Venue: Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2DN
Contact: Richard Plummer
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies received from Jeff Harris, Mike Wainhouse, Alex Tear, Simon Parr, Yvonna Lay and Tina Mountain.
Saj Hussain subst. for Tina
Mountain, Allison Griffths subst. for
Jeff Harris. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 17 NOVEMBER 2017 PDF 220 KB
To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a true and accurate record of proceedings. Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a true and accurate record of proceedings. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
All
Members present are required to declare, at this point in the
meeting or as soon as possible thereafter:
I.
Any disclosable
pecuniary interests and / or II. Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting
NOTES: ·
Members are reminded that they must not participate
in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest ·
As well as an interest of the Member, this includes
any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the
Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the
Member is living as a spouse or civil partner) · Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.
Minutes: Allison Griffiths declared a non-pecuniary interest that a member of her immediate family was a service user of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Liz Bowes declared a
non-pecuniary interest.
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To
receive any questions or petitions. Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Wednesday 14 February 2018).
2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (Tuesday 13 February 2018)
3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Minutes: There were none. |
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RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE PDF 173 KB
Cabinet responded to the recommendations made by the Select Committee regarding its concerns relating to CAMHS at its meeting 14 December 2017. This is attached for reference. Minutes: Members received and noted the response from the Cabinet Member for Children. |
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CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES (CAMHS) UPDATE PDF 241 KB
Purpose of the report: Toprovide an update on the performance of commissioned Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Surrey following an earlier report in November 2017. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: Alison Griffiths declared a non-pecuniary interest that a member of her immediate family was a service user of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Sue Robertson, Interim Deputy Director for Children and Young People, North West Surrey CCG Sam Morrison, Principal Commissioning Manager (SCW) Frank Offer, Head of Market Strategy Justine Leonard, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Lorna Payne, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Dr Phil Ferreira Lay, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children
Key
points raised in the discussion:
1.
Officers explained to the Committee that, in
response to the concerns raised at the November 2017 meeting,
commissioners and providers were working holistically to drive
improvement in Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services
(CAMHS). It was highlighted that there was a shift in driving
improvement in creating transparent and accurate
datasets.
2.
Officers advised that there was a challenge raised
in the creation of accurate datasets where there was an increased
reach into previously unmet areas of need, which had significantly
increased demand and increased pressures on the service.
3.
Officers explained that the primary concern for the
service was related to timeliness of assessments, and that the
service had recognised areas for improvement in communication
between partners and governance systems and demand
management.
4.
Members questioned what an appropriate target was
for wait times for the service to achieve and why the service was
not achieving these targets. Witnesses commented that, ideally
there would be no wait times for those in need, but that in
reality, a realistic wait time for a routine user would be targeted
at a maximum of four weeks.
5.
Officers assured the Committee that they were
confident that urgent and crisis cases were being dealt with in a
timely manner, but advised that routine case timescales had been
adversely affected by increased demand. Officers highlighted that
the service had acknowledged challenges to the service as a result
of this and that work was still needed to resolve this.
6.
The commissioner acknowledged that a second
performance notice had been issued to the provider. It was
explained that the commissioner had made clear to the provider the
need to improve on issues identified by the Committee and by the
service.
7.
The service stated that there were several instances
of good practice within the delivery options available, noting
praise from some users regarding the Eikon service and the Hope provision offered.
Officers also highlighted evidence of good practice within the
Behaviour and Neurodevelopment (BEN) Service, but that there was a
need to improve the timeliness of this offer.
8.
It was acknowledged that there had been some
evidence of improving waiting times, but that the service
recognised the need to improve and work collegiately with all
partners to ensure effective delivery and good value for
money. 9. It was emphasised by ... view the full minutes text for item 6/18 |
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STRATEGIC DIRECTORS UPDATE PDF 106 KB
Purpose of the report: To provide an update regarding service priorities for the next six months. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest:
None
Witnesses: Rose Durban, Interim Strategic
Director of Children, Schools and Families. Key
points raised in the discussion:
1.
The Strategic Director highlighted the current
summary self-evaluation, prepared for Ofsted, of Children, Schools
and Families attached to the minutes as Annex A.
The summary is informed by a more detailed self-assessment against
inspection criteria. It was particularly emphasised that the
service was working to improve the impact of frontline practice
through clarifying expectations in Children’s Services and
ensure that the service was clearer at identifying potential risks
and issues earlier.
2.
Officers explained that the focus of current
improvement work was to ensure that children are seen, safe and
heard through practice improvements throughout the directorate. It
was emphasised that improving the experience of the child from
needing to receiving help through the system was at the forefront
of thinking within the directorate’s improvement
plan.
3.
