Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Graham Badman

Jean Croot                             Linda James substituted

Jane Elias

June Jarrett                            substituted

Rob Larkin                             Deborah Wheeler substituted

Dr Ita O’Donovan

Cenk Orhan

Walter Steel

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be considered under Item 13 below).

No items of Urgent Business were raised.

Members of the Trust must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not participate in the consideration of those items.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2009 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Trust received a report setting out revisions that had been made to the Infant Mortality Strategy following the issuing of new guidance from the Department of Health.

The Trust was advised that the document contained a new section on Housing and this reflected the work being undertaken to address the clear link between poor housing and Infant Mortality. It was noted that in forming this section of the document improved links between the Council’s Housing Team and NHS Haringey had been forged.

In response to a query as to what specific factors associated with poor housing were linked to Infant Mortality the Trust was advised that bed sharing, particularly if a parent had been drinking or taking drugs. Other factors included over heated properties, poor ventilation and a lack of awareness of good sleeping positions.

It was noted that, at its recent Board meeting, NHS Haringey had discussed the need to carry out research work with respect to the causes of premature births and the links to deprivation. This was intended to provide a more targeted approach to addressing the problems that were most prevalent in Haringey.

The Chair noted that report proposed that an update was received in June 2010 following the National Support Team visit in January 2010 and there was agreement that this should be added to the Trusts Work Programme.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That an update should be received in June 2010 following the National Support Team visit in January 2010.

A verbal update will be provided on the work of the LSCB.

The Trust received a verbal update on the work of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).

It was noted that the LSCB’s Executive body had now met and had agreed its Terms of Reference. At its first meeting there had been agreement that:

The sub groups under the LSCB should be reviewed with a view to concentrating on a limited number of key areas.

Raising  

There will be group discussion on this issue.

A verbal update will be provided on the Area Children’s Partnership meetings held in September.  

A verbal update was provided with respect to the first cycle of Children’s Area Partnership (CAP) meetings that had taken place in September.

The Trust was advised that the first round of meetings had been well attended by the Core Agencies such as NHS Haringey, Police, Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Council.

An overview was given of the issues raised at each of the meetings:

South CAP

The CAP had agreed that addressing the level of children classed as Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), provisions of Family Support and children with Special Needs should be focussed on.

It was also agreed that there should be a workshop session to consider how to respond to the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JNSA).

West CAP

North CAP

It had been agreed that the following areas would be focused on; economic well-being, youth offending, crime and domestic violence. It had tentatively been agreed that a Ward based approach would be taken in order to concentrate resources where there was the greatest need.

The Chair noted that once the CAPs became more established they would elect their own Chairs and that the Chairs would have a place on the Children’s Trust.

In response to a suggestion that a Ward based approach may not fully deliver the objectives agreed and that a thematic approach would be more suitable; the Chair advised that each of the CAPs had been provided with a copy of the JSNA prior to their meetings and their agreed approach had been informed by this.

There was agreement that the CAPs should be able to demonstrate a clear link to Local Area Agreement targets when identifying their priorities and areas of work.

It was requested that the minutes of the CAP meetings were circulated to members of the Board. The Chair noted that future meetings would be arranged and clerked on the same basis as the Trust. There was agreement that Action Lists, rather than detailed minutes should be produced and circulated following each of the meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update be noted.

The Trust considered a report outlining proposals for a six month review of the operation of the Children’s Trust.

It was noted that the CT EPMG had agreed that there should be a review of progress in developing the Trust and in December 2010 following the first six months The report set out a number of outcome measures to gauge performance to used as part of the review process and views were sought as to whether these captured everything.

In response to a query the Chair advised that for the purposes of the Trust all Councillors represented the Council and that the Trust was not a political body.

It was confirmed that Induction sessions with the Director of Children’s Services were being organised for all new member of the Trust and that these would take place prior to the review.

With regard to improving the understanding of other agencies and their work the Trust was advised that core agencies such as the Police, Council and NHS Haringey, visited one another’s organisations to gain a better understanding of how they operated.

It was recognised that it would be impractical to extend this type of visit to every member of the Trust and it was agreed that at future meetings, operational staff from different organisations should be invited to give a presentation on an aspect of their work. It was further agreed that a Development Session would be useful in promoting understanding of roles.

