To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2021.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2021.

Report of the Strategic Director of Neighbourhoods

This report follows the Young Manchester review, which was commissioned by the City Council in December 2020, with a subsequent report presented to Executive in March 2021.That report considered the response to the review and actions proposed to build stronger and more effective arrangements going forward. An alternative delivery model was proposed to be designed and developed in 2021. This report provides a summary of the evidence and research collated during consultation with the wider youth and play sector during the spring and summer and sets out a revised model of delivery for the commissioning of the youth and play sector, which is currently a role undertaken by Young Manchester.  The report considers the response to the questions asked of the youth and play sector, as well as information collated from discussions with other Local Authorities in terms of their commissioning and youth partnership arrangements.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director of Neighbourhoods which followed the Young Manchester review, which was commissioned by the City Council in December 2020, with a subsequent report presented to Executive in March 2021. That report considered the response to the review and actions proposed to build stronger and more effective arrangements going forward.  An alternative delivery model was proposed to be designed and developed in 2021. This report provided a summary of the evidence and research collated during consultation with the wider youth and play sector during the spring and summer and set out a revised model of delivery for the commissioning of the youth and play sector, which was currently a role undertaken by Young Manchester.  The report considered the response to the questions asked of the youth and play sector, as well as information collated from discussions with other Local Authorities in terms of their commissioning and youth partnership arrangements.  The Committee was invited to comment on the report prior to its submission to the Executive on 20 October 2021.

The main points and themes within the report included:

• Developing the new model;
• Sector engagement findings;
• Research findings;
• Future commissioning; and
• Next steps.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services reported that Members had previously informed him that they were not aware of what funded youth and play work was taking place in their ward and that this proposal would improve the situation, formalising their involvement in the process and strengthening links between them, the providers and other agencies.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the report and the involvement of Members in the proposed process and that this should improve the way play and youth provision was allocated across different wards;
• To welcome the division of central Manchester into Central West and Central East and to ask where the boundaries would be; and
• Noting that the youth and play advisory panels for each area would have a Member on the panel, how would they be selected, commenting that it was important that they impartially represented the interests of all the wards in the area, not just their own ward.

The Ward Councillor for Fallowfield highlighted the recent case in her ward of a 16-year-old boy who had been murdered, prior to which there had been warning signs indicating his vulnerability and the involvement of a number of agencies.  She reported that issues could start to arise when children were aged around 12 or 13, starting with low level anti-social behaviour, issues at school and child criminal exploitation, subsequently escalating to very serious risk of harm.  She expressed concern at the public sector cuts over the years which had impacted on youth provision and the lack of youth provision in her ward and reported that, with the right intervention at an earlier age, many of these young people could be put on a better path in life.  She advised that it was important for each  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Presentation of the Strategic Head of Early Help, the Strategic Lead (Early Years) and Tracey Forster, Lead Manager, Health Visiting, Vulnerable Babies and Child Health Services, Local Care Organisation

This presentation provides an overview of the Start Well Strategy.

The Committee received a presentation of the Strategic Head of Early Help, the Strategic Lead (Early Years) and Tracey Forster, Lead Manager, Health Visiting, Vulnerable Babies and Child Health Services, MLCO, which provided an overview of the Start Well Strategy.

The main points and themes within the presentation included:

• The Start Well Partnership Board;
• The vision and principles of the Strategy;
• The current picture;
• The offer;
• The workforce; and
• Next steps.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the good, innovative work taking place;
• The take-up of Healthy Start vouchers;
• Smoking around hospitals;
• What work was being done to encourage breast-feeding; and
• The Health Visitor Service, including vacancy levels and whether home visits were being carried out, rather than virtual meetings with families.

The Chair praised the work of her local Sure Start Centre.  She also highlighted the positive work in her ward, including the Imagination Library and work to bring a range of services under one roof and suggested that these be introduced elsewhere.

The Strategic Head of Early Help advised that the take-up of Healthy Start vouchers was around 66% and that this had been identified as requiring further promotion, looking at all the organisations and professionals who had contact with pregnant women and new mothers and identifying opportunities to inform them about the scheme.  She reported that the Go Smoke-Free Pilot started at the ante natal stage so hospitals were involved with this work and she advised that she would communicate the Member’s point about smoking around hospitals to the steering group.

In response to comments from the Chair about the impact of the reduction in Universal Credit and rising fuel prices on families, the Strategic Head of Early Help acknowledged that addressing this would be a challenge.  She reported that, throughout the pandemic, there had been an increase in families asking Sure Start staff for advice and guidance and a lot of that had been linked to financial issues and poverty and she outlined some of the support provided to alleviate hardship, for example, providing meals to children accessing services in the Sure Start Centres and through links with food clubs.

The Commissioning Manager advised that 91% of Health Visitor posts were currently filled and that the service was half-way through a 4-year-plan to invest in training nurses to become Health Visitors.  He reported that visits were now taking place face-to-face again but that the service had also been praised for how quickly it had mobilised earlier in the pandemic to undertake checks remotely. 

