Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership

Minutes - 25th February 2010

Commenced: 10.00 am
Terminated: 12.10pm

Present:
Councillor Gwynne - Tameside MBC (In the Chair)
Councillor Cooney - Tameside MBC
Tina Lavender - Tameside Voice
John Rogers - Tameside Primary Headteachers
Judith Grigg - NHS Tameside and Glossop
Veronica Hyde - Tameside Third Sector Coalition
Pat McKelvey - NHS Tameside and Glossop
Sheila Piazza - Connexions Tameside
Jim Taylor - Tameside MBC
Graham Ashford - Tameside MBC
David Berry - Tameside MBC
Cheryl Eastwood - Tameside MBC
Ameena Ahmed - Tameside MBC
Catherine Moseley - Tameside MBC
Adam Allen - Tameside MBC
Rafik Iddin - Tameside MBC
Catherine McKay - Greater Manchester Police
Susan Marsh - Governor’s Forum
David Hobbs - Connexions
C Greenhough - GP/Primary Care Trust
Apologies for Absence:
Steven Pleasant, Claire Bibby, Moira Thompson, Tony Okotie, Elaine Michel, Stephen McLoughlin and Sarah Petts

39. Minutes

The Minutes of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership held on 17th December 2009 were approved as a correct record subject to the following amendments:-

That Sarah Petts name be removed from the attendance list;

Item 25 - Update on Children’s Trust Work Including Links to TSCB
It was agreed that David Berry would contact Catherine McKay with a view to arranging links to other thematic partnerships.

Item 27 - Enjoy and Achieve Outcome Theme Subgroup Annual Report
It was agreed that Graham Ashford would provide Catherine McKay with the following information;

• Persistent absence and exclusion data; and
• Profile of schools and qualifications.

Item 26 – The partnership noted that health inequality was an issue that required further work to bring it in line with the Children and Young People’s Plan.

40. Draft Children and Young People's Plan

Consideration was given to a report of Catherine Moseley, Service Unit Manager, which updated the Partnership on the first draft of the Children and Young People’s Plan. She reported that the first draft had now been produced. The Executive Summary had recently been completed and together with the section on commissioning intentions and resourcing the plan when completed, would be included in the final version. A child and young people friendly version would also be produced. The plan incorporated priorities identified at the Children and Young People’s Partnership even held in November 2009 and stated that any major changes identified at this meeting would be reflected in the final plan.

She stated that the resourcing element had proved to be challenging and financial representatives had been requested to attend meetings which took place in February 2010. A financial format had subsequently been agreed upon.

A discussion ensued about the resource element of the plan and it was agreed that it was a challenge to the joint Partnership to identify and target available resources. The Partners were asked to comment on the level of detail on the delivery plan.

The Partners were informed that the draft Plan had been submitted to the Safeguarding Children Board, GMP Board, PEC and School’s Forum.

The Partners were requested to submit any detailed comments for inclusion on the plan by 5 March 2010.

Resolved
(i) That the report be noted.
(ii) That any detailed comments be submitted by 5 March 2010.

41. Total Place

Consideration was given to a report of Claire Bibby, Assistant Executive Director, which informed Partners of the Tameside Early Years Total Place Pilot Proposal.

‘Total Place’ was a government driven programme which aimed to bring together elements of central government and local agencies. The programme aimed to achieve three things:

• To create service transformations that could improve the experience of local residents and deliver better value;
• To deliver early efficiencies to validate the work; and
• To develop a body of knowledge about how more effective cross-agency working delivered the above.

A number of areas had been selected as pilot areas for testing new ways of delivering services. The Manchester City Region, of which Tameside was a part, was one of these. Within the whole of the Manchester City Region there were a number of pilots of which one was focussed on Early Years and was considered to be an integral part to providing children with the best possible start in life and tackling child poverty.

The Partners were informed that the Total Place Early Years had two aims:

• To identify and improve the readiness for school of children under 5. (this particularly supported the ECM outcome theme Enjoy and Achieve); and
• To identify and increase the numbers of children living in households free from low income. (this particularly supported the ECM outcome theme Achieve Economic Wellbeing).

To achieve these aims it would be necessary:

• To map the ‘client journey’ which referred to the journey of the child, from the ante-natal period to entry into school, and his/her family through in-work and out-of-work financial support systems and the local health, education and welfare support systems;
• To then create an improvement plan between the key partners that secured proposals for re-configuring and simplifying service delivery locally and for placing customers (children and families) at the centre of service delivery; and
• To define additional key performance indicators that provides a focus for continual improvement of service operations and outcomes for children against the defined aims.

The report further detailed the following:

• Stakeholders;
• Objectives of the pilot activity;
• Benefits identified;
• Resource assessment;
• Scope of the pilot;
• Risks;
• Pilot specific success criteria; and the
• Project work plan.

Partners were informed that the Pilot focused on the area of Haughton Green which linked in with the regeneration programme in Denton South.

