Agenda item

This report provides an update on progress made in the last year to deliver the Haringey Young People at Risk Strategy.

The Partnership received a report which provided an update on the Young People at Risk Strategy. The report was introduced by Hugh Smith, Policy & Equalities Officer, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 47-68.

Regarding the Haringey’s performance in terms of incidents of serious youth violence, the Partnership were informed that there were challenges, particularly in relation to robbery. It was noted that Haringey had one of the highest volumes of youth violence in comparison to the majority of London boroughs, but Enfield had a higher volume of serious youth violence compared to Haringey.Additionally, it was found that there were a couple of periods of lower volumes of incidents in Haringey, particularly over the Summer period and between November to December 2019. 

In terms of the operational implementation of the Strategy, one of the major successes over the last year had been the implementation of Haringey Community Gold.Furthermore, there were also a number of other projects across the five outcomes of the Strategy, for examplethere was the Community Parenting Support Programme under Outcome 2: Healthy Relationships; the CAMHS Trailblazer programme in schools in Tottenham under Outcome 3: Mental Health; various interventions found under Outcome 4: Pathways to Achievement in relation to education and employment prospects for young people and measures to reduce and mitigate the impact of school exclusions; and the North Area Violence Reduction Group Action Plan under Outcome 5: Violence Reduction, which was a joint effort between police, the Council and various other agencies to prevent crime, support victims of crime and reduce the impact of violence on communities.

The following was noted in response to the discussion of this item:

• The Director of Adult & Health queried whether there was any correlation between the reduction of incidents and activities carried out as part of the Strategy. In response, the Policy & Equalities Officer noted that there appeared to be a correlation between activities undertaken and a reduction of incidents, for instance a reduction in volume of serious violence incidents occurred over the Summer period, which was also the same period where there had been a wide-ranging Summer programme. An evaluation of the Summer programme showed that there was a decent turnout of young people and the right cohort of young people, and such factors would affect incident levels.  It was further highlighted that Haringey Community Gold had achieved remarkable outcomes for young people in terms of supporting young people and assisting young people access positive activities. 
• The Policy & Equalities Officer asked the Partnership to provide their perspective on the Strategy within the last year, particularly whether the Strategy had made a difference and what could be done differently moving forward.
• The Partnership agreed that the first year of the Strategy showed that Strategy was headed in the right direction but highlighted that although the Strategy covered a period of 10 years, a longer-term vision was important to maintain momentum collectively and individually.  The Interim Head of Community Safety & Enforcement commented that it was crucial to maintain and build on areas that work well and identify gaps in the provision of services to galvanise partners and the community to get involved to deal with those gaps.
• The Director of Public Health referenced a recent report provided to the Health and Wellbeing Board on the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which focused on mental health and wellbeing and the youth agenda. Accordingly, it was suggested that there should be a system-wide reflection on improving the mental health and wellbeing of children from early age. The Policy & Equalities Officer agreed with the suggestion and acknowledged that the Strategy and Action Plan was focused on the mental health of adolescents and young adults rather than young children, thus future consideration of the Strategy could be to address the mental health and wellbeing of young children. The Director of Public Health further suggested that should the issue be addressed, then the Strategy would need to explore wide-ranging areas such as housing, educational opportunities and employment.
• The Director of Children’s Services highlighted that the Strategy was bringing the partnership closer together to undertake off-shoot  initiatives, such as the Stop and Search initiative, and to hold important discussions, such as discussions on after school provision to improve the protection of children and young people. The Director of Children’s Services welcomed the initiatives and discussions but noted that there was still further work that was required, for example it was suggested that there be a forum to discuss and share information in safe spaces.
• The Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities commented that one of the most powerful messages from the Strategy was to hear the voices of young people through Yvonne Lawson’s report.  It was noted that the key references within the report were the analysis around the 20 young offenders and the scrutiny review around ethnic disproportionality within the youth justice service. The Cabinet Member highlighted that moving forward it was crucial to continue to build on the work of the Strategy.
• The Cabinet Member for Children and Families highlighted that it was important that the local authority took better control of funding by monitoring and keeping track of funding to ensure the needs of the youth provision were suitably met. the local authority had a better grip on the youth provision. Furthermore, it was noted that there was a gap in outreach activities that needed to be explored.  
• The Chief Executive of the Bridge Renewal Trust noted that it was key to explore how areas of the Strategy could be translated into practical intervention. The Chief Executive of the Bridge Renewal Trust referenced an initiative led by the Council and several partners around exploring employment for young people. The Partnership were informed that a focus group with young people was due to be set up around early April to discuss barriers to employment for young people and how partners could provide support. 
• The AD for Stronger Communities made the following observations:

o   It would be useful for a topic to be agreed by both the Health and Wellbeing Board and Community Safety Partnership to develop jointly. The AD for Stronger Communities would discuss developing a joint meeting of both boards with the Director of Public Health (Action: Eubert Malcolm / Will Maimaris).

o   In its leadership capacity within the community, the local authority should be encouraging community activity rather than needing to deliver activity out in the community. Reference was made to Haringey Community Gold as an example whereby the local authority leads the work in the community by bringing in funding and the various community groups deliver the services within the community.

o   AD for Stronger Communities acknowledged the comment made by the Cabinet Member for Children and Families that the local authority should look at the funding pots to ensure they were suited to the Borough’s needs.

o   The AD for Stronger Communities had a meeting with the Council’s Chief Executive about the need for additional provisions for girls in the Borough. 

o   It was acknowledged that mental health was an issue in the Borough, for instance there was concern as to whether assessments were undertaken readily considering the 20 most prolific offenders in the Borough. Furthermore, it was suggested that the impact of learning difficulties on young people should be further explored. 

• The Chair noted that from a police perspective there had been some positive partnership work in relation to Operation Virtus, which was carried out a couple of weeks ago, and also in relation to Divert Wood Green, which is aimed at 18 to 24-year olds. Moving forward, the Chair hoped that further work could be done, particularly around intervention and sign-posting to divert young people away from crime.

The Chair advised the Partnership to provide any further comments to Hugh Smith, Policy & Equalities Officer.

RESOLVED

That the Partnership noted the recommendations in the report.