To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Robert Highfield and Jan Frances (Co-opted Families Representative).

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

Councillor Frank Cornthwaite substituted for Councillor Robert Highfield.

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

Councillor Ben Proctor explained to the committee that in relation to item 7 (Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) Action Plan) on the agenda, he was married to the executive principle of the Royal National College of the Blind. The committee acknowledged this and felt it did not constitute a pecuniary interest and that Councillor Proctor could remain in the meeting during the item.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Questions received and responses given are attached as Appendix 1 to the minutes.

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

No questions were received from members of the council.

[Papers to follow]

This report provides the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee with an update on work to recruit its co-opted members.

The statutory scrutiny officer introduced and gave an overview of the report.

The Statutory scrutiny officer explained that the chair’s intent was that the co-opted members should become full participating members of the Committee and receive all of the support - in terms briefings and opportunities for personal development - that elected members would have within the context of the Committee.

The Committee voted unanimously in favour of the following recommendations:

Resolved

That the Committee:

a) Notes the recent activity to recruit co-opted members to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee; and

b) Recommends to full Council that the candidates in paragraphs 12 to 18 of this report should be appointed to the Committee; and

c) Agrees the suggested amendments and recommend to full Council to change the Constitution with regard to the recruitment of co-opted members.

[Papers to follow]

An update on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. The item aims to assist the committee in identifying gaps in provision and exploring opportunities for more effective commissioning of services.

The Associate Director of Children's Services and Specialist Primary Care Herefordshire and & Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust introduced the report and gave a slide presentation to the Committee. The key considerations included:

·       Understanding of children’s emotional and mental health needs and services provided to meet these needs in our community

·       Understanding of children’s neurodiversity needs and services provided to meet these needs in our community

·       Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) including current waiting times, demand, work with partner agencies and use of specialist inpatient hospital resource (Tier 4 beds)

Following the presentation the report was opened up to the Committee, the principle points of the discussion are summarised below.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People gave an assurance about the connectivity to the work that was taking place within the Children and Young People’s Partnership Board and the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust. A meeting had been arranged between the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, and Elaine Cook-Tippins and Dr Katie Powell of the NHS Trust to discuss a range of issues.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explained that they would like hear more about support for children and families on waiting lists. A request to share more information about ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) was made, with a view to opening up discussion about how trauma informed responses should be handled in future.

In response to a question from the committee, the Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist from Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust explained that if a child was undertaken for a CAMHS appointment, the clinicians there were trained and skilled in what to screen for in terms of ACEs. The clinician team were also trained in how to put in a MARF (multi-agency referral form). If concerns about a child hit a threshold the team would communicate (with parental or child consent) with social care and other primary care services, but would not routinely link in with other services unless asked to.

In response to a question asked by the committee it was explained that mechanisms were in place to stop children falling through the gaps during long periods when they weren’t at school and that CAMHS continued to promote its services at the end of school terms. The largest number of referrals came from GPs and it was noted that data demonstrated that the mental health and wellbeing of some children improved when they were away from school - as they were removed from bullying/hostile environments and had less anxiety around school work. However, many children with neurodiversity-related were found to struggle with the lack of routine.

The Associate Director confirmed to the Committee that Herefordshire had shorter waiting lists for referrals than Worcestershire.

The Committee discussed and highlighted the importance of pastoral care and good nutrition in relation to the mental wellbeing of young people. 

The Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist highlighted the distinction between mental health and mental illness.  A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 169.

This report provides an update on the progress in implementing the SEND Strategy

The Service Director, Education, Skills and Learning introduced and gave an overview of the report, identifying a number of key issues.

The Service Director explained that the number of children with EHCPs was increasing at both a national and local level. Herefordshire’s increase was slightly below the national average, but nevertheless EHCPs had risen by 10% in the last twelve months and 50% since 2017, with there now being approximately 1,400 children with EHCPs in the county.

It was explained that demand for specialist places had increased in Herefordshire. A number of specialist hubs in mainstream schools had recently been opened to increase the number of places available and plans were ongoing to open more of these hubs. 

Following the presentation the report was opened up to the Committee, the principle points of the discussion are summarised below.

The Committee heard that additional demands had placed SEND case workers and educational psychologists under increased pressure, but they had prioritised workloads to ensure that families were not kept waiting for plans. The SEND team continued to perform well regarding issuing plans within the statutory 20 week timescale. Nationally the figure for hitting this target was approximately 49%, whereas Herefordshire consistently sat somewhere between 78-95 % month-on-month.

It was explained that all children in Herefordshire with significant needs had an offer of a school pace, which wasn’t always the case in other authorities, where some children with plans could wait years to secure an offer of a school place that met their needs.

The Head of Additional Needs explained that in order to mitigate against pressure from rising demands, the SEND team had restructured internally, looked at role descriptions, and worked more tightly on the triage systems with health partners and social care colleagues.

It was explained that one casualty of the increased demand was a reduction in the some of the early intervention and prevention work that educational psychologists had done with schools, such as whole school relational practice and trauma response strategies. However, they were still involved in emotionally-based school avoidance training and the virtual school was still active in that space.

The Service Director, Education, Skills and Learning explained that it was too early to measure the impact of cuts to early interventions, but they had been noted as a risk. However different ways of maximising resources and working with schools were being implemented to mitigate the impact. Herefordshire was also part of a programme, working with regional colleagues, to test DFE (Department for Education) reforms over the next few years. 

The committee heard that head teacher termly conferences provided insight about what worked well in schools and the directorate had been working with colleagues in Bedford, which had enabled them to focus on the network of specialist needs coordinators. Furthermore a network of three schools had been set up to peer review one another.

The Corporate Director, Children & Young People pointed out that significant work had been done as a partnership to embrace the peer review from last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 170.

For the Chair to receive updates on any work and activity relevant to the committee’s remit. 

The chair thanked co-opted member Kate Joiner for attending the LGA webinar on youth vaping.

The chair explained that the service director for improvement had advised that a briefing on restorative practice was being prepared and that elected members had had a briefing on the latest Ofsted monitoring visit.

A request had been made to the Scrutiny Management Board for a task and finish group to consider the forecast overspend and escalating costs of children’s services and the potential risks they posed to the 2024/25 budget.

To consider the work programme for the committee.

No changes or updates. The statutory scrutiny officer pointed out that any issues regarding the work programme could be picked up and discussed during scheduled pre meetings.  

Tuesday 23 January 2024 2.00pm

Tuesday 23 January 2024 2pm.