Officers acknowledged that practice was not
consistently good enough or safe enough and that the service would
prioritise improvement. It was stressed that, to achieve this
improvement in consistency of practice, plans needed to be
prioritised effectively, followed through and have defined end
goals, which the service was looking to achieve. It was also stated
that the service was being clearer regarding practice expectations
and what was required from frontline delivery. 4. Officers highlighted the five key priority areas for the improvement of Children’s Services: a. Embedding practice, management and leadership expectations b. Strengthening front door decision making c. Routinely identifying children at risk and taking action d. Creating the conditions to enable better practice e. Using focused assurance arrangements It was
stressed that focused actions against these priorities were aimed
to enable better practice for children and improve
outcomes.
5.
Out of County placements in relation to both care
and learning for children were mentioned as a key area of focus for
the directorate. A number of workstreams are investigating interventions and
approaches to best meet children’s needs within the
County.
6.
Officers indicated that workforce recruitment and
retention was critical in the service and that the service was
looking at further innovative means to improve this to ensure a
robust and sustainable system of delivery for all services. It was
highlighted that a method of delivering this was to reduce reliance
on interim workers as well as institute a small short-life agile
team of social workers to help meet demand pressures across the
County.
7.
Officers noted, following Member concerns raised
over potential over reliance on social workers as a child’s
first point of support, that Early Help services were working with
parents to provide help to support them in their role.
8.
Early Help implementation by all partners and work
to support and promote sector–led School Improvement were
also highlighted as key priorities for the service that would be
worked on over the next six months. 9. Members highlighted concerns raised by teachers regarding increased ... view the full minutes text for item 7/18 |
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SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT UPDATE PDF 528 KB
Purpose of the report: To raise awareness of changes associated with School Support Services Commissioning (including School Improvement) via the Babcock Joint Venture andto seek views on future options for delivery of the Council’s statutory responsibilities, which will ultimately require Cabinet decision in March 2018.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: Liz Bowes declared a
non-pecuniary interest
Witnesses: Frank Offer, Head of Market
Strategy Key
points raised in the discussion:
1.
Officers explained that the service was seeking the
views of the Children and Education Select Committee regarding
future options for delivery of the Council’s statutory
responsibilities for school improvement. Officers advised that this
was resultant of the upcoming conclusion of the Council’s
annual service delivery agreement with Babcock 4S (B4S) due to the
inability for the service to legally extend the contract period and
the change in the landscape regarding school improvement. Officers
stressed that B4S traded services were not being discontinued, but
that the delivery of commissioned services needed to be
reconsidered.
2.
Officers noted that there were a wide range of tasks
and services that were provided on behalf of SCC as part of the
current contract, which needed to be reassessed based on planned
delivery. It was acknowledged that the service had identified
options that were ascertained as being realistic for future
delivery. The service stressed that they were looking at these
options to ensure good outcomes for children, good performance and
good value for money.
3.
Members noted concerns regarding isolated, smaller,
financially challenged and rural schools that may not be able to
afford traded services and whether these would lose out on services
as a result. Members also expressed concern regarding a “one
size fits all” approach and emphasised that the service work
to ensure that any outlier schools do not suffer a significant
impact from proposed changes.
4.
Members questioned whether Multi-Academy Trusts
(MAT) and education partnerships were ready to take on governance
functions that would have been provided by the B4S contract, and
whether this could have a damaging effect on performance.
5.
Members felt that they were unable to make an
informed decision regarding individual options for statutory and
strategic services and recommended that the service provides a
business case for individual services and how they could be
delivered which could be examined in detail.
6.
The Surrey Education in Partnership programme was
noted as running in tandem with the recommissioning process and
that this would work to reinforce school to school support as part
of strengthening improvement.
7.
Officers noted that schools were primarily concerned
with ensuring that statutory services were delivered, rather than
who provides the service. It was noted that this was inferred from
the low level of survey responses from schools regarding the low
response rate to the stakeholder survey. 8. The representative of B4S noted that they would be working to strengthen their traded services following contract expiry and that they would be maintaining relationships with schools and Surrey County Council following the end of the contract.
Recommendations: 1. That the service provides a business case of the statutory and strategic services currently commissioned from B4S ... view the full minutes text for item 8/18 |
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MULTI AGENCY SAFEGUARDING HUB PROGRESS UPDATE PDF 77 KB
Purpose of the report: To provide Members with an update on MASH progress and future direction.
Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None Witnesses: Carl Bussey, Head of MASH Key
points raised in the discussion:
1.
Officers highlighted that a key concern for the
service was that contact demand for the Multi Agency Safeguarding
Hub (MASH) had expanded exponentially. It was noted that the
service were received over 5000 contacts each month and that this
was difficult to sustain. It was noted that the police were the
most numerous contact and that the service had been working to
triage police contacts and ensure that contacts are sustainable for
the available workforce.
2.
Members noted the positive and informative
experience that they had engaged with in their visits to the MASH
to determine key challenges and thanked officers for
facilitating.
3.
