To review progress against delivering the children and young people’s plan and agree further actions to support its delivery

The assistant director education and commissioning presented the report and the board considered the achievements and areas of focus as set out in the report.  The children and young peoples’ plan 2015-18 is the key deliverer of the health and wellbeing strategy, and focuses on 6 priorities:

1.                  Early help: It was noted that the strategy had been agreed and work was now taking place to develop the operational approach across Herefordshire.  Early help was taking place but could be more effective once greater clarity and enhanced systems are put in place, including the development of locally based family network meetings.  . Public health work included obesity, dental health and promotion of mental health particularly around reducing self-harm

2.                  0 – 5 early years: wider issues around outreach and access, particularly with regard to rural isolation was being considered in order to support families.  Health visiting and school nursing services were to be recommissioned later this year.

3.                  Mental health and emotional wellbeing: the Care Quality Commission had commented positively on the initial screening of cases by 2gether Mental Health CAMHS service as part of the local area SEND inspection. Schools were being supported with regard to resources for emotional wellbeing

4.                  Children and young people in need of safeguarding: focus on this continued and it was expected that there would be an Ofsted inspection next year. A peer review was planned to take place during June and September this year

5.                  Addressing challenges for teenagers: the number of young people not in employment education or training (NEET) was in line with regional trends but further work was required to understand the barriers in order to identify possible solutions. A factor to this was accessibility and discussion took place around transportation and what community resources existed to help overcome this

6.                  Children and young people with disabilities: there had been a positive inspection report and encouragement to share practice with other authorities. Workforce training was being developed around service reforms.

In response to a question regarding 1 Ledbury Road, the assistant director clarified that there was a range of provision that would be available from 1 April 2017 and which had been developed with parents and carers. 1 Ledbury Road was to close on 31 March 2017 there was a mixed response from families in this regard and officers were working with parents on alternative provision.  A developmental approach was being taken to commissioning including family-based overnight provision being extended. Distance to this provision was an important consideration for some families.

In answer to a question from the chair about what was in place for this group with regard to NEETs, the assistant director confirmed that all NEETs were tracked within service priorities to identify appropriate support.  

It was noted that early help support directly affected entry into higher threshold services and it was important to note that a range of activity was already taking place across early years settings, schools, colleges, local communities and by the private and voluntary sectors as well as services provided by the council.

RESOLVED

That

a)    progress on priority 2 of the health and wellbeing strategy be noted as positive;

b)    the safeguarding peer review be welcomed;

c)    an update on early help outcomes be presented to the board in autumn 2017;

d)    an update on inequalities be provided which takes into account information on the number of young people not in education, employment or training, the barriers faced, and solutions to overcome barriers; and

e)    the children and young people’s plan and update report be shared with the Clinical Commissioning Group board, GPs, Healthwatch, and local providers (2gether NHS Foundation Trust, Wye Valley NHS Trust and Taurus) by the lead senior manager for each of the organisations.