The Committee held a minute’s silence for all children caught up in conflicts across the world.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2023.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2023.

Report of the Director of CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)

This report builds on the report to Scrutiny Committee on 20 July 2022 and provides an update on the exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health and well-being. Within this paper evidence suggested that children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing has been substantially impacted during the pandemic, which has resulted in higher prevalence, demand and acuity (complexity) for CAMHS.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of Al Ford, Director of CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) which built on the report to the Committee on 20 July 2022 and provided an update on the exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health and well-being.  Within this paper evidence suggested that children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing had been substantially impacted during the pandemic, which had resulted in higher prevalence, demand and acuity (complexity) for CAMHS.

Key points and themes in the report and presentation included:

·         Information on the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health and well-being;

·         Manchester CAMHS waiting time and demand; and

·         CAMHS response and transformation.

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

·         To welcome the work taking place;

·         Work in relation to development trauma and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD);

·         Waiting times and cancelled CAMHS appointments;

·         Medication shortages for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD);

·         The role of schools in supporting children and young people, and support for schools; and

·         The under-representation of males in the children and young people receiving treatment from CAMHS.

The Chair advised Members that the Committee would receive a report on FASD at a future meeting.

Al Ford, Director of CAMHS reported that CAMHS was not commissioned to provide a FASD service but that his service was developing a business case in relation to this as it was recognised that there was a gap in the health system in relation to FASD.  He informed Members that children who did not have the typical physical symptoms of FASD were often misconstrued as having autism or ADHD and that the service had a social development clinic which worked with children who were difficult to diagnose and that this clinic could diagnose FASD.  In relation to trauma, he reported that Greater Manchester was signed up to be a trauma-informed region and that CAMHS had a whole workforce transformation programme around trauma-informed practice.  A Member commented that autism could arise from FASD and that these were connected.  She also emphasised the importance of diagnosing developmental trauma.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People suggested that a larger piece of work on FASD was needed, involving both social care and health, and he asked the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services to discuss this further with the Member who raised it and CAMHS outside of the meeting.  He expressed concern that children’s well-being was not prioritised by the Government during the pandemic and that the COVID-19 Inquiry was not sufficiently focusing on this.  He also highlighted the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and rising poverty on children’s well-being.

The Chair supported the Executive Member’s comments about children not being prioritised during the pandemic.

Al Ford confirmed that the service kept a record of all cancelled appointments, whether they were cancelled by the service or the family, reporting that capacity issues and industrial action had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education)

Our Child Friendly Journey follows the success of 2022 ‘Our Year’. ‘Our Year’ started a movement and was a catalyst for a change in behaviour, to make sure children and young people are at the heart of everything we do in Manchester.  We always wanted this commitment to be long-lasting and one more thing that sets Manchester apart.

Manchester is working with UNICEF UK's Child Friendly Cities and Communities programme to put children's rights into practice. The programme aims to create communities where all children, whether they are living in care, using a children's centre, playscheme, youth centre or visiting their local library, have a meaningful say, and truly benefit from, the local decisions, services and spaces that shape their lives.

Committee members will have the benefit of an animated presentation, which will provide an overview of the emerging themes throughout our Discovery phase.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which provided an overview of work for Manchester to become internationally recognised as a ‘Child Friendly City’.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Background information;

·         Main issues;

·         Governance;

·         Development stage; and

·         Delivery stage.

The Committee watched a short video which provided an overview of the emerging themes throughout the Discovery phase of this work.

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

·         To welcome the report and the video and the approach being taken;

·         To welcome the wide expansion of the number of schools in Manchester which were Rights Respecting Schools from the three schools which had initially signed up for this;

·         That this was building an expectation among young people that their voices would be heard and raising a generation to be active citizens;

·         That climate change was a very important issue for children and young people, the effect of car fumes on children’s health and that children and young people needed positive actions that they could take to address climate change and to see the outcomes of this;

·         Making the city centre Child Friendly, including the advertisements on display;

·         The importance of play and ensuring that inclusive play was at the centre of every development in the city; and

·         Timescales for the action plan and the delivery stage.

A Member who was Lord Mayor during Our Year shared her experiences of the positive work that had taken place and emphasised the importance of listening to children and young people’s voices.  The Chair and other Members shared their experiences of taking part in the engagement with children and young people.  The Chair also commented on the important role that Social Value could play in this work.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People emphasised the importance of engaging with young people in a respectful and non-patronising manner, including explaining obstacles to implementing a suggestion and collaborating on finding solutions.  He provided an example from his ward about partnership working to ensure that public spaces were designed in way which provided an environment for children to play.  In response to a question from the Chair, he confirmed that the launch event would be at the Council meeting in January 2024.

The Strategic Director of Children and Education Services informed Members that supporting more schools to become Rights Respecting Schools was part of the Children and Young People’s Plan.  In response to a question about choosing the final three ‘badges’ from the five key top themes, he reported that innovation and creativity would be used to select the final three badges and that these would be announced in January 2024.  He reported that the timescale for creating the development plan was two to four months and that officers were already giving consideration to the content of the plan, although it could not be populated until the three badges were decided.  He reported that Cardiff had recently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services)

The annual report provides an overview and analysis of the work of the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) in the management of allegations against adults who work with children in a paid or voluntary capacity in Manchester, for the period 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022. This includes how effective the safeguarding partnership is discharging its statutory responsibilities. The report considers the learning and development over the last twelve months and sets priorities for 2023-2024 against this.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which provided an overview of the LADO Annual Report, which was included at appendix 1.  The Annual Report provided an overview and analysis of the work of the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) in the management of allegations against adults who worked with children in a paid or voluntary capacity in Manchester, for the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022. This included how effective the safeguarding partnership was in discharging its statutory responsibilities. The report considered the learning and development over the last twelve months and set priorities for 2023-2024 against this.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Background information; and

·         The priorities identified in the Annual Report which were:

o   To safely and effectively support employers whilst managing the LADO demand;

o   To raise awareness and develop the training offer to the children’s workforce; and

o   To build on the performance framework, to quality assure activity to focus on learning and improvement.

