Agenda, decisions and minutes

That the minutes of the meetinh held on 13 July 2016 be agreed as an acurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

1.1       RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2016 be agreed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee resolved to advise the Public Accounts Select Committee of the following responses to the following savings proposals:

Q6a-f: Developing Alternative Pathways

The Committee noted the savings and requested that should they be agreed by the Mayor and Cabinet, the Children and Young People Select Committee should receive feedback on progress post implementation so that the effect could be monitored and tracked.

Q7a and b: Redesign of Lewisham CAMHS

The Committee noted the savings but were concerned about the potential for negative impact on young people. The Committee requested that should these savings be agreed by the Mayor and Cabinet, the Children and Young People Select Committee should receive feedback on progress post implementation so that the effect could be monitored and tracked and any negative impacts could be mitigated.

Q8: Develop in-house fostering and specialist carers.

The Committee felt this proposal was positive and the initiative delivered an improvements to services as well as savings.

Q9: Enhance support for children on the edge of care.

The Committee felt this proposal was positive and the initiative would deliver an improvement to service as well as savings. The Committee requested that should this saving be agreed by the Mayor and Cabinet, the Children and Young People Select Committee should receive feedback on progress post implementation so that the effect could be monitored and tracked.

Q10: Enhance family finding capacity for step down.

The Committee noted the savings and requested that should this saving be agreed by the Mayor and Cabinet, the Children and Young People Select Committee should receive feedback on progress post implementation so that the effect could be monitored and tracked.

Q11a and b: Redesign of Meliot Centre

The Committee was concerned regarding the potential effects of changing staffing structures and requested that should this proposal be agreed by Mayor and Cabinet, the full report for Mayor and Cabinet on the proposed service change be provided to the Children and Young People Select Committee for scrutiny prior to it going to Mayor and Cabinet.

3.1       David Austin, Head of Corporate Resources gave an introduction to the Committee on the current financial situation outlining that the current 2016/17 General Fund budget was £236 million and there was a need for an additional £45 million ongoing savings in the next three years. This brought the total savings from 2010 to 2020 to £200 million. Additional appendices relating to savings proposal Q7 were handed round, a copy of which would be interleaved with the agenda. Following questions and challenge by members of the Committee, the following key points were highlighted:

·           The reasons the savings listed in section Q “Early Intervention and Safeguarding” were focussed on 2017/18 was that it was important to thoroughly understand the effect of the 2017/18 savings before committing to future years.

·           Children’s and Adult’s Social Care made up over 60% of the Council’s spend.

3.2       Sara Williams, Executive Director, Children and Young People, addressed the Committee. In her introduction and following questions and challenge from members of the Committee, the following key points were highlighted:

·         It had been nearly one year since the Ofsted review of Children’s Social Care and there had been a wide range of service improvement work being undertaken.

·         Making better use of budgets and more effective use of resources was a priority to improve and protect services to young people and families.

·         The changes in service delivery were emulating models that were successful in other local authorities.

3.3       Stephen Kitchman, Director, Children’s Social Care presented savings proposals Q6a-f to the Committee. During his introduction and following questions and challenge from members of the Committee, the following key points were highlighted:

·         There had been a strategic project to deliver savings and good outcomes for Care Leavers. There had previously been a reliance on expensive private housing providers and the proposal would develop an improved and cheaper in-house option by working with the colleagues in the Housing Team.

·         The proposals would not have a negative impact on the protection of children, any effects would be neutral or positive.

·         By working with young people at an earlier stage and before the age of 18, they could ensure every young person accessed housing benefit.

3.4       Warwick Tomsett, Head of Targeted Services and Joint Commissioning presented savings proposals Q7a and b. Councillor Jonathan Slater was also in attendance for this item in his capacity as Mental Health Champion. Following question and Challenge from members of the Committee the following key points were highlighted:

·         The total funding for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Lewisham was £4.2 million, of which the Local Authority’s contribution was just over £1 million.

·         By implementing the CAPA (Choice and Partnership Approach) model and ensuring a blended approach with early intervention support, access pathways would be improved and need considered at an earlier stage allowing young people to better access alternative sources of help. As much of the caseload previously did not meet thresholds for support the new model would represent an improvement for many people.

