Meeting documents
Cabinet
Wednesday, 1st March, 2006
Appendix 2
Detailed chronology of the development of the Local Preventative Strategy and its evolution to the Children and Young People's Plan
Background
In Bath and North East Somerset there had already been considerable foundation work done in preparing the Local Preventative Strategy which has been the basis for development of the Children and Young People's Plan. This started in September 2002 when Chief Executives of Councils were asked to take a lead in ensuring that all those responsible for planning, commissioning and delivering services for children and young people aged 0 - 19 agree a Local Preventative Strategy from April 2003. Within Bath and North East Somerset, the responsibility of developing that Strategy has been assumed by the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership - a partnership of local statutory, voluntary and community organizations working with children, young people and families.
The Local Preventative Strategy provided a strategic framework for responding to the recommendations of the Green Paper and the Children Bill, with the delivery plans incorporating progress with the collaborative working projects currently being progressed across Bath and North East Somerset. Further it provided the strategic framework for responding to the agenda, principles and recommendations of the National Service Framework (NSF) for Children and Maternity Services published in September 2004.
The purpose of the strategy was to improve the well-being of children and young people by creating a shared vision, framework and comprehensive delivery plan that would form the basis for the development and delivery of all services for children and young people in Bath and North East Somerset.
Within the development of the LPS for Bath and North East Somerset, prevention has been interpreted as "the promotion of child well-being by enabling children and young people to develop their full potential, and the promotion of family well-being by enabling parents/carers to meet the overall needs of their children and families".
How the Strategy was developed
A7 The Government provided guidance for the development of Local Preventative Strategies in autumn 2002. This was considered by the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership and was the focus of its development workshop in February 2003, following the compilation of the required self-assessment of our current position.
A7 The self assessment focused upon an analysis of service gaps relating to children and young people: the agreement of shared objectives/priorities and areas for improvement: the development of systems for identification, referral and tracking of children at risk.
A7 The self assessment was completed by March 2003 and provided the basis for the development of our Local Preventative Strategy. The self-assessment was evaluated by the Government Office South West.
A7 The Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership took the decision to develop the detail of the Strategy through a series of workshops based on an approach known as Qualitative Systems Dynamics.
A7 Qualitative Systems Dynamics is a problem-solving tool which is useful in planning and strategic thinking. It involves the construction of a model, called an influence diagram, which helps clarify thinking and enables better decision making based on analysis using simple grammar.
A7 Two one-day workshops were held on Friday, 7 November 2003 and Tuesday, 11 November 2003. A large proportion of Children's and Young People's Strategic Partnership members attended these.
B7 Day One produced an influence diagram of the system we are trying to influence
B7 Day Two started the process of analyzing this. Subsequently the analysis of the influence diagram continued within three working groups by e-mail.
A7 All this information was collated and summarized into one document of potential ideas and actions to promote children's health and well-being. These were reviewed and a number of strategic themes identified and actions allocated to these.
A7 A half-day workshop on 6 January 2004 reviewed this and started the process of identifying planning groups that relate to the strategic themes. A further half day workshop on 10 February 2004 developed this further to produce the strategy outlined below.
A7 In preparation for its 93Priority Conversation94 with the Regional Change Adviser in early 2005, the Council and its partners considered what the local priorities should be for the children and young people of Bath and North East Somerset. These discussions took place within an extended session of the Change for Children Steering Group and later a multi-agency workshop for staff. From these discussions, draft local priorities were discussed with the Regional Change Adviser, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) Business Relationship Manager, and the DfES Children's Services
Subsequent to that meeting, the Change for Children Steering Group agreed the draft local priorities and a process for the consultation with staff, partners, children, young people and parents/carers:-
A7 In order to facilitate wider consultation about these draft local priorities, arrangements were made for all agencies represented on the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) to formally consult with their staff and service users and report back to the Chair of the CYPSP : for discussion at, and feedback from, the multi-agency Children Act Workshop held on 20th April 2005 : for children and young people to be consulted via the CYPSP Participation Group and DAFBY (Democratic Action for BANES Youth)
A7 The consultation period (March - June 2005) produced feedback from children and young people, and staff across a range of services and agencies. In general, the draft local priorities were welcomed and seen as relevant to the population of Bath and North East Somerset. It was proposed that the local priorities should be put within the context of a vision statement of what we wanted to achieve for our children and young people. Further, that the priorities should be aligned with the objectives of the Local Preventative Strategy (which had been endorsed by the Council Executive in January 2005 and launched by the CYPSP in March 2005). Specific feedback commented upon the format and language used in compiling the draft local priorities (many found these to be complex and not very accessible); the fact that children and young people had not been involved in compiling the original draft; and presented cases for specific groups to be detailed within the priorities.
A7 The feedback was collated and considered by the Children's Services Liaison Group (Social Services, Education and Health) on 20th June 2005, and the local priorities for children, young people and families were determined as indicated earlier
A7 A sub group of the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership was established to progress the development of the Children and Young People's Plan and to consider the participation of children, young people, parents and carers in the process. A participation subgroup was established to progress the consultation with children and young people and parents and carers (See Appendix 3 and 4 respectively).
A7 The draft vision and priorities chapter was also distributed widely to all schools, staff, voluntary and community groups in October-November 2005.Feedback from these consultations were incorporated into the draft CYPP .Feedback from these consultations were incorporated into the draft CYPP
A7 The draft CYPP was widely distributed to all staff, all agencies, schools, parent and carers groups, some young people, faith groups, voluntary and community groups for consultation in 12/05.The deadline for feedback was 24.01.06.