The Chair reported that recent safeguarding training had highlighted the role of the LADO.  In response to a Member’s question on the take-up of the training referred to in the report, the Service Lead (Safeguarding) informed the Committee that they had now started gathering data on this and would be able to include it in the LADO Annual Report from next year, advising that it was important to compare this data against the agencies which were seeking advice and guidance from the LADO.

Decision

To note the report.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer

The Council is forecasting an estimated budget shortfall of £46m in 2024/25, £86m in 2025/26, and £105m by 2026/27. After the application of approved and planned savings, and the use of c£17m smoothing reserves in each of the three years, this gap reduces to £1.6m in 2024/25, £30m in 2025/26 and £49m by 2026/27. This position assumes that the savings approved as part of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy in February 2023 of £36.2m over three years are delivered.  

This report provides a high-level overview of the updated budget position. Each scrutiny committee is invited to consider the current proposed changes which are within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive before it agrees to the final budget proposals in February 2024.

The Committee considered the report of Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer which informed Members that the Council was forecasting an estimated budget shortfall of £46m in 2024/25, £86m in 2025/26, and £105m by 2026/27. After the application of approved and planned savings, and the use of c£17m smoothing reserves in each of the three years, this gap reduced to £1.6m in 2024/25, £30m in 2025/26 and £49m by 2026/27. This position assumed that the savings approved as part of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy in February 2023 of £36.2m over three years were delivered. 

The report provided a high-level overview of the updated budget position.  The Committee was invited to consider the current proposed changes which were within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive before it agreed to the final budget proposals in February 2024.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·         Updates on the refreshed position including progress in reaching a balanced budget, reflecting preliminary savings and investment options;

·         The government was expected to announce the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023, but no major changes were expected;

·         Government funding for 2024/25 would be confirmed in the provisional finance settlement, expected late in December 2023;

·         The accompanying report set out the priorities and officer proposals for the services within the remit of this committee. This included a reminder of the savings proposals identified as part of last year’s budget setting process (£36.2m across three years) and additional savings for consideration (£2.5m from 2024/25). As far as possible these were aimed at protecting the delivery of council priorities and represented the least detrimental options; and

·         There remained a forecast shortfall of £1.6m next year. Any further reduction to the underspend this year would reduce the need to top back up General Fund reserve in 2024/25 and help bridge this shortfall. In addition, the Collection Fund position would be finalised in January and the final levy amounts from GMCA confirmed.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources expressed concern at the cuts to local authority funding over the last 14 years, the impact of inflation and the uncertainty caused by one-year financial settlements from the Government, which the Council would only be informed of in December.  He called on the Government to adequately fund local authorities and to provide a financial settlement for a number of years, rather than a year at a time, to enable local authorities to plan ahead.  In response to a Member’s question about the use of reserves, he reported that the Council had a general reserve fund of £25 million and would need to use some of this during the year to meet in-year pressures but that this would need to be replenished the following year.  He reported that after 2026/27 all the smoothing reserves would be depleted and the Council would only have its general reserve fund remaining. 

Decision

To note the report.

Report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services)

This report sets out the priorities for the services in the remit of this committee and details the initial revenue budget changes proposed by officers. Each scrutiny committee is invited to consider the current proposed changes which are within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive before it agrees to the final budget proposals in February 2024.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which set out the priorities for the services in the remit of the Committee and detailed the initial revenue budget changes proposed by officers.   The Committee was invited to consider the current proposed changes which were within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive before it agreed to the final budget proposals in February 2024.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Service overview and priorities;

·         Service budget and proposed changes;

·         Use of reserves;

·         Grants;

·         Commissioning and procurement priorities;

·         Workforce implications; and

·         Equality and anti-poverty impact.

The Head of Finance (Children, Education and Schools) informed the Committee that, since the report had been published, officers were no longer considering consulting with schools on a 0.5% transfer from the school block to support High Needs Block pressures for the next financial year, although it might be something that would need to be considered in 2025/26.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Director of Education confirmed to the Committee that the Council was continuing to claw back money from schools with excessive budget surpluses in order to support the High Needs Block.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People supported the earlier comments made by the Executive Member for Finance and Resources, under the previous budget item. and also expressed concern at profiteering in children’s placements, the Government’s handling of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and the lack of funding for school buildings; however, he welcomed that Manchester had managed to reduce its number of Looked After Children and had a more stable workforce than other areas. 

The Chair highlighted the progress that had been made since 2014, including the valuable role of edge of care services, while expressing concern at the cuts to Council budgets.  She stated that the level of cuts was unsustainable and that it was having a negative impact on children and families who were also being badly affected by Universal Credit cuts, increasing heating bills, rising rents and the cost-of-living crisis.

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

·         To welcome the focus on early intervention and cost avoidance;

·         To express concern that deprived areas of the country were most affected by budget cuts;

·         To thank officers for their outstanding work, in the face of significant cuts;

·         Concern about school budgets, in particular how schools would manage to fund the agreed pay rise out of their existing budgets; and

·         The importance of ensuring that as far as possible Manchester children were placed through providers which shared the Council’s values and were not profiteering.

In response to a request for clarification on workforce implications, the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services reported that there were no workforce implications from the budget proposals but that a lot of funding came from grants which were for a limited period of time, which presented a risk and challenge for the service to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

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.