To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies had been received from Jan Frances – Co-opted Families’ Representative

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

There had been no named substitutes.

To receive declarations of interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024.

The minutes of the previous meeting were received.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024 be confirmed as a correct record and be signed by the Chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

A document containing questions received from members of the public and the responses provided was published as a supplement to the agenda on the Herefordshire Council website.

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

There were no questions from members of the council.

For the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider this report, which provides an overview on how the council includes children’s voices when developing and making council policy and practice.

The committee took the report as read and the Chair explained that the item would allow for consideration of the importance that the voice of children and young people played, not just from a social care perspective, but within wider society. It was noted that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) stated that children had the right to be heard and to give their opinions freely on issues that affected them, and that adults should listen to and take children seriously.

The Chair invited comments and discussion from the committee in relation to the report. The key points of the discussion are detailed below:

1. The committee invited the representative from Rural Media to explain what the enterprise did.

o   The representative explained that Rural Media was a Herefordshire-based charity and social enterprise with a 30-year track record of empowering communities to share stories and make their voices heard to enable positive change.

o   In the last three years the enterprise had worked with approximately 3,500 young people - up to the age of 25 - across Herefordshire, to help equip them with the skills and platforms to be able to express their voices and connect them with decision makers/people in positions of power using a varied set of communication forms including: podcasts, exhibitions and film.

o   The Rural Media representative described a recent collaboration with a number of organisations including Talk Community to instigate a piece of work called ‘Ledbury Listening’, which had used creative consultation to reach around 700 8-18 year-olds from the Ledbury area. Through open conversations the project had been able to uncover many of the experiences, ambitions and ideas for shaping the town’s future held by young people.

o   It was explained that ‘creative consultation’ involved combining traditional surveys with room for individual comments and creative pop-up sessions involving: audio recording, poetry, magazine making and portrait photography. Group and on-to-one conversations with young people had also been successful in understanding what young people were feeling and what they wanted to say.

o   The project had been successful and had given rise to the formation of a Youth Council being formed in collaboration between John Masefield High School and Ledbury Town Council.

o   It was explained that two Town Council policy changes had been implemented based on recommendations contained within the Ledbury Listens published report. Future involvement of young people in Ledbury Town Council planning decisions and greater facility access for young people had also been outcomes of the work carried out.

o   Similar work was being carried out in other Herefordshire market towns and Rural Media had been working closely with Hereford City Youth Council to speak with young people in the city about their views and ambitions on a broad set of issues. It was felt that the key to success would be making the consultations fun and ensuring that young people were being connected to people in positions of power.

2. The committee noted that Rural Media had worked with Herefordshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

To consider the work programme for Herefordshire Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year 2024/25.

The committee considered its work programme for 2024/25, the key points of the discussion were:

o   The Corporate Director Children and Young People suggested the SEND item scheduled for the committee’s January meeting might benefit from incorporating an overview of feedback from the current Ofsted inspection

o   The committee agreed that the Herefordshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership annual report would be included as an item in the March 2025 meeting, to sit alongside the child exploitation item. A briefing on the report with the Independent Scrutineer was also requested.

o   The committee agreed to hold a workshop to consider potential topics and objectives for its work programme and future briefings including: mental health needs, quality of life, exploitation and schools attainment.

Resolved:

The committee unanimously approved the work programme that had been put before it.

Tuesday 21 January 2025, 2pm

Tuesday 21 January 2024, 2pm