased and those already facing challenges seemed to have been the hardest hit.  The report also highlighted particular concern about the possible ‘slow burn’ impacts of educational and employment constraints and the role the pandemic was playing in widening health inequalities.

iii)             Barnardo’s had commissioned a number of surveys with children and young people and at least a third of those surveyed said that they had experienced an increase of mental health and wellbeing issues and nearly 75% said that they had missed going to school or college.  The findings had suggested that Covid-19 had had a disproportionate impact on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

iv)             The County Council’s Policy Team had recently undertaken a project titled ‘Conversations about Covid’, which aimed to understand the full impact of the pandemic on local people.  The project had spoken with a range of people and a wide range of experiences had been revealed.  The Children and Family Service also actively sought feedback from children, young people and their families on an ongoing basis.  The Barnardo’s national consultation had been adapted and used to obtain timely localised data.  As a result of the survey, the Leicester and Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Children Partnerships had continued to highlight young people’s mental health as a key part of their business plan and had commissioned an audit of CAMHS waiting lists.

v)              A member raised the point that a general lack of engagement was an issue for schools and it was queried what more could be done to increase engagement.  The Director responded that there had been an increase in children being electively home educated but there was confidence that schools were doing everything they could to support children on returning to school.  Assurance was also provided that the department was supporting children in returning to school.  It would be necessary to continue to monitor this over the coming years.

vi)             The Director confirmed that the same level of support was provided across all age groups.  However, there had generally been greater attendance in Primary schools and more issues with those not attending in secondary schools.

vii)           The Director stated that the longer term impact of Covid-19 was not yet clear, but it could result in further increases in the number of children and families requiring support with concerns over their short-term and long-term educational achievement and mental health.  This would continue to be monitored.

The Director recorded her thanks to staff across the service and to those working in the education sector during the pandemic and this was reiterated by the Lead Member for Children and Families.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.