Resolved
That the pilot proposals be endorsed by the Partnership.

42. Children's Trust Development

Consideration was given to a report of Ameena Ahmed, Head of Partnership Development, which detailed the draft Children’s Trust arrangements.

The Partnership was informed that it had performed the strategic function of Tameside’s Children’s Trust arrangements since 2008 in line with the Government’s Children’s Plan; Building Brighter Futures (2007) which had envisaged a new leadership role for Children’s Trust Boards. This was further articulated by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act (ASCL) 2009 which strengthened Children’s Trust co-operation arrangements still further by making Children’s Trust Boards a statutory requirement and extending the list of statutory partners. The Children and Young People Plan brought in by the ASCL Act from April 2010 was now the responsibility of the Children’s Trust Board, as the agreed joint strategy of the partners in the Children’s Trust.

The Children’s Trust was the sum total of co-operation arrangements and partnerships between organisations with a role in improving outcomes for children and young people. It was not of itself a separate legal entity; each partner retained its own functions and responsibilities within the partnership framework. It operated at every organisational level from governance to front-line delivery and was underpinned by section 10 of the Children Act 2004. Section 10 required the local authority to ‘make arrangements to promote co-operation’ between itself and its partners to improve children’s well being, as defined by the five outcomes.

The Children’s Trust Board was to be a statutory body that every local authority would be required to have in place by April 2010. It was also part of the wider co-operation arrangements under section 10 of the Children Act 2004.
The Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) agreed a plan for developing Tameside Children’s Trust in autumn 2009, which involved a number of members of the Partnership meeting in small groups to put forward proposals which met the objectives of:

• Strengthening the commissioning function of the Trust;
• Further integrating services for the benefit of children and young people;
• Putting the Children and Young People plan at the centre of all agencies planning for children and young people;
• Supporting the functions of the Trust in a multi-agency way; and
• Meeting the new statutory guidance.

The recommendations of these groups were considered at an away day of the Children and Young People Partnership on 3 February 2010, and agreement reached about the way forward. The proposed Children’s Trust Constitution, terms of references for the sub groups reflect the thinking of the CYPSP arising from the development day and articulate the necessary frameworks/governance arrangements to have the Children’s Trust functioning well and fit for purpose.

Resolved
(i) That the model for co-operation to make the Children’s Trust work effectively be agreed; and
(ii) That the contents of the report be agreed.

43. Terms of Reference - Children's Trust Board

Consideration was given to a report of Ameena Ahmed, Head of Partnership Development, which informed the Partnership of the constitution for the Tameside Children’s Trust. The Partnership was asked to consider and make comments on the constitution.

The Constitution detailed the following:

• The aims and objectives;
• The scope of interest;
• Relationship of Tameside Children’s Trust with key partnership;
• Accountability and business planning;
• Subgroups and their roles;
• The legal framework;
• The activities of the Children and Young People’s Trust;
• Freedom of Information;
• Membership;
• Code of Practice;
• Chairing;
• Servicing the Trust;
• Disputes and complaints;
• Non compliance of activities; and
• Monitoring and inspection.

A discussion ensued on the Constitution and Partners commented on the wording of the document and it was felt that it should be more aspirational and note words such as ‘innovation’ and ‘challenge’ as part of the aims. Furthermore it was felt that the document should include statutory partners, and include especially the role of the Youth Offending Team within the membership of the Trust Board as well as NHS Tameside and Glossop Provider Division. There was further discussion about the roles of General Practitioners and Schools and it was recognised that these partners could only make informed contributions to the Trust Board and there were limits as to what they could say and or commit to on behalf of their organisations. It was therefore suggested that the wording relating to 9.2 in the Children’s Trust Constitution be amended to reflect this.

Resolved
That the Constitution of the Children’s Trust Board be approved subject to:
(i) Inclusion of the Youth Offending Team and NHS Tameside and Glossop Provider Division in 9.1 of the Membership of the Trust and
(ii) Amendment to 9.2 of the Constitution to reflect the limitations of General Practitioners and the Schools.

44. Terms of Reference - Children's Trust Board executive

The Partnership was asked to consider and make comments on the Terms of Reference for the Children’s Trust Board Executive.

The Terms of Reference detailed the following:

• The aim;
• The responsibilities;
• Member’s responsibilities; and
• Suggested membership of the group

A discussion ensued on the Terms of Reference and it was suggested that in terms of the governance, the importance of the Workforce Development Group not be underestimated as a resource. It was further suggested that a lead representative from the outcomes sub groups attend both the Trust Executive and the Children’s Trust Board meeting. With reference to 3.b of the responsibilities, it was requested that the wording “sustainable community strategy” be incorporated.

Resolved
That the Terms of Reference for Children’s Trust Board Executive be approved subject to the following inclusion:
That the wording “sustainable community strategy” be incorporated into responsibilities 3.b.

