Issue - meetings

This report seeks to highlight to the Health and Wellbeing Board the progress and approach being taken regarding the development of the new Children and Young People Plan and to seek their views on areas of particular concern for children and young people that Partner agencies are seeing emerge.

Sarah McCluskey and Lesley Hutchinson – 11.35am - 15 minutes

The Board considered a report which highlighted the progress and approach being taken regarding the development of the new Children and Young People Plan and sought views on areas of particular concern for children and young people that partner agencies were seeing emerge. 

Lesley Hutchinson, Director of Adult Social Care, presented the report.  She stated that, although the current strategy is in place until 2021, Officers are aiming to either refresh it for 2021 – 2024, removing completed priorities, retaining continued ones and adding in some new or to carry out a larger review and rework the Strategy.  The Children and Young People Sub-Committee’s proposal is to refresh, and this has arisen as a result of two recent development sessions.  The current outcomes are still considered to be fit for purpose.  It is important to consider inequality issues, to tackle and narrow the achievement gap and to consider matters such as food poverty and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Sub-Committee recommend that the number of priorities also need to be reduced.  The training programme has also been reviewed.  There has been a change in the complexity of needs and there has been an increase in mental health needs; the aim is to specifically incorporate mental health into the plan going forward.  It is also important to provide more support for practitioners working with children and young people with complex needs.

The following issues were discussed:

·  Jo Scammell stated that the priorities are all-encompassing.  It is important to focus on outcomes and key areas.

·  Paul Harris applauded the effort to reduce the number of priorities and to focus more narrowly in order to more deeply address these issues.  He also welcomed the proposal to incorporate inequalities and mental health issues into the existing priorities. 

·  Richard Smale supported a refresh of the Plan rather than a wholescale review and queried how the measures are captured from the perspective of young people.  It was confirmed that the Youth Forum and in-Care Councils are involved in shaping the Plan and that there is direct feedback from service users.

RESOLVED:

(1)  To note the overview of the Children and Young People Plan 2021-2024 development session.

(2)  To note and approve the proposed areas of initial focus for the Plan and to confirm that these fit with the forthcoming Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy.

(3)  To note the evaluation of the Children’s Workforce Training Programme.

(4)  To agree that the Children and Young People Plan should be refreshed rather than completely reviewed.

(5)  To extend the existing Plan to 2022, in line with the new time frame for the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.