Agenda item

The Local Authority has a statutory duty, in partnership with Health, Police and Probation, to produce a Youth Justice Plan. The Plan sets out how services are to be organised and funded and what functions will be carried out to prevent youth offending and re-offending across Bath and North East Somerset. The Plan is also presented to Cabinet and Council for approval and a final version is then submitted to the national Youth Justice Board (YJB).

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services introduced the report to the Panel. He said that it was important to recognise the report in terms of an impending inspection of the service later in the year and the need to put the child first. He added that the work undertaken as part of the Knife Crime Review has also been important and that overall the risk to our children & young people was relatively low.

The Director of Children’s Services explained that this was a two-year plan and had been written from a child first perspective.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services addressed the Panel and stated that whilst it is a two-year plan it would be reviewed annually. She informed them that the plan complies with the legislation and guidance and that putting the child first was at the heart of their work.

She stated that there were four strategic priorities within the plan.

·  Reduce Disproportionality

·  Strengthen Participation

·  Embed Child First Principles

·  Reduce Serious Violence

She explained how important it was to hear the voices of the children concerned alongside those of their parents and carers. She added that there were strong performance figures within the plan and highlighted that the custody rate is low as well as the rate for re-offending.

Kevin Burnett said it was thankfully pleasing that overall they were talking about low numbers, but asked if any further comment could be given to the rise in first time offenders.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that a small increase had been anticipated due to the new Police child gravity matrix which required consistency over the level of official cautions to be given.

Kevin Burnett asked if further information could be given around the strategies for schools for those children with SEND who offend and those who offend who have been excluded from school.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that with regard to exclusions she was part of a working group on this issue and they were looking into the matter of disproportionality and forming an action plan. She added that they were also seeking to work with those children who were being repeatedly suspended from school to prevent further exclusions.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding added that the increase in offenders with SEND is likely to be due to having their needs identified at an earlier stage rather than in previous years it would not have been the case. He explained that as part of his role he sits on the Youth Justice Board and they will be looking to work with the SEND & AP Advice Service to provide support to schools on suspensions, exclusions and training relating to race and ethnicity.

He added that there are additional resource bases in place in advance of the planned new AP school. He said that he believed that overall this year there have been fewer exclusions and would seek to try to do better again next year.

Kevin Burnett asked if the MATs CEOs are able to be kept informed of the decision-making processes.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that CEOs are being given the opportunity address meetings of the School Standards Board. He added that involving them in the decision-making process was not as easy and would need to be discussed with the DfE regions group.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked what work could be done proactively with regard to exclusions from school. She said that the Virtual School receives a notification when potentially a Looked After child might be excluded and asked if this could be updated to include other groups of children. She asked if it was known why there had been an increase in young children becoming first time offenders and what actions were planned to address this.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding thanked her for the suggestion and replied that the Virtual School does oversee this work and was taking steps to provide additional support where possible. He said that he felt that the number of exclusions was likely to reduce this year. He added that the SEND & AP Advice Service will develop over the next three years and more arms of support will be put in place.

The Chair asked if similar bodies to the Virtual School could provide support to this cohort of children and asked if officers could explore this.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that he chairs the Race Equality Task Force which is a partnership with the Local Authority and  voluntary sector groups such as SARI and Black Families Education & Support Group. He said they provide a good approach to working with schools on areas such as racial equality and challenging exclusion disproportionality through the Race Equality Charter Mark that nearly all our schools have signed up to.

He added this work addresses having a more inclusive curriculum in place to cover issues of race and gender. He added that he hoped to roll out the work of the Race Equality Charter Mark even further over the coming year.

The Chair asked for an assurance that as well as hearing the voice of the child work was being done with them to co-produce and be included in attempting to address issues moving forward.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that they are committed to working in this way and do have children sit on our interview panels when recruiting practitioners. She added that they have also been involved in creating a child friendly space within their office area so that they can feel more comfortable when attending meetings.

She explained that they have also been supported in producing a number of child friendly leaflets on topics such as Knife Crime, Court Appearances and Referral Panel Meetings.

Councillor Paul Crossley asked if there was a reason why the first-time offending rates in B&NES were increasing whilst those in the Avon & Somerset area were decreasing.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that the figures in B&NES had decreased over the past 10 years and felt that the rates within Avon & Somerset had been slower to decline which is why that is seen as notable on this occasion against our increase.

Councillor Crossley referred to the KPIs and said that the two key things to help prevent further offending were housing and employment. He stated that he was pleased to see that over the past four quarters that 100% had been achieved in terms of housing and asked was this exceptional or the norm.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that this was a continuing trend as it was recognised the need for these children to be in suitable accommodation.

