Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed people to the meeting and introductions were made.

Apologies were received from the following:

Councillor Nilgun Canver

Dr Pam Constantinides

Councillor Emma Jones

Dr Ita O’Donovan

Councillor George Meehan

Naeem Sheikh

Members to declare any interests in respect to items on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

The Chair will consider the admission of any urgent items of business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under Item 12 below). 

No items of urgent business were received.

To approve the minutes of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board meeting held on 8 October 2007.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the inclusion of apologies from Yolande Burgess, the minutes of the meeting held on 8 October 2007 were confirmed as correct record.

The Board received a presentation from the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust (HTPCT) on the Children and Young People’s Health Services Commissioning Strategy.

The Board was advised that the document set out the framework within which children and young people’s health services would be commissioned in Haringey. The Strategy had been informed by the following:

• Commissioning Intentions for 2007/08
• Primary Care Strategy
• BEH Clinical Strategy
• Every Child Matters: Change for Children Programme
• North Central London Children’s and Young People’s Partnership for Health

The Board noted that the Strategy’s Vision Statement was shared with the Vision Statement contained within the Changing Lives Plan and would be delivered by two key partnerships –the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board and GOSH. Both of these groups would include Children and Young People Service and Primary Care.

There were five key improvement Health Outcomes set out within the Strategy:

• Reduction of health inequalities
• Reduction of infant mortality
• Increase uptake of childhood immunisation
• Reduction in teenage pregnancy
• Reducing the rise in obesity

It was noted that the children’s networks and multi agency teams were working with schools to provide a more integrated model of service and that work was being carried out with hospitals to improve their children’s services.

Four key priority areas had been identified for the CYPPH:

• Urgent Care Pathways
• Children with long term conditions
• Children with complex health needs
• Interface with CYPSPB

The Chair thanked the HTPCT for their presentation and noted the importance of the Strategy in terms of the Board’s relationship with GOSH.

Concern was raised that there was not sufficient reference within the document to addressing drug and alcohol abuse. The Board was advised that this would be expanded upon when the document was developed following the consultation process. 

The Board discussed the needs of young people moving into adulthood and it was noted that it was important to maintain consistency. There was agreement that further reference should be made to how this would be addressed within the document.

It was noted that the document did not make reference to the needs of the children and young people who acted as carers or to those who were affected by the drugs and alcohol abuse of others.

The Board discussed the current waiting time for referrals for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Concern was expressed that the need to improve waiting times had not been picked up in the document. The Board was advised that this was being addressed as a performance issue and that direct funding was being used to tackle this issue. However, there was an underlying problem that demand outstripped what the Service was actually able to provide. 

It was suggested that, in addition to setting out goals and targets,  there should be reference within the document to the achievements that had been made by the Partnership. 

It was noted that there had been discussion previously with regard to the sharing of confidential personal information between partners. In response to queries, as whether any  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The Board considered a report setting out guidance issued by the Government in relation to the new Local Area Agreements (LAA’s), national indicators and funding following the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

The Board was advised that the Government required thirty-five targets to be included within the new LAA, which would be agreed with GoL and signed off by the Secretary of State. The targets were required to reflect local priorities and would be supported by a narrative termed the ‘Story of Place’, which would be formed largely from the existing Community Strategy.

It was proposed that the Board’s contribution to the ‘Story of Place’ should come largely from Changing Lives. 

In addition to the thirty-five targets, targets had to be agreed with Government for the additional sixteen statutory indicators and these would also form part of the overall performance framework. However, due to their separate legal status, they could not be part of the thirty five LAA targets. 

The Board was advised of the proposals in relation to Children and Young People and there was a general consensus that ten general headline targets should be determined, with more detailed indicators sitting underneath these.

Concern was expressed regarding the pooling of budgets and it was agreed that work was required to identify the areas requiring protection and how these areas may have to be reshaped to respond to this.

There was agreement that the new Advisory Board should be asked to form the Story of Place on behalf of the Board and to review existing priorities and how these could be formed into headline targets. The Chair requested that a  report be brought back to the Board prior to the next meeting.

It was noted that the Government would only measure performance against the thirty-five targets included within the LAA. However the Government would continue to collect information on all 198 national indicators. 

There was agreement that it would be useful if a timetable for the LAA process was circulated to the Board.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Board note the implications for the future development of the LAA.

2. To note the proposals on the LAA priorities in relation to Children and Young People.

3. That the Advisory Board should form a statement to feed into the Story of Place and that a report be brought back the Board’s next meeting.

4. That a timetable setting out the process for the LAA should be produced and circulated.

The Board received a report setting out the key performance indicators for Changing Lives 2007.

