To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2023.

The Chair welcomed the new Committee Member, Councillor Marsh. 

The Representative of the Diocese of Manchester informed the Committee of the issues that her Diocese was responding to in relation to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) within school buildings that it was responsible for.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2023.

At the request of the Chair, the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services provided the Committee with an overview of the JTAI taking place in Manchester.   The inspection started on 25 September 2023 and was due to conclude with five days fieldwork activity and feedback to senior leaders on 13 October 2023.  The inspection was led by Ofsted and involved a total of 12 inspectors from the CQC (Care Quality Commission), Ofsted (schools and social care), HMPI (HM Inspectorate of Probation) and HMICFRS (HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services).  In addition, the Violence Reduction Unit would be within scope as a key partner.   Each inspectorate was engaged directly with their usual regulatory area, for example, the CQC reviewed NHS activity, data and records.

The scope of the inspection considered three broad areas.

•          Strategic Partnership responses to serious youth violence (how well did we work together, understand and respond to issues in Manchester)

•          Intervention with individual and groups of children affected by serious youth violence and criminal exploitation (how did we provide timely, purposeful and impact positively into children and their family’s lives)

•          Intervention in places and spaces (contextual safeguarding and how we used intelligence to inform activity and disrupt)

Ofsted was due to publish the letter on 30th November 2023 in respect of their findings, to which an action plan would be required in due course.

The Chair advised that the findings would be submitted to either the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee or the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee.

Decision

That the findings of the JTAI will be considered by the relevant scrutiny committee.

The Committee considered a report and two presentations of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which provided an update on the Our Children Sufficiency Strategy 2022 – 27 and outlined Children’s Services’ response to the Supported Accommodation Regulations (March 2023) and the requirement to register all supported accommodation with Ofsted.

Key points and themes in the Sufficiency presentation included:

• Commissioning provision;
• Implementation timeline, including the launch of Mockingbird; and
• Internal service provision.

Key points and themes in the Supported Accommodation report and presentation included:

• Background information;
• Categories of registration;
• Demographics;
• Framework for inspection;
• Our provision; and
• Challenge/risk and service response.

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

• To welcome the positive work the Council was doing with its partners;
• To welcome work to ensure that Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children were in touch with local support networks;
• To welcome that young people had been involved in the decision-making in relation to this work;
• Identifying and supporting young people with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) or a neuro-behavioural problem;
• Young people waiting for a place in supported accommodation; and
• Support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people with no immigration status when they reached 18.

The Strategic Director of Children and Education Services reported that FASD and other conditions could be identified through the Annual Health Assessment and he informed Members about work to increase the number of review health assessments and plans to develop a Health Profile, which could include the number of children with FASD.  He also informed Members about the transition process, which included an assessment of young people’s needs, and highlighted the use of dual registration accommodation, which was registered with both Ofsted and the CQC, and the focus on providing a stable home.  In response to a Member’s question, he advised that the aim was for children to grow up within their local community and that the Council had a performance measure for placing children within 20 miles of their home address, which the vast majority were.

In response to a Member’s question about the outstanding activities on the project plan, the Assistant Director (Children in Care and Care Leavers) reported that a lot of work had been completed since the report had been published, while highlighting some of the activity which remained outstanding and the reasons for this, including some work which could not be completed until the Inspection Framework was published.  She reported that young people who were waiting for a place in supported accommodation would remain in their current placement until a place became available for them.  In response to a Member’s question, she outlined how the Council worked with other local authorities through the Greater Manchester Care Leaver Board with the aim of ensuring that young people across Greater Manchester had the same experience, regardless of their home local authority, and that reciprocal arrangements were used to best support young people.  In relation to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, she reported that the number of young people over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report provides an update on the capital works undertaken on site, sets out the progress made since GLL stepped in with the operational management of Ghyll Head and provides context for the current operating environment.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an update on the capital works undertaken on site, set out the progress made since Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) stepped in with the operational management of Ghyll Head and provided context for the current operating environment.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Background information;
• Capital business case and implementation;
• Trading position and challenges; and
• Next steps.

The Committee was shown a video about the provision at Ghyll Head and the benefits for Manchester young people.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People highlighted the investment which had been made into Ghyll Head to make it sustainable for the future.

