Agenda and minutes

PLEASE SEE APPENDIX ONE OF THE MINUTES FOR A LIST OF THOSE MEMBERS, OBSERVERS, AND OFFICERS PRESENT AT THE MEETING.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at Item 13 below).

(Agenda Item 2):

None

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the Authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest.

(Agenda Item 3):

None

To approve the minutes of the Haringey Children & Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board meeting held on 13 March 2006 (attached).

(Agenda Item 4):

Clarity from the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust on page three, paragraph 8 of the minutes was given by way of confirming that Option 4 (Children’s Primary Care services to be transferred to the North London Children’s Partnership for Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital) had been the agreed future provision of health services to children and young people in the borough.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the last meeting of the HSP on 13 March 2006 be agreed and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Haringey Chief Executive’s Policy, Partnership and Consultation Team (to follow).

(Agenda Item 5):

The CYPSPB was given an outline of the process for renewing Haringey’s Community Strategy. Drawn from a recent conference to HSP partners, the Board heard about the broad priority areas that partners had identified. Further consultation involving CYPSPB partners would take on 11 September 2006. It was proposed that the CYPSPB put forward priorities, issues, and proposals for activity as part of its consultation submission.  It was highlighted that the Changing Lives current 20 priority areas would form a foundation for renewing the Community Strategy. It also heard that the Community Strategy must have a corporate outlook to it rather than focussing on subjects entirely separate from cross cutting issues.

The CYPSPB heard what the objectives of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) were and what the four priority areas (known as “blocks”) were – one of which included Children and Young People which focuses on the five outcomes of the Every Child Matters framework. There was a brief outline on the three aspects to LAAs, namely mandatory outcomes, the reward element, and enabling measures. The Board heard that the timescales for considering the contents of the priority block was short (30 September 2006) which posed a constraint to the ability to submit a draft. However, it was established that the publication of the final Changing Lives document would act as a major foundation for the draft LAA report. It was felt that a working group of partners would be best able to facilitate the development of the report.

RESOLVED

(i)                 That the Board agreed to discuss the Community Strategy at the next meeting of the CYPSPB after a paper is produced to focus on cross cutting links and stimulate ideas for further discussion.

(ii)               That Paul Head, Yolande Burgess, and a representative from the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust, and a representative from Haringey Council form a working group to formulate the LAA report ahead of the initial deadline for an initial draft of 30 September 2006.

Report of the Director of Children, Young People and Families Services, Haringey TPCT (to follow).

(Agenda Item 6):

The CYPSPB was given an update on the financial plan of the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust and was informed that a significant review of the financial plans for 2006/7 which had resulted in reductions to available resources. The Board heard that discussion papers had been written relating the reductions, and that these had been submitted to the TPCT Board in April and May 2006 and the implications upon children’s services considered at these meetings. Concerns were raised at the CYPSPB that Haringey Councillors had not been involved in the TPCT Board discussions due to the purdah period and that the period/timetable for consultation on the financial plan was inadequate give the affects of the reductions in recourses that resulted. There were also concerns raised about vacancies within the TPCT and what affect the reduced recourses would have on this.

In response to these concerns, it was highlighted that it was unfortunate timing of the election and that due to financial deficit pressures, there were significant time constraints which had an impact on strategic working under the circumstances. It was argued that the responsive actions of the financial plan would minimise future difficulties in terms of service provision, but it was accepted that political engagement was lacking somewhat on this occasion. The Board was informed that the TPCT would be attending the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee in July 2006 in order to engage with the political process and health scrutiny process as it was recognised that stakeholders needed to be involved in shaping future service provision within the available recourses. With regards to vacancies, the Board was informed that due to financial constraints, there had been vacancy freeze this year and vacancies were filled only according to their order of priority. The Board also heard that redundancies were not expected within the TPCT and that a brighter picture was expected next year as a result of refunding from central government. The issue would be re-visited in due course.

The CYPPSB discussed a number of issues relating to the direction of travel for the TPCT, and highlighted that it was somewhat unclear due to the financial constraints. There was a call for further discussion at a future meeting of the CYPSPB, particularly with regard to the remit of the Board itself in relation to strategic outlook of the TPCT. It was highlighted that there was a need to maintain perceptions of service provisions in terms of “cut-backs” within the community/amongst “customers”. The Board heard that it would be effective to adopt different ways of thinking about these issues and changing emphasis, and getting this across to key stakeholders. Area Assemblies were raised as a possible form of communicating these issues. The TPCT confirmed that they would be happy to participate in this sort of discussion. Whilst the Board recognised that mechanisms for future consultation would need to be more robust, it was broadly accepted that with regards to the financial plan 2006/7 speed was a crucial factor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Director of Children’s Service (attached).

(Agenda item 7):

The Board received the draft schedule for monitoring the achievements of the outcomes in Changing Lives which had been submitted by Haringey’s Children’s Services. The also received an overall plan for vulnerable children and young people to work within the Changing Lives document. The Board heard that the Performance Monitoring Strategy would need to be made more user friendly and that a coloured indicator (red, amber, green) would be used to highlight each individual area according to its level of concern. Further, a summary report would be produced to highlight key messages and information on a monthly and quarterly basis to the CYPSPB. This would therefore be a standard item on four of the CYPSPB meetings annually.

