To consider and approve the Children and Young People’s Plan 2008 – 2011.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Councillor J Hyde presented the report and commended the Children and Young People’s Plan 2008 to the Council.  She stated that whilst the plan was a statutory document a thorough consultation had been undertaken.

The Plan was commended by several Councillors especially in the manner in which the consultation process was undertaken.

Councillor Toon raised issues in relation to governance and scrutiny, especially the fact that the sole elected member representative on the Children’s Trust Board was the Cabinet Member.  The question of how could the authority effectively scrutinise and audit this body was raised, and an example was given of how the Board held discussions around school closure prior to discussion at Council.

The report and consultation process (which included the input of the scrutiny process) was welcomed by Councillor Edwards.  However, concern was expressed that the whole of the South Wye shared a youth officer with the Golden Valley area and that there was a need to appropriately fund a number of officers to provide dedicated help to volunteers.

In welcoming the Plan, Councillor Lloyd Hayes requested that consideration be given to extend the scope to include youths who had Mental Health problems.  She highlighted a situation from personal experience which she wished to discuss with the Cabinet Member outside of the formal meeting.  Councillor Lloyd Hayes added that she was concerned that should mental health issues not be considered and acted upon, vulnerable individuals could find themselves within to the penal system.

Councillor Attfield expressed a wish for a written reply to the following statement.  Whilst she considered the plan to be excellent, it was stated that an implicit problem within the Children Services were children with aspergers syndrome.  Written plans were only as good as the outcomes and therefore there was a need to provide all children with the opportunity and skills to contribute to their communities and to encourage opportunities for their lives to be on a par with their cohort.

In recognising the comments raised on mental health and youth service provision, Councillor S Robertson encouraged Members with experience on these issues to contribute to relevant scrutiny groups.

In response, to the issues raised above, the Cabinet Member of Children’s’ Services emphasised that looked after children were one of the most vulnerable sections of society and stated that she would welcome speaking with the Councillor following the meeting to be provided with information on the particular situation.

In response to Councillor Toon, the Cabinet Member stated that the Children’s Trust was still currently evolving and that she would take on board the concern expressed and consider how they could be addressed. 

Responding to the concerns regarding youth service provision, the Cabinet Member stated that she would address points raised together with councillor Price as the new Cabinet portfolio holder for ICT and Educational Achievement.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services commended the value of input provided by Children’s Services Scrutiny and emphasised that as children had no second chances it was imperative to ensure that Council provisions were right for their needs.

RESOLVED: That: The Council accepts Cabinet’s recommendation to approve the Children and Young People’s Plan 2008-2011.