RESOLVED:

1. That a six month review should be carried out in December 2009.

2. That at future meetings, operational staff from different organisations should be invited to give a presentation on an aspect of their work.

3. That a Development Session should be organised for the Children’s Trust.

The Trust received a report that presented the Safeguarding Plan for Haringey.

It was noted that the Safeguarding Plan (formerly the JAR Action) had been refreshed and was now presented in a more streamlined and simple format, which was designed to simplify the Plan and ensure that there was a clear focus on delivery.   

In response to a query as to why certain targets were reported as being ‘on track’ when the delivery date had passed, the Trust was advised that this status had been awarded in certain areas where there was a small degree of slippage. It was confirmed that in any given area any delay in achieving a target would be no longer than one week if it was reported as being on track.

The Chair requested that if any members of the Trust had further queries regarding the Plan following the meeting that these were emailed to Patricia Walker or Xanthe Barker and a response would be supplied.

RESOLVED:

1. That the final version of the refreshed JAR Action Plan, re-titled as the Safeguarding Plan for Haringey, be approved.

2. That progress against milestones and performance information presented within the report be noted.  

The Trust received a report presenting setting out performance against selected Local Area Agreement (LAA) National Indicators (NIs) with the Trusts responsibility during the first quarter of 2009/10.

Exception reports were provided for ten of the twelve NIs showing as red and the Trust was advised that two had been omitted as performance was improving in these areas.

With respect to the fall in performance in completing Core Assessments, the Trust was advised that during the last two weeks in August there had been a sharp fall in the number completed and that this had lowered the average figure. However, it was expected that the September data would show that performance had improved.

In response to a query regarding the development of seven new proxy indicators, to measure the quality of Safeguarding, the Trust was advised that this had been suggested as a means of looking at the quality of the work being undertaken. There was agreement that details of what these proxy indicators would cover should be circulated with the minutes.

The Trust was advised that work to determine whether referrals were being directed via the proper route was being carried out. It was recognised that ensuring referral were properly dealt with was a key priority and to reflect this the ? was now staffed by trained Social Workers, rather than administrative staff, who were better equipped to determine how cases should proceed.

The Chair noted that the target with respect to NI 126, early access to maternity services, had been raised for the current year as performance during 2008/09 had been particularly good. Although this was showing as red against the new target, performance was still improving in the area.

The CT EMPG would be looking at the Maternity Action Plan and a report would be brought back to the Trust if this was considered appropriate.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Trust received a verbal update from the Director of Children’s Services on the work of the  Children’s Trust Executive Performance Management Group.

It was noted that the CT PMG had discussed the following:

Performance Monitoring

It had been agreed that a Development Session would be held for members of the CT EMPG to consider its approach to performance monitoring.

Instances of Looked After Children Reported as Missing

Information held by the Police, with respect to the number pf children reported as missing whilst in Care, had been circulated and discussed at the meeting.

There had been agreement that provision should be made to review these cases on regular basis between the Police and Council and that this should also be reported to the Corporate Parenting Committee.  

Joint Commissioning

It had been agreed that a workshop session should be arranged for the Trust in the Spring to consider commissioning.

The Chair noted that, in addition to the items raised above and earlier in the meeting, a report on the Children’s Centre Strategy should be received at the Trusts December meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal report be noted.

To consider any items of new Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.

No new items of Urgent Business were raised.

To raise any items of AOB.

Recent Gang Violence

The Trust was advised that work was being undertaken to address the recent number of gang related stabbings and shootings in the Borough. A multi agency group was in place to tackle the problem and short and long term measures to address this problem.  

To note meeting dates scheduled for the remainder of 2009/10:

• 4.30pm, 17 December 2009
• 4.30pm, 9 February 2010
• 4.30pm, 15 April 2010

The following dates of future meetings were noted:

• 4.30pm, 17 December 2009
• 4.30pm, 9 February 2010
• 4.30pm, 15 April 2010

The Chair suggested that, if appropriate accommodation was available, the meeting scheduled for December or February, should be held at the Triangle Centre and there was a general consensus that this was acceptable.