Tracey Forster from Health Visiting, Vulnerable Babies and Child Health Services informed Members that the service had received significant funding about 3 years ago to set up an Integrated Infant Feeding Service in north Manchester, which provided advice and support on breastfeeding to new mothers and that the data showed that this had increased breastfeeding levels in that part of the city.  She advised that the Health Visiting Teams provided support on breastfeeding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Report of Adoption Performance

This report fulfils the obligations in Adoption National Minimum Standards (2011) and Adoption Service Statutory Guidance (2011) Adoption and Children Act 2002 to report to the “executive side” of the local authority.

The Committee received a report of Adoption Counts which fulfilled the obligations in Adoption National Minimum Standards (2011) and Adoption Service Statutory Guidance (2011) Adoption and Children Act 2002 to report to the “executive side” of the local authority.

The main points and themes within the report included:

• Working with Manchester;
• Performance;
• Disruptions;
• Quality of reports;
• Adoption support;
• Recruitment of adopters; and
• Practice developments in Adoption Counts.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• The impact of court delays;
• The recruitment of prospective adopters; and
• Positive experience of the process for people being assessed and prepared for becoming foster carers or adoptive parents.

The Deputy Director of Children’s Services confirmed that, due to the pandemic, there had been delays in children’s cases being heard, whether that related to adoption or other matters, and that this had had a negative impact, although it appeared that progress had since been made.  He advised that there were plans to discuss this issue with the local Family Justice Board, looking at some of the delays and identifying practical joint resolution to speed this up.

Sheila Davies from Adoption Counts informed the Committee that there was an ongoing recruitment strategy, as well as work taking place around National Adoption Week the following week, with a lot of this aimed towards Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities as children from these backgrounds were waiting longer to be matched.  The Chair suggested that billboards across the city could be used.

Decision

To note the report.

Report of the Strategic Lead (Safeguarding and Practice Improvement) and Service Lead (Safeguarding)

The purpose of the report is to provide an overview of the management of allegations in Manchester and the role of the Designated Officers (known as LADO throughout the report) between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2021.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Lead (Safeguarding and Practice Improvement) and the Service Lead (Safeguarding) which provided an overview of the management of allegations in Manchester and the role of the Designated Officers between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2021.

The main points and themes within the report included:

• The service and legal context;
• Overview of enquiries and referrals data - 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021;
• Managing allegations;
• Service reflection;
• Service achievements; and
• Key priority areas.

In response to a Member’s question about the differences in enquiry and referral levels between different sectors, the Strategic Lead (Safeguarding and Practice) advised that her service provided training to different agencies throughout the year to raise their awareness, looked at changes in patterns and compared statistics with those across the north west to identify any outliers which might be a cause for concern.

Decision

To note the report.

Report of the Director of Education

This report provides an update on the return of children and young people to education following the summer break and the arrangements in place in schools and colleges to report and manage COVID-19. The report has a particular focus on the work over the summer to ensure that young people in year 11 had a destination for September and ongoing work to reduce the numbers of young people in the City not in education, employment or training (NEET).

The Committee received a report of the Director of Education which provided an update on the return of children and young people to education following the summer break and the arrangements in place in schools and colleges to report and manage COVID-19. The report had a particular focus on the work over the summer to ensure that young people in year 11 had a destination for September and ongoing work to reduce the numbers of young people in the city not in education, employment or training (NEET).

The main points and themes within the report included:

• Key changes from the previous academic year;
• Numbers of positive cases;
• School attendance; and
• Post 16 and NEET young people during the pandemic and work to support this group.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• Whether any more up-to-date data on cases was available as the figures in the report only went up to 1 October 2021;
• Should face coverings be re-introduced in schools rather than waiting for infection rates to rise before taking further action; and
• How transitions from Year 6 to Year 7 had been managed.

The Education Business Partner advised that the latest figures showed a reduction with 191 cases, 168 positive children, 23 positive adults and 91 adults isolating.  She advised that officers met regularly with colleagues in the city and across Greater Manchester to look at case rates and discuss whether new instructions should be issued across schools or whether to continue with the individual plans for each school.  She confirmed that the Council could only provide advice to schools on the use of face coverings. 

In response to a question about the vaccination of young people, Lorraine Ganley from MLCO reported that the vaccination of 16 and 17-year-olds was being delivered through Manchester Health and Care Commissioning and the Primary Care Network Vaccination Hubs but that they were looking at delivering vaccinations to 12 to 15-year-olds through schools.  The Strategic Director of Children and Education Services informed the Committee that so far 38% of 16 and 17-year-olds in Manchester had had their first COVID-19 vaccination.

The Director of Education informed the Committee about work that had taken place to support children who were transitioning from Year 6 to Year 7, including the transition read.  She reported that very high COVID-19 infection rates had affected plans for face-to-face activities in transition week but that many schools had made alternative arrangements.  She advised that pupils transitioning to Year 7 appeared to have settled in well and attendance rates for Year 7 were very high, which was part of a positive trend for attendance rates in Manchester schools, which were currently significantly higher than the national average.

Decision

To note the report.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

This report provides the Committee with details of key decisions that fall within the Committee’s remit and an update on actions resulting from the Committee’s recommendations. The report also includes the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee is asked to amend as appropriate and agree.

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

Decision

To note the report and agree the work programme.