The Chair informed the Committee that this would be that last meeting attended by Councillor Collins and Ms Neall, Parent Governor Representative. The Chair thanked them both for their valued contribution to the Committee over the previous years. 

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2018.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2018.

Report of the Executive Director of Nursing & Safeguarding, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning

This report provides an overview of transformation work in relation to children and young people’s health services, with a focus on mental health. 

The Committee received a report of the Professor Craig Harris, Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning which provided detailed information on the actions taken to deliver the children and young people’s transformation programme, to ensure the system provided the best support for all children and young people and the right support at the right time for those who were most vulnerable.

Professor Harris referred to the main points and themes within the report which included:

·                Providing a description and ambition of the Children and Young People’s (CYP) plan;

·                An update on the Children and Young People’s summit and how this had informed the development of the CYP transformation programme and work streams;

·                A description of the CYP integrated commissioning strategy;

·                A description of the CYP transformation steering group and programme work streams;

·                Information on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and transforming care;

·                Measures to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and reduce the length of stay in hospital;

·                The protocols, procedures and quality assurance for children with complex needs;

·                Children and young people’s mental health and care that focused on prevention, early identification, early intervention and self-care;

·                Vulnerable groups (including safeguarding and Our Children);

·                Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership CYP health and wellbeing framework;

·                What was known about CYP mental health in Manchester;

·                CYP mental health outcomes; and

·                The Greater Manchester Review of Children’s Services.

Councillor Midgley, Mental Health Champion, had been invited to address the Committee. She said that she welcomed the report and the holistic approach to children and young people’s health. She reported that, in her experience, staff working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) were dedicated and caring professionals; however, she had concerns regarding the caseloads of staff.  She commented that additional funding and research into this important area of care was required. She asked for clarification regarding waiting times for young people accessing services. She further commented that more needed to be done to offer community-based prevention services, stating that investment in these models of care would be more cost effective than crisis services and ultimately better for young people and their families. She enquired about the important role of the Voluntary and Community Sector and how this work was being coordinated. 

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

·                Welcoming the voice of young people being present throughout the work described;

·                Did Our Children (children looked after by the local authority) have the same access to CAHMS and what provision was made for any children who were placed out of area;

·                Further information was sought regarding the Kooth service;

·                An explanation was sought regarding the reported 64% increase in requests for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs);

·                To request that a specific report on CAMHS be submitted to the Committee that included case studies, information on the delivery and future planning of services in the context of financial cuts and an analysis of outcomes; and

·                To request a future  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Report of the Director of Children’s Services

This report provides a further update on the progress and impact of the Early Help Strategy and the delivery of the offer of early help. The report covers the refresh of the Early Help Strategy in 2018, highlights the activity and impact from the Early Help Hubs, and outlines future priorities. 

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services which provided a further update on the progress and impact of the Early Help Strategy and the delivery of the offer of Early Help. The report covered the refresh of the Early Help Strategy in 2018, highlighted the activity and impact from the Early Help Hubs, and outlined future priorities. 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included:

·                Governance and Accountability Arrangements;

·                Early Help Strategy;

·                Early Help Hubs and Partnerships;

·                Work undertaken with schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs);

·                Performance and Impact;

·                Early Help Assessments;

·                Impact of the Early Help Hubs; 

·                Quality Assurance; and

·                Future Priorities.

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

·                Request to see the analysis of the Troubled Families outcomes for 2017;

·                Members’ positive experiences of visiting the Early Help Hub in south Manchester;

·                How the relationship with schools could be improved;

·                Request for a breakdown of the statistics at ward or district level;

·                Concern about the number of referrals related to homelessness due to rent arrears; and

·                What was “Liquid Logic”.

The Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services informed Members that Liquid Logic was the provider of the new IT system for recording cases and generating data which would go live in May 2019.  He reported that he and the Director of Education were having conversations with school leadership teams on how they could work more effectively together to make limited resources go further.  The Strategic Lead for Early Help and Interventions informed Members that her service was doing a lot of work with schools.  She outlined work taking place with the PRUs and the learning which had come from that.  She reported that there was a school attendance officer based in every Early Help Hub and that staff in the Hubs worked closely with Education Caseworkers and with schools and families around attendance issues and in-school behaviour.  She informed Members that Bridging the Gap sessions were now taking place to provide advice and guidance in relation to specific cases and to share general information.  She reported that since 2015 90% of schools had completed an Early Help Assessment and that training had been provided to schools staff which had resulted in an increase in Early Help Assessments.  She reported that her service was speaking to schools about any barriers which stopped them from engaging with this work and looking at how these could be addressed; however, she advised that there could still be positive early intervention work going on in these schools, which they were not recording through the Early Help Assessment process.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services acknowledged that the Council needed to respond better on the issue of homelessness, due to cuts in government support, and reported he would be meeting with officers and Executive Members with responsibility for housing, homelessness and adult social care to identify ways to improve the Council’s response.

Decisions

1.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Presentation of the Directorate of Children’s and Education Services

This presentation provides proxy indicators on progress to improve children’s services.

The Committee received a presentation of the Deputy Director of Children’s Services which provided proxy indicators on progress to improve children’s services.

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the presentation which included:

·                Registrations for Early Help Assessments (EHAs);

·                Referral rates to children’s social care;

·                The percentage of children subject to a child protection plan for a second or subsequent time; and

·                Children Missing from Home.

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

·                That Members were satisfied with the format in which this information was presented, noting that this information would be provided to the Committee on a quarterly basis;

·                The different targets for primary and secondary schools on the scorecard and whether Ofsted judgements provided a useful measure of schools’ performance; and

·                Whether it was appropriate to have targets for factors over which the Council did not have control.

The Chair reported that Committee Members would receive a training session on the Ofsted Frameworks and on school attainment measures, including Progress 8, arranged by the Scrutiny Team Leader, and requested an update on when this would be delivered.  The Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services advised that some of the figures in the presentation were for benchmarking purposes rather than being targets and were used to compare Manchester with other cities.  He reported that the figures were intended to provoke a conversation and that the most important thing was how the Council responded to this information.

Decisions

1.         To continue to receive this information on a quarterly basis.

2.         To request an update on progress to arrange a training session for Members, to include the Ofsted Frameworks and school attainment measures.

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.

The Chair commented that he would review the Work Programme and agree an appropriate meeting date for the report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to be submitted for consideration.

Decision

To note the report and agree the work programme, noting the comments from the Chair.