A7 The draft CYPP was presented at various levels within the Council/Primary Care Trust; The Change for Children Officer Group, Integration Project Board, both Overview and Scrutiny Panels, the Children and Young People Strategic Partnership and the Local Strategic Partnership.
A7 Feedback to the CYPP was facilitated by the Change for Children Project Officer across several services
A7 The feedback received at all these levels were incorporated into the final version of the Children and Young People Plan that was finalised on 08.02.06.
Appendix 3
Children and Young People's Participation in Bath and North East Somerset
The Strategy for the Participation of Children and Young People
The Bath and North East Somerset Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) adopted its Strategy for the Participation of Children and Young People in July 05.
This strategy aims
A7 To support each agency of the CYPSP to become more participatory in its practice
A7 To embed children and young people's participation in the new Children's Trust arrangements
A7 To provide agreed definitions, models and principles to ensure consistency in participation practice across B&NES
The vision, which was developed with children and young people, is that
`We want children and young people to make a difference to how services work for them now and in the future'
Consultation with Children and Young People to Inform the Development of the Children and Young People's Plan
The Change for Children Steering Group commissioned the Children and Young People's Participation Sub group to consult on the local Change for Children Priorities.
Methodology
In August 05, young people from DAFBY (Democratic Action for B&NES Youth) were asked for their views on the local Change for Children Priorities. Their thoughts and ideas informed the development of `consultation packs'.
The packs contained 4 exercises which were designed to explore what issues matter to children and young people in B&NES and to seek their views on the local Change for Children priorities.
The packs were aimed at children in year 5 (age 9/10) and above. They were sent to all 82 Local Authority maintained schools and to various youth groups. The consultation period was September/October 05
The Children and Young People's Participation sub group was keen to ensure that younger children's views were sought as evidence shows that younger children are especially at risk of not having their say. So, a separate training event was facilitated by the Children's Society, for staff working in infant schools and pre-school settings, to support them to ask younger children their views.
The findings - a summary
937 children and young people aged between 5 - 24 years said that what they want most is:
- Safer places to hang out & play outside
- Less bullying
- More respect for children & young people
- More things to do
- To feel safe from crime
518 children and young people gave their views on the local Change for Children priorities.
87% agreed or really agreed that children and young people should have help to get more than they expect from life
81.5% agreed or really agreed that some children and young people need more help than others to be happy, healthy, successful and to stay safe
68 % agreed or really agreed that children and young people need to live in better housing to be more happy, healthy, successful and safe
67% agreed or really agreed parents and carers need more support to help children and young people be happy, healthy, successful & to stay safe
79.5% agreed or really agreed that children and young people need better chances to learn
72% agreed or really agreed that children and young people need help to feel good about themselves
72% agreed or really agreed that services for children and young people need to listen and include them more.
However, only 22.6% agreed or really agreed that children and young people are seen as a problem by adults. 24.5 % agreed a bit. 49% disagreed.
447 children and young people gave feedback on the original vision statement for the plan - many found in difficult to understand, at least in parts and asked that simpler language be used. Based on the language used by children in this exercise the participation sub group produced a vision statement for children and young people, that can also be signed.
`We want all children and young people to do better in life than they ever thought they could. We will give children and young people the help that they need to do this.'
Appendix 4
Consultation with parents and carers in relation to the Children and Young People's Plan
In July 2005, it was identified that a process for involving parents and carers in the consultation around the Children and Young People's Plan was needed.
It was also highlighted that an overall strategy around the participation of parents and carer's in the design, delivery , monitoring and review of services needed to be established, to build on the consultation process around the Children and Young People's Plan. Both actions were identified as key priorities for Bath and North East Somerset. A multi-agency sub-group of the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership was established in August 2005, to progress both priorities.
Consultation around the Children & Young People's Plan
The consultation on the Children & Young People's Plan was undertaken in a number of ways:
A7 A questionnaire was developed, which specifically sought feedback on the draft vision and priorities that were identified in the draft CYPP.This questionnaire was distributed to all known parent/carer groups across Health, Education and Social Care in Bath and North East Somerset. The process of feedback was facilitated by agency staff.
A7 The Questionnaire also sought feedback on how best to consult on the actual plan itself and on the development of the Local Safeguarding Children's Board.
A7 The Change for Children Project Officer attended a number of Parent/Carer groups across Health, Education and Social Care to promote and facilitate feedback to the CYPP and the development of a participation strategy for and by parents and carers.
Summary of responses
41 parents returned completed questionnaires in relation to the vision and priorities in the draft Children and Young People's Plan. Additional feedback was also received from the attendance at the parent/carer groups. Their feedback included the following:
A7 they did not like the term 93vulnerable94 or 93deprived94
A7 freedom from poverty should be the first priority , notably rural poverty
A7 universal /open 93support94, is less discriminating than 93targeted94 support
A7 vision should include a focus on children as members of a community
A7 play and access to community facilitates needs to be highlighted
A7 less bullying
A7 more thing to do , especially for older teenagers
A7 access to good transport links
A7 more support for parents of children with additional needs in schools
A7 access to safe, good housing
A7 development of 93an out of hours service94
A7 local affordable child care -free parents to learn and work
A7 could not disagree with the vision-they all wanted the best for their children
A7 parents wanted to be heard and be involved in decision making
A7 some parents found the vision 93woolly94 and wanted to know if there was enough money to deliver on the priorities
A7 what were the systems of monitoring
A7 they were enthusiastic about being involved in the development of a participation strategy
Contribution to the Children & Young People's Plan
Parents/Carers views were incorporated into the draft Children and Young People's Plan. This draft was distributed on 16.12.05 to the widest audience including the same parent carer groups who had feedback on the vision and priorities so parents and carers were able to identify their contribution to the Children and Young People's Plan.