Agenda item

To inform the Committee of the work undertaken by Children’s Services on a day to day basis and to update on the progress and implementation of developments within the area to allow effective scrutiny.

Mrs Del Curtis, Director of People presented the Children’s Services Improvement Report and the Chairman invited questions from the Committee.

Members queried why South Shore had been identified to undertake the Transition Project and was advised by Councillor Jones, Cabinet Member for School Improvement and Children’s Safeguarding that a number of children within the ‘feeder’ schools of South Shore had been identified as requiring additional support. He added that if the project was successful it would be rolled out across Blackpool. The Committee discussed the importance of the transition between primary and secondary school and noted that it had also been identified by Ofsted as a key determinant in attainment.

The Committee also discussed the transient nature of children both within Blackpool and from out of the area moving into Blackpool. Councillor Jones advised the Committee that the Blackpool Challenge Board was considering ways of reducing the movement across the town to try and promote stability for students and schools. However, Members were informed that it was beyond the control of the Council to impact upon the number of people moving to Blackpool. It was noted that transience was an increasing pressure for schools that was difficult to manage.

The Committee highlighted the excellent Early Years inspection results and commended the good work.

The Committee also discussed the Emergency Duty Team and noted that it was formally under review as part of the budget savings target. Members noted that due to the 100% increase in calls to the Team reported at the last meeting of the Committee, it had been requested that an update be included on each Children’s Services Improvement Report. The Committee requested that further information on the review of the Team be presented to a future meeting of the Committee.

Members had a frank discussion on the case studies provided and the complexities of clinical thresholds. Mrs Curtis advised that there were many challenges pertaining to thresholds for a mental health diagnosis and the clinical judgement that some individuals had a behavioural issue rather than a mental health condition. She added that she had escalated her concerns nationally regarding the gap in service provision for the individuals. In response to further questioning, Councillor Jones advised that although there was not a long waiting list to access Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) it was the action taken after the referral which was the key concern. He added that additional concerns included access to CAMHS for children with a learning disability, the transition to adult mental health services and the aforementioned thresholds that determined if a condition was behavioural or mental health related and therefore requiring treatment. The Committee noted that these were concerns that should have been raised during the Mental Health Thematic Discussion and requested that a written response be sought from the appropriate health representatives following the meeting.

The Committee discussed the work of the Corporate Parent Panel and requested that further information be included within future reports to reflect the views of the young people raised through that Panel. It was noted that the recent Corporate Parent Conference had been inspirational and that the pledges made through the conference would be reported to the next meeting of the Committee. In addition, Members noted that the Corporate Parent Panel would be receiving an overview of all complaints related to Children’s Social Services and the Committee requested that the overview also be circulated to Committee Members outside of the meeting. Mrs Curtis advised that the overview of complaints would be expanded to include compliments.

The Chairman highlighted the recommendations resulting from the audit of children subject to child protection plans for a second time and queried who would monitor the implementation of the recommendation. Councillor Jones advised that he had regular meetings with the Director of Children’s Services and would ensure that they were implemented through the meetings.

Members discussed the continuing high numbers of looked after children per 10,000 population and were informed by Ms Hatton, Deputy Director Early Help and Social Care that Blackpool was an outlier, however, she added that despite the high numbers the performance of services against a number of indicators was above national average. Ms Hatton also advised that when deprivation was taken into account the number of looked after children in Blackpool was only four percent higher than expected.

The Committee further discussed the high proportion of children and young people participating in looked after children reviews and questioned the barriers to ensuring 100% of young people participated. Ms Hatton advised that some children and young people chose to opt out as participation was not mandatory and that there had also been some issues with engaging children and young people to complete paperwork. She added that in response to this barrier, the JustUz website had been developed and recently launched and children and young people would be able to engage in the process through the website removing the need for paperwork.

The targeted support being developed by BetterStart was discussed and Members queried how the sustainability of the initiatives could be ensured. Mrs Curtis advised that BetterStart intended to embed a system change in order to ensure sustainability and that the NSPCC had predetermined areas in Blackpool in which to base services during the funding bidding process. The Committee agreed to invite the Director for Blackpool’s BetterStart programme to a future meeting of the Committee to discuss the issue of sustainability further, gather information regarding the pathway to referral and query how the success of the programme would be measured.

Members discussed the summary of budget savings in relation to Children’s Services and noted that limited information could be provided to the Committee at the early stage in the process. The Committee requested that more detail be provided at the next meeting of the Committee to outline the impact of the cuts being made on service users.

The Committee agreed:

1.             To receive further information on the review of the Emergency Duty Team at a future meeting of the Committee.

2.             To forward the concerns and questions regarding the CAMHS Service to the appropriate health representatives for consideration and response.

3.             That the overview of complaints and compliments as provided to the Corporate Parent Panel be circulated to Members of the Committee outside of meetings.

4.             To invite the Director of the BetterStart Programme to a future meeting of the Committee.

5.             To receive additional information at the next meeting of the Committee regarding the budget cuts to Children’s Services and the impact of the cuts.