The Board discussed at length the use and effectiveness of the Performance Monitoring Strategy in terms of the use of figures to highlight performance. Whilst there was broad agreement to the objectives of the Strategy, the Board sought assurance that developmental targets in separate sections of the Strategy would not get bogged down in figures. With regard to the Stay Safe target, there was a commitment from the Metropolitan Police to help make the targets achievable, however concern was raised that some of the objectives were somewhat broad. The Board also heard that whilst numerical indicators were important, softer issues were important too and that this should be captured by avoiding a top-down approach to them. It was highlighted that soft issues may promote innovation in ways of changing lives, rather than using tick-box methods. There was agreement to this view. The Board were referred to governance, consultation and participation model related to the CYPSP highlighting multi-agency approaches to the partnership structures of sub-groups who work in the field of children and young people’s services. Views from these agencies would be fed back under the evaluation model. The Board also heard that some of the targets are monitored in other services, such as the Community Safety Team. There were a number of concerns and issues relating to specific priority areas and targets such as ensuring local targets were not at odds with national targets; the significance of priority 15 (empowerment of children and young people to have amore effective voice in decision-making); and the need to ensure that perceptions about each of the targets is effectively shaped.

Each Board member was invited to state what priority area they would like to focus on. The list was as follows:

Teenage pregnancy, child protection (x2), sexual health, reducing bullying, success in education, improving workforce standards, infant mortality, inequalities, looked after children, mental health needs, community based activities for all young people, positive contribution, criminal justice post sentencing, safe-guarding children, geographical focus, achievement in schools, economic situation for young people and parents to allow for independence.

Report of the Director of Children’s Service (attached).

(Agenda Item 8):

The Board received a summary outlining the recent work between Haringey Children’s Services and the TPT on joint commissioning supported by DfES funding. It was emphasised that joint commissioning was a key component in delivering the Every Child Matters programme. A joint report by the two agencies was presented which highlighted a proposed timetable for the implementation of a joint commissioning framework together with a proposal for a jointly funded Strategic Commissioner Post.

There were a number of questions from the Board based around the projects such a substance mis-use, and how practice based commissioning would work. In response, it was emphasised that more work would need to be done and that this would be a two-way process as the approach evolved. The Board heard that whilst individual pieces to a joint commissioning framework already existed, its future development would require a set of protocol in order to ease the way of getting partners involved.

RESOLVED:

That the CYPSPB agree to the recommendations set out in the Report, and that the Board receive a progress update at its November 2006 meeting.

Report of the Director of Children’s Service (attached).

(Agenda Item 9):

The Board received an update on progress to date given that the first of the 3 Children’s Network is now set up and it was emphasised that the context of the Children’s Networks was firmly rooted in the Every Child Matters agenda. The Board was also informed of the timescales involved in the continued development of the Networks.

There was general agreement to the direction of travel presented to the Board, but some questions arose relating to the decision-making and management structures supporting the development of the Children’s Networks. In response, it was stated that management structures were still at a developmental stage and that a panel of professionals would be commissioning work to do this. It was felt that universal services could be used, in certain circumstances, for provision purposes to certain geographical areas. The Extending Schools programme would also be a good opportunity to consider the further development of Children’s Networks. This would need to be communicated to Extended School designers for consideration and possible incorporation. The TPCT gave its commitment to working with Haringey Children’s Services on the Networks project. The board was informed that whilst the development of Children’s Networks is a serious step, a slow and considered approach was necessary in order to ensure robustness and to reflect what people want. The programme was, nonetheless, ambitious, and research in conjunction with Middlesex University had been undertaken to ensure this was achieved.

RESOLVED:

The Board agreed to the recommendations outlined in the Report, and compliment officers involved on the task in hand.

Report of the Director of Children’s Service (attached).

(Agenda Item 10):

The Board received an outline of the purpose of the Information Sharing Protocol, and was asked to sign-up to the Protocol which was now in its final draft following extensive consultation with the Partners.

There was a brief discussion on the merits of sharing information with agencies such as the Home Office, and on confidentiality issues. With regard to sharing information, it was established that the principle needs of the individual would need to be adhered to, but that in the interest of child safety, the Protocol would be necessary. An element of professional judgement would need to be made with regard to the health and welfare of children in all situations.

RESOLVED:

That the Board approved the Information Sharing Protocol and the recommendations outlined in the Report.

(Agenda Item 11):

·              The Boards’ attention was drawn to the draft forward plan for future discussion points at CYPSPB meetings. Comments were sought from Partners to be forwarded to Patricia Walker, Policy & Performance Manager, Haringey Children’s Services (patricia.walker@haringey.gov.uk).

·              Partners were invited to attend the 2^nd Annual CYPSP Conference to be held at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday 27 September 2006 between 9am and 4pm. Tickets can be secured by contacted Patricia Walker(patricia.walker@haringey.gov.uk).

·     11 September 2006 at 6:30pm

·     20 November 2006 at 6:30pm

·     22 January 2007 at 6:30pm

·     12 March 2007 at 6:30pm

·     A sixth date tbc.

(Agenda Item 12):

The following dates for future meetings of the CYPSPB were confirmed as follows:

·                    11 September 2006, 6:30pm

·                    20 November 2006, 6:30pm

·                    22 January 2007, 6:30pm

·                    12 March 2007, 6:30pm

·                    14 May 2007, 6:30pm

To consider any new items admitted under Item 2 above.

(Agenda Item 13):

None.

Partners should submit proposed agenda items for the next meeting to Nicolas Mattis no later than 15 August 2006.

(agenda Item 14): 

Partners wishing to put forward items for a future agenda are asked to contact Nicolas Mattis, Principal Support Officer (Council) at nicolas.mattis@haringey.gov.uk

The meeting ended at 20:45 hours.

_____________________________________

Councillor LIZ SANTRY

Chair, Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board 2006/7

Date:_________________________________