The Board was advised that the number of children on the Child Protection Register had reduced since the last monitoring report. However, the target of 30% per 10,000 children was still not being met and as of the end of October the figure was 39.4%.

It was noted that all other RAG ratings in the key indicators remained the same, though there had been some changes in the figures since August. The number of Looked After Children achieving five or more GCSE’s at A*-G grade had increased by 6.5% and remained well above the London average.

The Board was advised that due to the process in place for the new LAA, it was unlikely that the second review of the Children’s Plan would be finalised by April 2008.

RESOLVED:

To note performance against key indicators.

The Board received a report setting out the current NEET situation in Haringey and the measures employed to reduce NEET’s and future developments that were likely to impact upon progress towards achieving the 2010 PSA target.

The Board was advised that at the end of October the NEET percentage was 10.8%, compared with 13.9% at the end of October 2006. Although the figures for the period September to November should be viewed with caution, as this was a transition time for young people, there were indications of a downward trend and the Borough may be on track to meet the January 2008 glide path target of 11.6%.

The figure for 16 to 18 year olds who were employed, in education or training had risen by 6.5% in comparison with the figure at October 2006. The number of young people as long term NEET had dropped from 104 in September 2006 to 79 in September 2007.

The Board discussed the number of apprenticeships available and the Chair noted that a report was being drafted for consideration by Cabinet on options for raising the number of apprenticeships offered by the Council. At the Chair’s request the PCT agreed to consider this issue and report back to the Board.

The Board discussed assisting teenage mothers into work and it was noted that it would be useful if a protocol could be formed between partners as there were concerns that at present there were individuals who were not being picked up.

RESOLVED:

To note the report.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board was advised that the Children and Young People’s Advisory Board had been convened in order to look at several issues. This included taking an overview of meeting the requirements of the Children’s Trust Board. 

The Advisory Board had also been tasked with looking at the requirements of the new LAA and undertaking preparatory work for this on behalf of the Board.

The Chair noted that attendance by some of the Board’s members at recent meetings had been poor and noted that one of the tasks for the Advisory Board would be making the content of the meetings more relevant to partners and looking at ways of improving attendance.

In addition to this the Clerk to the Board would be drawing together the record of attendance for the last Municipal Year so that attendance could be monitored regularly.

RESOLVED:

To note the update provided.

Each sector of the Partnership will be invited to give a three minute oral update on the most prevalent issues coming from the respective sectors. Longer items will need to be submitted as a short paper to be tabled for noting at the meeting.  

The Board received a brief update from each of the partners:

PCT/HTPCT

The Board was advised that the PCT would be in a position to share information regarding their budget for next year at the next meeting.

Learning and Skills Council

The Board was advised that the organisation had formed their statement of priorities for the next financial year and that this could be circulated to the Board.

It was noted that the education budget for the 16-18 age group had not been increased and that there was a greater emphasis on raising the number of apprenticeships available. There had been meetings with local schools to discuss this and it had been acknowledged that this was an issue. 

Police

The Board noted that a significant proportion of robberies committed were perpetrated against young people. As a result of the initiatives the level of positive identifications from line ups had risen from 35% to 70%.

The number of identity parades taking place had quadrupled and the level of street crime had dropped by 20% and the percentage of crimes where a conviction was made had risen to 30%.

During November new tactics had been introduced to tackle the number of complaints received regarding motorcycles being ridden round estates. This had led to a significant reduction in the number of complaints received.

Youth Offending Service

The Board was advised that a new child psychologist was being recruited and that some promising applications had been received. As funding received for the Wraparound Coordinator had ceased this post would be lost.

It was noted that work was being done to look at Referral Orders and reducing the number of first time offenders who went on re-offend. In terms of Core Management Guidance on case management it was noted that re-offending rates had improved.

No items of AOB were raised.

To consider any new items of urgent business admitted under Item 2 above.

No urgent items were received.

The following dates are proposed:

• 5 February 2008, 6.30pm
• 1 April 2008, 6.30pm
• 6 May 2008, 6.30pm

The following dates for future meetings were noted:

5 February 2008, 6.30pm

1 April 2008, 6.30pm

6 May 2008, 6.30pm

Partners should submit proposed agenda items for the next meeting (5 February 2008) to Patricia Walker, Policy and Performance Manager, no later than 21 January 2008.

patricia.walker@haringey.gov.uk  

The Board noted that items for the next meeting (5 February 2008) should be sent to Patricia Walker no later than 21 January 2008.

Patrcia.walker@haringey.gov.uk  

The following item has been suggested as a Strategic Focus Item for the next meeting:

• Mental Health

The Board noted that the following item had been suggested as the