Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 This report invites Members to consider the development and content of the Local Preventative Strategy for children and young people developed by Bath and North East Somerset's Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership (CYPSP).

1.2 The Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership is comprised of senior officers from a range of Council Services (including Social and Housing Services, Education, Leisure, Libraries), other statutory partners (including Health, Police, Connexions Service) and voluntary organisations and community groups.

1.3 This report has been jointly authored by the Head of Children and Families Services (Social Services) and the Head of Inclusion Support Services (Education).

1.4 The Children Bill was given Royal Assent in November 2004.

1.5 The report invites Members to consider the recommendations in their capacity as corporate parents.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 The Local Preventative Strategy as a step towards implementing the Children Act in Bath and North East Somerset

3

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The Council must ensure that it makes budgetary provision for carrying out its responsibilities for children, as currently set out in The Children Act 1989, particularly those relating to child protection.

3.2 The Council must ensure that the budget it contributes, along with those from each of the other local agencies, in support of vulnerable children and families is identified so that staff and resources can be used in the most flexible and effective way.

3.3 The Local Preventative Strategy focuses upon prevention and the promotion of health and well-being, and, in conjunction with a future statutory Children and Young People's Plan, will provide the framework for the implementation of The Children Act with its focus on supporting parents and carers, prevention and early intervention. The implementation of the Local Preventative Strategy will need to be achieved from within existing resources, but will benefit from clearer arrangements for the pooling of budgets. Further, the implementation costs should be offset by anticipated efficiencies arising from new ways of working which will eliminate existing duplication.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Council has duties under the Children Act 1989 to provide services to families and children in need; including those in need of protection, and to looked after children. These duties are primarily undertaken by the Social Services who work in partnership with other Council services, statutory agencies and voluntary organisations to identify, assess and provide services for children in need in Bath and North East Somerset. A corresponding duty in respect of educational provision is undertaken by the Education Service on behalf of the Council. The Children Act 2004 emphasises the collective responsibility of all partners providing services to children and young people and the importance of collaborative working, introducing duties and powers for agencies to co-operate with the Local Authority to promote better outcomes for children and young people.

4.2 The importance of effective joint working between bodies responsible for children and young people is central to the Government's vision for addressing the major factors that stop young people from achieving their potential. Accordingly, in September 2002 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 (LPS) from April 2003, including systems for Information Sharing and Assessment (ISA) of children and young people at risk.

4.3 Within Bath and North East Somerset, the responsibility of developing that strategy has been assumed by the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) - a partnership of local statutory, voluntary and community organisations working with children, young people and families.

4.4 The aim of the Local Preventative Strategy is to promote positive outcomes and to prevent children and young people experiencing negative outcomes. The strategy should cover how services to children and families will be delivered and should identify how the delivery of services will be adjusted to reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes. The Local Preventative Strategy will establish a framework for services through which effective support can be provided at the most appropriate level and point in time. The development of a Local Preventative Strategy, if it is to effect long term change, will necessarily be an incremental process.

4.5 Within the development of the Local Preventative Strategy 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". The concept of well-being covers physical and mental health, protection from harm and neglect, education and training, contribution to society, and social and economic well-being.

4.6 The development of the Local Preventative Strategy has been shaped by the Green Paper: Every Child Matters (published September 2003) and the Children Bill (presented to Parliament March 2004) and given Royal Assent in November 2004, and in particular takes into account the 5 key outcomes identified by children and young people and the 4 main areas focused upon within the Green Paper. The Local Preventative Strategy will provide a strategic framework for responding to the recommendations of the Green Paper and the Children Act, with the delivery plans incorporating progress with the collaborative working projects currently being progressed across Bath and North East Somerset. Further it will provide the strategic framework for responding to the agenda, principles and recommendations of the National Service Framework (NSF) for Children. The Local Preventative Strategy will inform the development of preventative services within the Children's Fund Strategic Plan for 2005-08 which in turn prepares the way for the transition to Children's Trust arrangements in Bath and North East Somerset.

4.7 The purpose of the Local Preventative Strategy is to improve the well-being of children and young people by creating a shared vision, framework and comprehensive delivery plan that will form the basis for the development and delivery of all services for children and young people in Bath and North East Somerset.

4.8 The LPS has been developed in line with the CYPSP's vision for Children and Young People in Bath & North East Somerset:-

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

5.1 The Report Authors and Executive Members have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

6 RATIONALE

6.1 The Local Preventative Strategy for Bath and North East Somerset has been developed over the past eighteen months and has taken into account the key national developments - The Green Paper: Every Child Matters: The Children Act: the NSF for Children - whilst focusing upon the need of the children, young people, parents and carers across the Authority. It is an ambitious and long term project and will provide the framework for the implementation of the Children Act 2004 in Bath and North East Somerset.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 The development of a Local Preventative Strategy has demonstrated the Council's commitment to working in partnership to promote the health and well-being of its children and young people, and represents good practice. The Council has fulfilled the Government's expectation that it take a lead in ensuring that this strategy is developed.

7.2 The Local Preventative Strategy will provide the framework for the implementation of The Children Act 2004 in Bath and North East Somerset. The Commission for Social Care Inspection has identified this as a strength within its review of the Council's Social Services performance.

7.3 The development of a Local Preventative Strategy will form the basis of the Children and Young People's Plan, which the Council and partners will need to develop in 2005 and publish in April 2006.

7.4 The Council could have considered not developing the Local Preventative Strategy, but the benefits outlined above would not have been achieved.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 The development of the Local Preventative Strategy has been built around consultations with staff across all agencies, a wide range of partners, and through presentations to key forums e.g. PCT Executive Board, Council Members' briefing, the Every Child Matters Project Board, The Children Bill Workshop May 2004. Comments from all consultations and presentations has informed the development and detail of the strategy.

8.2 DAFBY (Democratic Action for Young People in B&NES) has been approached to assist in compiling a young people's version of the Strategy.

8.3 Lead groups will develop a participation plan for the delivery of each strategic objective, to ensure young people's and service user involvement.

8.4 A copy of this report was sent for information to the Unions on 15^th December 2005