Agenda item

To provide an update on the progress of the Blackpool Youth Justice Service Improvement Plan theme area of Transitions.

Ms Sara McCartan, Head of Adolescent Service updated the Committee on the progress of the Blackpool Youth Justice Service Improvement Plan theme of ‘Transitions’. She explained that early in 2020 the Youth Justice Board (YJB) had requested that all Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) complete a self-assessment based on the updated Standards for Children in Youth Justice Services (2019). Five self-assessments had been completed, one of which had focused on Transitions. The Committee was informed that the Transitions theme was a child first approach which focused holistically on the variety of transitions a child might make. The Youth Justice Board had acknowledged that Transitions was a new area for YOTs to develop and as such would require a substantial commitment from partner agencies to achieve progress and practice development. The YJB planned to undertake moderation and validation visits to authorities where needed and in January 2021 Blackpool Youth Justice Service had been notified that the YJB assessment team felt that Blackpool had given an honest National Standards assessment of Blackpool's improvement journey. The YJB acknowledged that Blackpool was now at the stage of implementing and adopting tools, systems and processes and therefore no further action from the YJB was needed.

Ms McCartan reported that at the end of December 2020 the Council had been informed by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) that Blackpool had been chosen to be part of a Northwest area pilot thematic inspection of youth to adult transitions across criminal justice agencies. The inspection would set out to see what influenced the decision to transition a young person and what a good transition looked like for them at each stage. In response to a question from the Committee as to the anticipated date for the inspection, Ms McCartan informed Members that the inspection would begin on the week commencing 17 May 2021 and that the requested data had already been submitted to the Inspectorate.

With regards to the Youth Court, the Committee sought clarification over when the new Court building would be opened and whether specific facilities for the Youth Court would be provided. Mrs Diane Booth, Director of Children’s Services confirmed that the need to provide suitable facilities to accommodate young people had been made clear and she anticipated that the new arrangements would be an improvement on the previous facilities.

In relation to the areas identified by the self-assessment as requiring improvement, the Committee asked whether these would be fed into the YOT Improvement Plan. Ms McCartan assured Members that the Improvement Plan was a robust framework for improvement which focused on five themes in line with the Youth Justice Board’s National Standards for Youth Justice, with each of the themes identifying a designated lead person from the YOT partnership:

·      Out of Court (led by the Head of Criminal Justice, Lancashire Constabulary),

·      In Court (led by Legal Team Manager, Blackpool Magistrates Court),

·      In the Community (led by Service Manager Targeted Intervention Service, Blackpool Council),

·      In secure (led by Business Development Manager, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool and Lancashire Children Safeguarding Assurance Partnership),

·      On Transitions and resettlement (led by Education Inclusion lead and YOT Service Manager, Blackpool Council).

The Committee was informed that the Improvement Plan had been drawn up by the partnership and was monitored through the governance of the YOT Executive Board. Whilst Ms McCartan acknowledged the progress and strengths identified via the self-assessment audit, she noted that the area of Transitions required further work and a wider, more holistic approach which was underway.

The Committee requested further information in relation to the assertion that Our Children who were looked after were disproportionality supported by the YOT service. Ms McCartan identified the issue as a national trend and anticipated improvements would be made via the outcomes of the working party established specifically to consider the issue. The Committee requested that the data be reported back to a future meeting as appropriate.

The Committee agreed: That the data relating to the proportion of Our Children who were looked after be reported to a future meeting of the Committee following the outcomes of the working party examining the issue.