Agenda item

The Committee received a report from the Strategic Lead, Performance and Policy from Social Care and Learning, regarding the Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-14 (CYPP). Specifically, the report was updating the Committee on the progress made against the six priorities as determined by the Children’s Trust.

The Committee noted that the six priorities of the CYPP and the work being undertaken under each priority, detailed as follows:

1.      Ensuring children and young people are protected from abuse and neglect

This first area worked to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of children and young people was embedded in multi-agency working. This would mean intervening early and at the right time as well as involving families in service design and delivery. Key activity included:

·        Strengthened multi-agency working practices: the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) was due to go live in 2012 with partners located in the same office to allow for better information sharing. A ‘triage’ service was in operation in the Duty and Assessment Team and a new referral form had been introduced in order to reduce unnecessary referrals and speed up the process.

·        Improved Participation of Families.

·        Professionals using the right tools and procedures for the specific needs of the child: the high standards imposed by the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) were being implemented across the sector, with working being led by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB).

2.      Increase breastfeeding rates

The Committee was informed that evidence suggested that breastfeeding had many health benefits for children, including reducing child obesity. Havering had one of the highest rates of obesity and one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in London. To address the gap, significant work had been done to improve the reliability of breastfeeding data. Work underway included:

·        Increasing awareness of breastfeeding to all cultures and age groups: this work included breastfeeding awareness sessions in schools and an extensive marketing campaign.

·        Supporting mothers to feel confident to breastfeed in public.

·        Improving access to breastfeeding support services.

3.      Reduce child poverty

Members noted that nearly one in five children in Havering lived in poverty (this was defined as belonging to a family receiving 60% less that the median income). This number was lower than other London boroughs; the rate was higher than Havering’s statistical neighbours. Current activity included:

·        Developing a network of integrated services for families, focusing on the Foundation Years.

·        Reducing barriers to employment

·        Improving financial wellbeing

·        Addressing health inequalities

4.      Reducing teenage conceptions and termination rates

Teenage conception rates had been increasing, contrary to a national and London-wide downward trend.  Latest data showed that the local rate was now falling and at a faster rate than for London and England, demonstrating the impact of local efforts, which included:

·        Access to Contraceptive and Sexual Health (CASH) services: including a Condom Card scheme (C-Card) and a sexual health information booklet.

·        Targeted work with vulnerable groups.

·        Workforce development.

5.      Support complex families

The Committee was informed that there had been a lot of recent media attention on the Government’s Troubled Families programme. Unlike many other boroughs, Havering had already begun to plan how it would address the complex and inter-related risk factors affecting a section of the population, to help them to break their negative and often inter-generational cycles of behaviour and deprivation. This work had been progressed through the Top 100 Families project currently underway. The aim was not to create a new service; rather, to re-design existing services and improve cooperation with partners to maximise the impact of interventions. Work consisted of:

·        Troubled families/top 100 families: partners had suggested more than 800 individuals who they felt would benefit from involvement in this work; over 500 families had been suggested. There was a significant proportion for whom domestic violence, substance/ alcohol abuse and mental health issues were commonly identified.  Analysis continued to refine this list, to determine which families would ultimately be part of the programme.

·        Community Budgets

6.      Improve access to high-quality therapies

Access to effective therapies had been a concern for parents and professionals alike. The broad themes of activity for this priority were to redesign services, to improve commissioning and collaboration with partners, and to ensure early interventions. Work in this area included:

·        Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)

·        Redesign Services

·        Improve commissioning and collaboration

·        Early targeted interventions to increase independence

The Committee discussed various aspects of the report; in particular Members sought more information regarding the Triage Team. Officers explained that the team received some 1200 calls per month and 65% of referrals did not meet the criteria for further investigation. This was a dedicated team of social workers assessing each referral. The Committee requested that more information regarding the work of Triage Team and the criteria used for assessing where to redirect referrals be brought to the Committee.

The Committee noted the report and requested further information on the work of the Triage Team, the MEND programme and more information on services for children in terms of drugs, alcohol and sexual health.