·         Funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Committee resolved to recommend the following to the Mayor and Cabinet:

1)    That additional information should be provided to demonstrate how any potential negative effects from changes to mandatory checks would be mitigated.

2)    That additional information be provided to the Children and Young People Select Committee on the proposed role of the school health service and the development of the teenage health service, as the service is developed.

3)    That the Mayor and Cabinet should receive a response from officers to the letter from the CCG dated 14^th September and handed round at CYP Select Committee, prior to making their decision on the Public Health Savings Proposals.

4.1       Warwick Tomsett, Head of Targeted Services and Joint Commissioning, introduced the report to the Committee. Catherine Bunten, Commissioning Manager, was also in attendance. A response to the consultation from the CCG was handed round, a copy of which would be interleaved with the agenda. In response to questions and challenge from members of the Committee, the following key points were highlighted:

·         The savings to school age nursing and health visiting formed part of the £4.7 million required savings from the Public Health budget.

·         Consultation results had shown a positive response to increasing links and joint working between children’s centres and health visiting although concerns were raised regarding potential duplication of work.

·         The proposals for health visiting and school nursing would maintain support for the most vulnerable.

·         The changes to school nursing would not mean less hours in schools overall but would change the skills mix of those that delivered information. Some services would be delivered by other practitioners.

·         The issues raised by the Young Advisors regarding access to Sex and Relationship Education would not be affected by the proposed changes to school age nursing, as this was not currently carried out by the school nursing service but by the schools themselves who maintained the statutory responsibility.  

Standing orders were suspended at 9.26pm

4.2       RESOLVED:

The Committee resolved to recommend the following to the Mayor and Cabinet:

1)    That additional information should be provided to demonstrate how any potential negative effects from changes to mandatory checks would be mitigated.

2)    That additional information be provided to the Children and Young People Select Committee on the proposed role of the school health service and the development of the teenage health service, as the service is developed.

3)    That the Mayor and Cabinet should receive a response from officers to the letter from the CCG dated 14^th September and handed round at CYP Select Committee, prior to making their decision on the Public Health Savings Proposals.

That the report be noted.

That Young Advisors Elizabeth Adewale and Kris Thomas be thanked for attending the meeting.

That comments made regarding the committee’s proposed review on the transition from primary to secondary school, be fed into the scoping paper which would be presented to the Committee at its next meeting.

5.1       Cllr Hilary Moore, Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee, introduced the item and invited young advisors Elizabeth Adewale and Kris Thomas to address the Committee. In the discussion that followed, the following key points were highlighted:

·         The review could consider after school provision in year 7 as this could be a challenge for some pupils and very different from their previous experiences in primary.

·         It could be useful to look at all through schools and their experiences and challenges with transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3.

·         The Young Advisors had discussed transition at their last meeting. Comments had included that they felt taster sessions of lessons had been really helpful. Getting to know new peers was also very important and could feel very daunting particularly for pupils who didn’t have many people they had previously known.

·         The review could include considering transition for pupils with additional needs and look at the particular challenges faced by these groups.

5.2       Councillors Sorba, Till and Paschoud had recently been on a visit to Kaleidoscope, Lewisham Centre for Children and Young People.  They had met frontline staff and looked at the services offered. They reported that they were impressed with the commitment and focus by staff and the child-centred approach. They particularly wanted to raise the issue of recruitment and retention of social workers and whether more could be done to incentivise working for Lewisham. 

5.3       RESOLVED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That Young Advisors Elizabeth Adewale and Kris Thomas be thanked for attending the meeting.

3)    That comments made regarding the committee’s proposed review on the transition from primary to secondary school, be fed into the scoping paper which would be presented to the Committee at its next meeting.

A referral to the Public Accounts Select Committee was made under item 3 Lewisham Future Programme. Please see the details as listed under the decision for that item.

A referral to Mayor and Cabinet was made under item 4 Public Health Savings. Please see the details as listed under the decision for that item.

6.1       RESOLVED:

A referral to the Public Accounts Select Committee was made under item 3 Lewisham Future Programme. Please see the details as listed under the decision for that item.

A referral to Mayor and Cabinet was made under item 4 Public Health Savings. Please see the details as listed under the decision for that item.