It was noted that there had been feedback sessions
with Dedicated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) and that these had been
helpful in highlighting key challenges to schools. It was expressed
that the service had evidence of revised practice to ensure that
the journey of the child is easier based on feedback.
4.
It was stressed by officers that they were looking
to implement incremental improvement within the service’s
performance, rather than sweeping change, to ensure effectiveness
and completion of these improvements. It was noted that one of the
key areas of development was improving the timeliness of
referrals.
5.
Officers noted that they were gathering evidence of
service learning, feedback from users and evidence of national best
practice. Members expressed interest in seeing the outcomes of this
work and evidence that there had been improvement in key areas of
the MASH.
6.
Officers indicated that the pace of change had
increased significantly, highlighting that deadlines for evidencing
improvement were set at June 2018.
7.
Members questioned the numbers of police contacts,
asking whether they were coming in at the right place and whether
there were contacts from other sectors that were potentially being
missed. Officers stressed that approximately 95% of police contacts
were assessed at the level one of the MASH, identified as low level
routine risk contacts. It was noted that there was work to do with
triaging these contacts and ensuring that they are handled
appropriately and at the right level.
8.
Officers noted that looking at national best
practice was a good indicator of identifying appropriate threshold
levels. It was stressed that the service was working to identify
correct threshold levels and that this work would help to
accomplish this. 9. Officers emphasised the that it was important to define the work of social workers in the MASH in order to reduce demand and workload on their time and ensure that they are correctly deployed to reduce pressure on the MASH.
Recommendations: 1. That the service provides a future update reviewing evidence of practice improvement data collected over the period, detailing the implementation of future learning, feedback provided and national best practice in the MASH and provide this ... view the full minutes text for item 9/18 |
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UNACCOMPANIED ASYLUM SEEKING CHILDREN PDF 274 KB
Purpose of the report: Surrey currently looks after the third highest number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) of any local authority in England. This paper seeks to outline the current position in relation to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children & Care Leavers (UASCL) , whilst recognising the increasing financial considerations attendant upon having such a large group of asylum seekers in the care of the county. Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None Witnesses: Mark Jowett, Area Head of Children's
Services
1.
Officers stressed the importance of the issue facing
the authority regarding Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
(UASC), highlighting the significant funding pressures put on the
service. Officers noted that there was evidence of decreasing
overall numbers of children projected in 2018/19 but that cases of
UASC care leavers were increasing as a result of historic cases. It
was noted that, resultant to this, that there was a
£4.5million deficit which was funded by the
service.
2.
Officers and the Cabinet Member for Children
highlighted that there had been significant lobbying efforts with
comparable authorities in the South East to resolve the funding
inequality with central government. It was also noted that there
was a Home Office review of funding due in February 2018 which
would further clarify the funding position.
3.
Officers advised that the service was providing a
good quality service for UASC with the resources available.
However, officers explained that they were working to make better
use of funding available, stating that the service was looking to
provide accommodation in county wherever possible to produce best
outcomes and value for money.
4.
Members questioned whether officers could further
promote initiatives, such as the host families, further using
social media. Officers noted that this would be something that they
could work with and involve Members in to promote.
5.
Members questioned funding arrangements for
statistical neighbours and whether they were in a similar
situation. Officers noted that the two authorities with greater
numbers of UASC, Kent and Croydon, had received a historic special
arrangement regarding funding, which was not granted to Surrey.
Officers did note that they were not above their designated quota
for UASC in county and that a similar special arrangement based on
this would be unlikely.
6.
Members noted that the service could work to control
spending on its UASC and ensure that it gets best value for money,
highlighting the high cost of spend on each child against national
disposable income, and query whether this was an appropriate
use.
7.
Members questioned the national profiles of
identified UASC and whether there was a potential for missing key
groups at risk. Officers and the Cabinet Member for Children
stressed that they benchmark with other local authorities and with
figures of the National Refugee Council to assure themselves that
they were identifying the right groups. It was agreed that the
service would note any anomalies based on this data. 8. It was noted that some groups that have been identified in the list of UASC were at significantly higher risk of exploitation and that the service was working to alleviate this.
Recommendations: 1. The Committee recommends that the Cabinet Member for Children continue to work to lobby central Government for additional funding for UASC to address the identified funding deficit. ... view the full minutes text for item 10/18 |
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FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER PDF 123 KB
The Board is asked to review and approve the draft Forward Work Programme and Recommendations Tracker and provide comment as required.
The previous notes of the Performance Member Reference Group are attached to the agenda for reference.
Additional documents: Minutes: Members reviewed and agreed the Forward Work Programme. A further update was requested on the Recommendations Tracker regarding recommendation 7/17. This would be provided to the Committee and updated on the tracker. |
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DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
The next public meeting of the committee will be held Thursday 3 May 2018at County Hall. Minutes: Members questioned whether the current date of the next meeting, 3 May 2018, could be changed, due to it coinciding with Local Government Elections in Borough and District Authorities. |