Councillor Crossley asked what could be done to address the reduction in numbers taking part in education, training and employment.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that when considering the data in this regard, the numbers can be quite small and therefore have a big impact on the figures. She added that the suitability of the education and training will continue to be monitored.

Councillor Crossley asked if it could be explained as to what is meant by a Gravity Score of 5 or more.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that these would be offences such as Serious Assault, Robbery or Aggravated Burglary. She added that the number of offences of this nature within B&NES were low.

Councillor Joanna Wright said that she was pleased to hear of the work in relation to the voice of the child and asked if peers within each age group were involved to provide support to each other in any way.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that this one of the key elements, to enable young people to be able to let off steam in a safe environment and talk with either a trusted adult or alongside their peers. She added that the work of the Violence Reduction Partnership was also an important part of this structure.

Councillor Mansell asked if it was taken into account that English might not be the first language of some children and that some may use sign language or other forms of communication.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that if required, a translator or appropriate support would be booked for each session that took place.

Councillor Mansell referred to the subject of Free School Meals and asked how many children are accessing this resource that are eligible for it.

The Director of Children’s Services replied that they would seek to provide this information so that it could be included within the minutes of the meeting.

Councillor Mansell asked what the protective characteristics of the case studies were with regard to reparation and restorative justice.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that she would attempt to find out this information and reply to the Panel.

Since the meeting has taken place the Head of Young People's Prevention Services has confirmed that one child has dyslexia, and one has ADHD - no other protected characteristics were identified.

Councillor Mansell asked what activities are in place for children from ethnic minority groups to attempt to actively change and seek to improve their outcomes.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that this is a big area of concern as the number of ethnic minority children within the justice system are over-represented. She added that they do have an Anti-Racism Action Plan in place to address such matters. She said that the plan does cover a number of strategic aspects that show how they work alongside Avon & Somerset Police and other local authorities.

She stated that one aspect of this work is to seek no disproportionality in their out of court offers and that they were linking in with education colleagues with regard to exclusions as these children were more likely to fall into the justice system.

In response to a query raised earlier in the meeting she said that there was an Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) and that this would be shared with the Panel.

Kevin Burnett referred to the KPIs and asked the following questions. He asked with regard to the Mental Health Screenings for any information on outcomes or successful interventions.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that once the children have been screened and any needs have been identified there are a range of provisions that can be offered and would be detailed to their specific needs. She added that they could be offered support the School Nurse in terms of lower tier emotional and wellbeing support, anxiety and depression. She said that if there were higher level concerns they could be referred to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) or to other providers such as Off The Record.

Kevin Burnett asked what happens following the screening for Substance Misuse if anything is identified.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that all children that they work with are screened and depending on the level of need they could either be supported through the School Nurse to stop smoking or vaping. She added that if there were more serious concerns they could be referred to Project 28 which is a DHI service for children and young people.

Kevin Burnett asked if it was an exception that fewer children were engaging with wider services.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that this figure related to the end of an intervention and whether a child was involved in a service following it concluding. She added that it was possible that they did not require any further services.

Kevin Burnett asked if support services that were engaged with the Council also took part in the disproportionality training.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that the whole of the Youth Justice Service had undertaken the training around cultural competence and diversity. She added SARI offer regular workshops to staff within Children’s Services.

Kevin Burnett asked if the service were able to offer a direct route to CAMHS.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that they do have a link between the two teams, and they do offer us consultations.

Councillor Hardman asked if the number of children entering the Youth Justice system was to be seen as a blip or a trend.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that it was to soon to say if this was to be seen as a continuing trend, but they are concerned by the potential outcomes. She added that they were unsure as to the reasons for these figures and posed whether it could be related to the pandemic.

The Chair asked what preventative work was being carried out outside of schools and asked if it should be considered that Public Health provide some funding into this area, especially around the prevention of knife crime.

The Director of Children’s Services replied that they do work alongside Public Health colleagues in terms of reducing serious violence and have held events, which have been welcomed and plan to continue. She added that Public Health do contribute to the Multi Agency Team in terms of the Youth Justice Service by providing officers including a dedicated School Nurse and additional input from CAHMS.

The Chair said that she would address the Council meeting later in the week and relay some of the points raised during the debate today. She said that she would raise the matter of equity of funding and ensuring its continuation.

Councillor May said that in regard to funding he had approached the new Police & Crime Commissioner for a meeting to discuss a number of issues and that this was set to be held in due course.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the plans for the delivery of youth justice services in the year ahead.