Agenda item

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services introduced Rachel Hale, Director and CEO of B&NES Parent Carer Forum to the Panel. He thanked her, Olwyn Donnelly and Sarah McCluskey for their work on this matter and said that he intends to take a similar report to the Cabinet at some point in the future.

Rachel Hale addressed the Panel and explained that the Parent Carer Forum works with both Children and Adult Services and meets with them on a monthly basis.

She said that work relating to the promises began with assessing the support required for children and young people with SEND.

She informed the Panel that several groups of young people have reviewed the promises, including students from Chew Valley School. She said that a Makaton version of the promises was also available.

She stated that the intention is for the promises to be adopted by all areas of the Council.

The Head of Education Commissioning added that the promises have been shared with colleagues working in Health and that it was important to make them visible to all young people.

Kevin Burnett asked what the intended age range for the promises was.

Rachel Hale replied that for young people with SEND this was considered to be up to the age of 25. She added that there was also a Participation Toolkit that was available and said that the promises had been co-produced from the earliest point possible.

Kevin Burnett asked how the implementation of the promises would be monitored.

Rachel Hale replied that discussions between Councillors and officers were required to take place on how to maintain the levels of participation. She added that a lot of co-working is already taking place and said that buy-in regarding the promises was required from all Heads of Service.

Councillor May added that a Memorandum of Understanding was also being drafted.

Councillor Lesley Mansell welcomed the report and said that it was important for the work to be recognised across the Council. She asked what consultation had taken place with young people in Radstock.

Councillor May replied that Youth Connect South West (YCSW) were involved in the review of the promises and that this included the Youth Hub in Radstock.

Councillor Mansell said that the responses to the issues raised during this process were positive and asked for an Equalities Impact Assessment to be carried out to raise further awareness and to assure that all factors have been taken into account.

Councillor May replied that the report had been raised with the Equalities Team and felt that the report had addressed any issues. He reiterated his intention to take the report to a meeting of the Cabinet and said that a report on implementation of the promises would come to a future meeting of the Panel.

The Chair asked that this be submitted to them later in the year.

Rachel Hale stated that work had been carried out within their resources and said that they have a good working dialogue with YCSW

Councillor May said that he was pleased to be working closely with the Parent Carer Forum and that he recognised the need for co-production to be done correctly. He added that he welcomed the role of the Panel in this process.

Councillor Anna Box thanked the Forum for their engagement in rural communities and said that it was disappointing that youth provision in Bishop Sutton had been cut.

Councillor Ruth Malloy said that she would like to see all departments encouraged to be aware of their responsibilities with regard to young people and decision making.

Councillor May agreed that this point was valid and said that he had had discussions relating to the Local Plan and the need to have ways to talk to our current young people and to have their views acknowledged.

Rachel Hale commented that the Council has to consider how young people navigate around B&NES as a lot of projects were very Bath centric.

Councillor May acknowledged that access to facilities was important and that they were looking to address this.

The Panel RESOLVED to:

i)  Approve the proposed Participation Promises for Children and Young People in B&NES.

ii)  Acknowledge the overview of how the Council participates and engages with children and young people in B&NES.