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care, addressed the Committee as the Council’s Elected Member Representative on the Strategic Advisory Group.  He spoke positively about his own experiences at Ghyll Head.  He informed Members about the work that had taken place over recent years, including the development of the Outdoor Education Strategy, and he thanked those involved.  He highlighted the improvements in the infrastructure and the use of the space.  He reported that workforce recruitment was still a challenge but that GLL, MCRactive and Council officers were working to find innovative solutions and that this was continuing to be closely monitored.  He highlighted the financial challenges that schools were facing and the importance of working to source funding to help children from deprived wards to access Ghyll Head.  He praised the work of the Heads of the Centre, MCRactive, Council officers and Manchester Outdoor Education Trust (MOET) and the positive partnership with GLL.

Jeff Seneviratne, Chair of MOET, reported that, when he had last attended the Committee four years ago, the future of Ghyll Head had looked uncertain but that, while there remained challenges, the decisions made to invest in the centre had secured its future.  He welcomed the decision to involve MOET in the future of Ghyll Head and he highlighted the importance of ensuring that, rather than young people having a one-off trip to Ghyll Head, this should be part of a wider outdoor education.  He outlined some of the work taking place to achieve this including developing resources in and near the city, including accessible facilities, and workforce development for teachers and youth workers to help them to build on what young people learnt at Ghyll Head. 

Nicky Boothroyd from MCRactive informed the Committee that a research team at Sheffield Hallam University had been engaged to help develop a strategy focusing on participation and that work was also taking place to identify facilities within the city.

Members welcomed that Ghyll Head was a fantastic asset for the city and shared positive experiences of Ghyll Head and the benefits for children and young people. 

In response to a Member’s comments about leisure centres and digital exclusion, the Interim Lead for Leisure, Events and Specialist Markets offered to discuss this with the Member outside of the meeting.

In response to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report provides an update on the outcome of the youth and play commissioning process.  It also provides an update on the highlights from the HAF Programme, an overview of the Department of Culture, Media & Sport’s (DCMS) YIF Programme andan update on Manchester’s YIF capital programme.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an update on the outcome of the youth and play commissioning process. It also provided an update on the highlights from the HAF Programme, an overview of the Department of Culture, Media & Sport’s (DCMS) YIF Programme and an update on Manchester’s YIF capital programme.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Policy context;
• Decision-making processes for youth and play commissioning;
• Applications, funding awards and development;
• Quality assurance;
• Holiday Activities Fund (HAF); and
• Youth Investment Fund (Capital) Programme.

The Head of Libraries, Galleries, Culture and Youth, Play and Participation Services thanked officers for all their hard work in relation to these areas of work.

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

• The challenges in deciding who would be awarded funding because of the volume of applications and the limited funding available;
• Support for organisations which had not been successful in obtaining funding or had not been awarded the full amount of funding that they had asked for; and
• Issues with territory and young people not wanting to travel to different areas.

The Commissioning and Engagement Manager reported that positive meetings had taken place with organisations who had not been successful in obtaining funding and that these organisations had been offered support, including training opportunities, feedback on their application and, in some cases, smaller amounts of funding.  He reported that the Council had offered help with finding alternative sources of funding and help with writing their applications, if needed.  He acknowledged that there had been difficult decisions on awarding funding and that the vast majority of organisations had not received what they had asked for; however, he reported that there was a robust process in place for making the decisions, with decisions made based on the merit of the application and assessed against the agreed criteria, considering whether they were meeting the needs of local communities and in line with national and local strategies.  In response to a further question, he advised Members that the additional £500,000 referred to in the report was to support groups and build their capacity, including training and development for their staff, such as youth work qualifications.

In response to a question from the Chair about coverage across different wards, the Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People reported that the Council always wanted to improve in terms of having more provision and a more equitable coverage across the city; however, having brought the commissioning programme back in-house, the Council now had better knowledge of current provision, was monitoring it and would ensure that organisations were delivering to the areas they had said they would.  In response to a Member’s question about grassroots organisations, he reported that the Council could provide help and support to these groups and suggested that they could apply to the HAF Fund.  He thanked those in the youth and play sector for their work.

The Commissioning and Engagement Manager reported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

The monthly report includes the recommendations monitor, relevant key decisions, the Committee’s work programme and any items for information.

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.