To receive apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Mr Sam Pratley, Education Co-optee, Mr Darryl Freeman, Corporate Director, Childrens and Young People, Jane Ellis Healthwatch.

Councillors Toni Fagan and Helen I’Anson, attended the meeting remotely and did not vote on the resolutions of the Committee.

To receive details of members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a member of the committee.

Andrew Teale – Standing in for Sam Pratley

To receive declarations of interest in respect of Schedule 1, Schedule 2 or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting on 22 February 2022.

Resolved: It was resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2022 be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chairperson.

At this point it was put forward that the actions and minute tracker be brought forward to just after the minutes, but after discussion and committee members not being advised in advance, it was agreed to review these at the end of the meeting, but that in future meetings the action tracker would be reviewed after the minutes were approved.

The Chair was pleased to report to the Committee that the Archdiocese of Cardiff co-optee had been nominated and this would now begin the induction process, with the view of being a full member by the April meeting. Recommendations have been made to the legal team in regards to the parent’s co-optee position. The process still needs completing and induction needs to take place, with hopes that the committee will be able to agree the co-opted member at the next meeting in April.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Wednesday 16^th March

Accepted questions and answers will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting. Please submit questions to: councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk. 

Further information and guidance is available at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/getinvolved

There were no questions from Members of the Public

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Wednesday 16^th March.

Accepted questions and answers will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting. Please submit questions to: councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk. 

There were no questions from Councillors.

To report to the committee the impact of the pandemic on the mental health
and well-being of children in our education system – including both the statutory aspects (i.e., schools
and colleges) and non-statutory (i.e. pre-school) settings.)

The Assistant Director for Education, Development and Skills introduced the report the purpose of which was for the Committee to consider the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and well-being of children in our education system

During discussion the following principal points were noted:

•           Schools are still experiencing the pandemic and its effects, therefore they are not yet in the post-pandemic stage. It is still a very active issue and the impact being felt is not yet fully understood. Work continues with schools to assess the full effects that COVID has had on both children’s and teacher’s mental health.

•           Concerns were noted that early years was ill prepared for the issues of the pandemic. But it is hoped, as a result of continuing review, that we will see future improvements.

•           Early years issues have been played(?) down due to resources being stretched when the pandemic arrived.  Half of nurseries closed in the first week or so of the pandemic.

•           Recovery is one of the priorities in improving advisory support and how nurseries can manage their business model to be more resilient.

•           It was recognised that perinatal assistance was introduced to support with the 0+ years. Communication with perinatal services is up and running, and partnership meetings are taking place.  Information is being shared between different organisations, but it was acknowledged that further communication is needed to ensure all perinatal services can contribute and benefit from this assistance

•           Schools have been offered additional training with pastoral care.  However, it is felt that this has not been enough and not systematically applied.

•           Funds from central government exist, but they tend to come with conditions attached, with the money only able to be spent on specific things. We are seeing that most funding is now community facing instead of school facing.

•           Further, conditions for some grants require schools to use their reserves before being eligible to apply for recovery grant funding.

•           Following further questioning it was explained that the number of extra pupils being affected by mental health because of the pandemic is unclear outside of the normal numbers the services would expect to see.

•           It was noted that special schools should receive particular recognition in their management of the pandemic, as they have had extra hurdles to surmount.

•           It was explained that elective home education officers have been visiting families in their homes. There has not been as high a spike in the number who elected for home education as maybe expected.

•           Mental health referrals in the schools only went live in the autumn 2021 and currently there has been no high influx of referrals. Where referrals are made all young people are seen within 26 weeks, and the majority of young people are seen quicker than that.

•           Noted that schools such as Blackmarstons, and Barrs Court school being excellent schools in regards to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and support groups that are in place.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To provide members of the Committee with an overview of work that has been undertaken to inform our understanding of children and young people's (CYP's) mental health in Herefordshire, and the universal and preventative programmes that support good mental health and wellbeing.

Before this presentation and discussion the chair proposed extending the meeting for 15 minutes until 5.45pm and this was accepted by all attending.

The Consultant in Public Health introduced the report on the overview of work that has been undertaken to inform our understanding of children and young people's (CYP's) mental health in Herefordshire, and the universal and preventative programmes that support good mental health and wellbeing.

During discussion the following principal points were noted:

•        During the pandemic a lot of children are now using social media, the pressures and bullying online are causing issues. The police are leading on the worst examples of this.

•        It could be something for local government to look into, and for the schools to monitor some of the children.

•        The pressures that children are under was raised and suggested that it could lead to grooming and sexual exploitation. Local government should be getting a handle on this and liaising with the police.

•        Need to get a grip of bullying on platforms online. The committee would like to see local government take a closer look into this, as it leads onto mental health and abuse issues.

•        Engagement with the faith communities is supported by Talk Communities, which aims to reach all different forms of communities. Cross directorate initiative needed to support this.

The following recommendations were proposed and seconded and carried unanimously.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The Committee recommended that:

a)      The children’s commissioners’ newsletter be circulated to all councillors.

b)      Local government level social media platforms are explored in their relation to their impact on the wellbeing of young people and the risks presented to young people into being drawn into sexual exploitation and bullying using these platforms be investigated

To review the attached work programme for …

The Committee agreed to defer this item until the next meeting.

ACTIONS:

•        Send out a report with an update of the proposed work programme and a list of dates for suggested next meetings.

The next meeting is Tuesday, 26 April 2022 at 2.30pm.

The date of the next meeting was noted as Tuesday 26 April at 2.30pm.