To receive an overview of the Children and Yong People’s Plan for Herefordshire.

SACRE received an overview of the Children and Young People’s Plan for Herefordshire.

Philippa Granthier, Business Manager – Children’s Trust, informed Members of the arrangements to move to a Children’s Trust and the governance arrangements to support this move. 

She also reported that the current Children and Young People’s Plan would run until March 2008. The Council as lead partner has a duty to ensure that a new plan is put in place.  The new plan will run from April 2008 to March 2011 and will be the one, overarching strategic document for children and young people in the County. It will lay out what the priorities for improvement should be in Herefordshire, based on a needs assessment exercise drawn from data on children and young people in the County along with areas highlighted from the Annual Performance Assessment and discussions with Government Office for the West Midlands.

The plan will need to lay out the intended outcomes for children and young people to improve their well-being which is defined by the five Every Child Matters outcomes of being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being. The plan will also need to cover all children and young people aged 0-19, young people aged 20 leaving care and up to 25 for those with learning difficulties.

This strategic document will be supported by an annual delivery plan, which will contain the detailed actions that will be undertaken to achieve the intended outcomes.

The draft plan was currently being written.  A number of emerging priorities for Herefordshire were emerging and these, together with further details of the consultation to be undertaken, were contained in her report, copies of which were circulated at the meeting.  Consultation on the draft plan would end in March 2008.

SACRE noted that while the Local Area Agreement with the government contained an element of grant funding for Children and Young People, no new resources were anticipated to support the objectives, rather, as a strategic document it would direct the use of current resources by the Council and its partners.

SACRE further noted that the plan was principally directed by government guidance, particularly by the Every Child Matters agenda, and therefore while a child’s emotional needs may be reflected in the plan the child’s spiritual needs may not. 

In view of the detailed consideration needed to respond to the high-level strategic document it was suggested that a small group be formed to undertake a review of the draft document and report their suggested comments to the March 2008 meeting.  SACRE could then decide whether to formally recommend the comments to the Local Authority.

RESOLVED: that

a)      Miss L Langstaff, Revd I Terry and the Chairman, Councillor J Stone, assisted by the Consultant for RE, consider the draft Children and Young People’s Plan and report their suggested comments to the March 2008 meeting; and

b)     At the March 2008 meeting SACRE will debate the suggested comments of the group and consider whether to formally recommend any comments to the Local Authority.