45. Terms of Reference - Children's Trust Board Commissioning Group

The Partnership was asked to consider and comment on the Terms of Reference for the Children’s Trust Joint Commissioning Group.

The Terms of Reference detailed the following:

• The aims;
• Frequency of meetings; and
• Suggested membership of the group.

A discussion ensued and with reference to point 9 of the terms of reference one of the Partners commented that it lacked concrete evidence as to what was not working well and concerns expressed as to how to ensure the best use of available resources. The Partners enquired whether the meetings could be combined, but were informed that these had to be done separately. It was pointed out that T3SC were not on the Joint Commissioning Group and felt that they should be represented in the membership of the Group. It was further pointed out that Malcolm Whitwood, Head of Procurement, TMBC, had offered his expertise on procurement, to the group.

Resolved
That the Terms of Reference – Children’s Trust Joint Commissioning Group be approved, subject to the inclusion of T3SC to the suggested membership.

46. Outcome Performance Group - Terms of Reference

The Partnership was asked to consider and comment on the Terms of Reference for the Outcome Performance Group.

The Terms of Reference detailed the following:

• Role of the group;
• Operation of the group;
• The activities of the group; and
• Suggested membership of the group.

A discussion ensued and some Members of the Partnership stated that they required more information as to what would be covered by the Performance Groups before they could decide who to send from their organisation. Furthermore it was pointed out that vulnerable people, prevention and re-offenders were not covered and it was fundamental that it was included on the Children’s Trust Arrangements diagram, however, it was pointed out that these were covered elsewhere. Members pointed out that the activities of the group needed to be led by priority rather than performance indicators. There was discussion surrounding the current Chairs of the Outcome Groups and whether they would continue to perform that role. The Partnership was aware that Economic Wellbeing Outcome Performance Group lacked a Chair and it was suggested that Tony Okotie, T3SC could assume that role.

Ameena Ahmed stated that she required a decision regarding the proposed logo for the new Children’s Trust and four possible options for the new logo were circulated for the Partnership to view. She requested any comments to be sent to her.

Resolved
(i) That the Terms of Reference for the Outcome Performance Groups be approved but that their set up and work programme had further consideration;
(ii) A Chair for the Economic Wellbeing Outcome Performance Group be selected; and
(iii) That a logo be decided on following consultation and this take effect from 1 April 2010.

47. Teenage Pregnancy Update

Consideration was given to a report of Jim Taylor, Executive Director, Services for Children and Young People TMBC, which updated the Partnership on the actions taken on the teenage pregnancy strategy since November 2009. The Partnership was informed that a number of key priorities had been identified in a Ministerial letter in that month and these were:

1. Ensuring that the new teenage pregnancy co-ordination, and wider Children Services, arrangements were embedded and delivering tangible outcomes;
2. The Teenage Pregnancy Board to agree their 4-6 key priorities for the next 12 months with clear milestones and outcomes that could be monitored at least quarterly;
3. Expanding the availability of sexual health services for young people in a variety of settings and in line with ‘You’re Welcome’ Standards;
4. Urgently establishing the Training Co-ordinator post to implement the Training Strategy with an initial focus on developing a workforce able to meet the challenges of statutory PSHE including SRE; and
5. Establishing and utilising a SRE impact assessment framework in liaison with the Government Office for the North West.
The report further detailed the progress made against each of the priorities and the Partnership was informed that actions had been completed against the first two priorities. The Partnership was informed that in respect of priority 4, a task group had begun implementing the recommendations of the Training Audit, including the development of a tiered model of training and the Partnership’s commitment was sought to deliver the training to their staff once the model of training had been developed.

The Partnership was informed of a further priority which was targeted early prevention and informed of the work undertaken by the YouThink working with 920 targeted young people, from November 2009 to January 2010.

It was recognised that the 10 year national target had not been reached and the teenage pregnancy rate had increased 11% in Tameside.

It was suggested that the Teenage Pregnancy update become a standard priority item on the Board agenda in future.

Resolved
(i) That Teenage Pregnancy Updates be a standard item on the Children’s Trust agenda and given high priority; and
(ii) That the report be noted.

48. Dates of Future Meetings

The Partnership was advised of future dates of meetings as follows, all meetings commencing at 10.00am except where stated differently:

Date and Venue
27th April 2010 CTB Meeting CR3
3rd June 2010 CTB Meeting CR3
15th July 2010 CTB Meeting CR1
2nd September 2010 CTB Meeting CR3

49. Information Items:

a) Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership Executive Minutes - 4th February 2010

The Minutes from Children and Young People Strategic Partnership Executive Meeting held on 4 February 2010 were attached for information.

(b) Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) Report

A report which set out a brief overview of the ‘One Place’ results was attached for information.

The Chair informed the Partnership that Cheryl Eastwood was leaving the Authority shortly to take up a position with Rochdale Council and thanked Cheryl on behalf of the Partnership, for her work with the Partnership and her time and dedication spent in the development of the Trust.

Chair