On 7 November 2017 Executive was asked to approve a period of consultation on a proposed new Prevention and Early Help delivery model. 

The Strategic Director of Children’s Services will submit Document “W” which asks the Shipley Area Committee to consider and comment on the report as part of formal consultation.

Recommended –

(1)  That the Area Committee notes formal consultation is underway from 15 November 2017 until 12 February 2018 with all interested parties as outlined in Appendix 12 to Document “W”.

(2)  That the Area Committee consider and comment on the report.

(3)  That it be noted that Executive will receive a further report in April 2018 following formal consultation.

(Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

(Judith Kirk– 01274 431078)

On 7 November 2017 Executive was asked to approve a period of consultation on a proposed new Prevention and Early Help delivery model. 

The Strategic Director of Children’s Services submitted Document “W” which asked the Committee to consider and comment on the report as part of the formal consultation.

The report outlined the need for proposed changes to how services were delivered in order to ensure resources were targeted, at a time of increasing demand, to avoid a detrimental impact on outcomes to children.  It was explained that unprecedented reductions in government funding meant that the Department of Children’s Services could not deliver services in the way it previously had.  The proposed focus would be on a partnership approach which was more targeted to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for children and young people across the District.

The Deputy Director, Education, Employment and Skills addressed the meeting and provided a visual depiction, in diagrammatic form, of the proposed changes to how the children’s centre core offer across the district would be provided.  The proposals would result in a move from separate services (the seven Children’s Centre clusters and five Early Help clusters) to one new Prevention and Early Help Service, bringing together services for 0-19 year olds. The preferred model included a combination of a small group of central services and four new Prevention and Early Help teams.  Based on the Families’ Needs Assessment it was proposed that the four area based teams would cover Keighley/Shipley combined; Bradford East; Bradford West and Bradford South.  There would be two types of teams working in each area dealing with both case management and preventative measures.  The proposals would cut out duplication and implement a whole family approach where families would not receive a series of interventions from different services.

She tabled a map showing the rates of deprivation across the Shipley and Keighley constituencies, the presentation being used for the public consultation and data showing an overview of the needs of families in Bradford and Airedale on a ward level.

In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:

·         The governance arrangements in relation to how the proposed ‘commissioning fund’ (referred to in paragraph 1.20 of the report) would be apportioned and distributed had not yet been considered.  This fund was proposed in order to support development in the four localities.

·         Some services such as Health Visiting and School Nursing would continue to be provided universally.

·         Existing successful initiatives with the voluntary sector were being picked up throughout the consultation.

·         Clusters and pockets of deprivation would be identified via the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

·         Locality teams would be set up according to need.

·         The job descriptions for staff in the new model would reflect a flexible workforce to enable staff to easily work across localities.

·         There were eight children’s centres that were being considered for re-designation as Outreach bases.

·         The proposals could lead to the reduction of approximately 350 jobs (240 full time equivalent). Exact figures were not available at the meeting and would be confirmed to Members after the meeting.

·         There was a 5-6% turnover of staff and, where possible, vacancies were not being filled or being filled on a temporary basis.

·         A complete evaluation of all responses received to the consultation would be carried out after the consultation closed on 12 February 2018.  There had been over 700 responses to the questionnaire and 26 face to face consultations.  A full analysis of the information gathered would be reported to the Executive on 5 April 2018 for a decision to be made on how to proceed.

·         Stringent performance monitoring would continue to be in place to ensure outcomes (on the outcomes based framework) were being met.

·         Schools played a fundamental role to this work and officers had worked with a number of head teachers in developing the proposed model.  There were also school representatives on key partnership boards.

It was explained that the Families First programme was part of the prevention strand of this model. It was based on payments by results and was monitored by central government.  Regular reports were submitted to the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and it was agreed that the latest report outlining performance would be circulated to Members for information.

A Member raised concerns about the time being taken for families to receive appointments with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).  In response it was explained that this was a service provided by the NHS.  Members were informed that the government had recently published a green paper on children and young people’s mental health focusing on earlier intervention and prevention, which the Council would be submitting its comments on as part of this national consultation.  Members were also informed that a joint Health and Social Care and Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee had recently discussed children and young people’s mental health and, as a result of the comments made by young people at that meeting, the Clinical Commissioning Groups had commissioned the Youth Service to extend the ‘buddy scheme’ which had been implemented and was working well.

Members made the following comments:

·         The Keighley and Shipley constituencies had the biggest proportion of rural area and dispersed need within the district.

·         Actions to overcome the ‘silo’ mentality were welcomed.

·         That a named key officer contact would be helpful for Members as a first point of contact.

·         With reference to paragraph 2.51 of the report; language and questions used in all consultation documents and surveys should be clear for anyone to understand.

·         The proposed Prevention and Early Help partnership delivery framework (Appendix 7a to the report) was difficult to understand.

·         The Council’s use of social media had vastly increased and improved over recent years and could be used to gather feedback on the consultation; geographical areas could be targeted through Twitter and it would cost less than producing paper documents.

·         That the re-designation of any children’s centres should be considered for community use to support communities to help themselves.

Resolved –

(1)  That the Area Committee notes formal consultation is underway from 15 November 2017 until 12 February 2018 with all interested parties as outlined in Appendix 12 to Document “W”.

(2)  That the following comments be included as the Committee’s response to the consultation:

(i)               That Councillors have a key named contact.

(ii)              That language for all be plain, simple and understandable and that efforts be made to include non-responders by other means e.g. social media.

(iii)             That a potential vehicle for allocating funding could be through the Grants Advisory Group with the necessary guidance from officers.

(iv)            That consideration be given to the rural and dispersed nature of the Shipley and Keighley constituencies.

(v)             That ‘not working in silos’ be applauded.

(vi)            That ‘one key worker for one family’ be welcomed.

(vii)           That ‘supporting communities to help themselves’ be welcomed and that consideration be given to retaining a base for this work to be undertaken.

(viii)          That Members feed any other comments they may wish to make during the consultation period.

(3)  That it be noted that Executive will receive a further report in April 2018 following formal consultation.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Children’s Services

ACTION: Strategic Director, Children’s Services