Agenda item

Councillor Paul Rochford, Cabinet Member for Children & Learning, introduced the report

The report informed Cabinet of interim arrangements which had been put in place with London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD) to manage Havering Youth Offending Service (YOS), whilst more detailed discussions had taken place to establish an integrated service model across both Havering and Barking and Dagenham.

It was reported that the interim arrangements included the secondment of one LBBD YOS Manager to Havering for 60% of his time and additional support from other LBBD YOS Management staff. During the intervening period continued work would be undertaken to explore options for a fully integrated service.

Reasons for the decision:

The Council is committed to building a community where people are safe and feel safe. Good quality youth offending services reduce offending and reoffending amongst 10-18 year olds. Barking and Dagenham YOS had a very good thematic inspection in 2011/12 and the integration will allow opportunities for building on good practice and resilience in the Youth Offending Services in both boroughs.

Other options considered:

There were two main options considered, namely:

·         Option 1 – To maintain standalone YOS for Havering.

·         Option 2 – To collaborate with a neighbouring authority with a view to realising benefits for both authorities.

Option 2 is the recommended option for the reasons as outlined in the report.

Questions were raised concerning the level of consultation with partner organisations concerning the proposals. It was accepted that there would be a geographical spread resulting from the service revisions, however this would not result in a loss of service.

It was noted that the report was for noting, with the final decision delegated to the Cabinet Member for Children & Learning. The Crime and Disorder and Children & Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committees would be presented with reports detailing the performance of the proposed collaboration with LBBD.  

Cabinet:

1.          Noted and agreed the direction of travel to merge Youth Offending Services with London Borough of Barking and Dagenham over time.

2.          Noted the current accommodation issues for the location of the YOS once the lease expires on Portman House.

3.          Delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Children & Learning to take any decisions required to complete a merger of Youth Offending Services with London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.