Positive Contribution Theme Group

Time: 1.30
Date: 21st October 2009
Venue: St Peter’s Children’s Centre, Ashton

Present:

Claire Bibby -  Chair TMBC
Andy Cheers -  Assistant Principal – Student Services Tameside College
Justin Wiggin -  Participation Manager TMBC
Lorraine Butler -  Parenting Strategy Manager TMBC
Sue Nathan -  Head of Youth Service TMBC
Emma Varnam -  Museums and Galleries TMBC
Tina Lavender -  Participation Manager 4 Children
Catherine Mee -  Parenting Facilitator PCT

Note taker: Jo McLaren

Item 1: Welcome

Claire welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made around the table.

Item 2: Apologies

Andy Ross
Maurice Smith
Pauline Daniels
Chris Thean (has progressed into a different post so will no longer be attending this meeting)
Lisa Hoyland
Liz Hughes
Sandra Jakeman

Item 3: Minutes from the last meeting and matters arising

The minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record, with the following matters arising:

Item 3 – Youth Online Survey – Action re: Screensavers

CB reported that the screensavers are yet to be finalised so this action should be deferred to a future meeting.

Item 5 – CYPSP – Reporting in September
CB confirmed that she took this report to the CYPSP meeting in September and it
was acknowledged and accepted.

Item 4: Update of the Future of Outcome Theme Groups

CB reported that the role and function of outcome theme groups and strategy groups is being reviewed as part of a CYPSP refresh.At the CYPSP meeting in September, an action plan was presented and tasks were agreed. CB has been appointed the lead on reviewing the outcome theme groups.

Following this, CB attended a meeting earlier this week with Jane Forrest, Cheryl Eastwood, Ameena Ahmed and Pat McKelvey where proposals were formulated to be taken back to the CYPSP for consideration. It was agreed at this meeting that outcome theme groups should be more embedded in the performance management framework and must have a sharper, more streamlined focus. If these proposals are accepted, the membership of this group would need to be reviewed, in common with all the other outcome groups.

Meetings of the outcome theme groups would be scheduled to reflect the cycle of the CYPSP meetings.
Outcome theme groups would be expected the produce an exception report for every CYPSP meeting, rather than an annual report.

Further discussions will take place at the next CYPSP meeting, with a view to changes being implemented in January.

CB thanked everyone for their continued attendance and support at this meeting as this may be last meeting of the current membership.

The discussion was then opened for comments and questions.

• It will be interesting to see how this will all work and it is good that each group will link in somehow.
• How will the Participation Network fit in to the new structure? Will need to look at this further in December.
• It is important that strategies interlink – not just feeding and linking upwards but also across e.g. Parenting Strategy & Teenage Pregnancy Strategy – at the moment the linkage is not always easily accessed.
• How will the consultation work feed back down once it has been to the CYPSP? It is crucial that people see the impact their views have.

Item 5: Update on the Children and Young People Plan

• The current plan comes to an end in March 2010 and a new one must be produced for the next 3 years.
• It is a strategic overarching plan of Tameside for children and young people aged 0-19 (0-25 for children and young people with learning difficulties or disabilities).
• It is a multi-agency plan – not just a Council plan.
• It is based on the 5 Every Child Matters outcomes.
• All partner agencies and organisations have received communication in the form of letters and/or Powerpoint presentations regarding this consultation.
• An event is taking place on 3rd November which will feed in to the consultation.
• Two sets of questions have been produced (circulated at this meeting) – 1 set for organisations to use with their staff and the other set to be used with children, young people and families.
• Organisations involved at the moment include:
  • Pennine Care
  • PCT
  • Commissioning Services
  • Connexions
  • Tameside Hospital Foundation Trust
  • Children’s Centres
  • Branching Out
  • T3SC
  • CYPSP
  • TELP
  • GPs
  • BSF Project Board
  • Youth Service
  • Participation Project
  • Bridgeway, Ashton & Hyde PRUs
  • Jubilee Gardens
  • Definite Hopefuls
  • Care Council
  • Groundwork
  • Hyde Community Group
• SN suggested Registered Social Landlords and Homelessness Group should be included.
• AC confirmed he would actively promote this within the College.
• It is good to note that the Government will be recommending on Monday that each local authority have a children and young people version of the plan. This is something we are already doing.

SN reported that, in order to make it more appealing to the young people they work with the information has been transformed into an interactive tool which they are planning to use during half term. The results will then be collated and returned.

JW also explained that a feedback form is available – anybody wishing a copy please contact him 

The group then looked at each of the staff questions in depth.

1. What do we need to get better at to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people?

• Integrated offer - more effective, avoid duplication, plan together, pool resources, be aware of what’s on offer.
• Think Family model – co-ordinated, parenting-embedded culture in all services and the importance and value of parenting recognised. Engage and be truthful with families.
• Realign services in particular with parenting – parenting shouldn’t be an ‘add on’.
• Parenting should be in every service’s delivery plan.
• There are some restrictions and challenges however in terms of what age range the government dictates for services.
• Children and young people should be more involved in making decisions – involve the wider community. They should have an influence and should see the results.
• Organisations that provide or run services should be willing to ‘give up’ some of the power to allow children, young people and families to take control.
• Results from consultations are not always reflected in the CYP plan.
• The mechanism needs to change so that results are fed back down as well as up.
• We must be clear and realistic as to what we consult on and what children, young people and families can have an influence on.
• Residents’ priorities may differ from the DCSF priorities. These should also be reflected in the Plan.
• In Cheshire, one of their LAA priorities focuses on involving young people in decision making.
• We have a great wealth of resources in the borough e.g. schools, colleges, museums, libraries, etc. If people’s knowledge, awareness and willingness were improved, these resources could be maximised to their full potential.

2. What do you think are the important priorities that need to be reflected in the Children and Young People Plan over the next three years?

• People’s views on what a priority is depends on their job and their locality. There are, however, underpinning priorities.
• The priorities agreed need to have a big impact on children and young people’s lives.

3. How can we collectively improve the ways we provide services for children, young people and families?

• With integrated, ‘joined up’ working
• More co-ordination. ‘Plan, do and review’
• Develop a family CAF – can instantly see who’s involved with a family and avoid duplication.

4. What support do you need to ensure that all the members of the children’s workforce have the right skills to do their jobs effectively and are confident to carry out their roles?

• It is a question of what should be embedded in the workforce strategy.
• Workforce should be kept as a priority and should not suffer due to budget cuts.
• There should be an integrated induction process – this is the first point of integration for the workforce.

5. What are the potential outcomes of the services that you provide for children and young people? How could these be linked to measures and objectives that will be in the Plan over the next three years?

This question is very service specific so was not discussed.

6. What do you need to enable your service to work more closely with other?

• A robust framework.

7. What gaps in services do you think there are in Tameside?

• Junior provision – 8-11

• 16+ - we will see a high rate of NEETS in the new few years.
• Parenting should be recognised and valued – some locality areas do not have any parenting support networks.
• Participation network for parenting – there are pockets of good practice e.g. school governors, school parents’ voice, but nothing co-ordinated or collective.
• Engagement with parents at college age. Tameside College have a policy for informing parents and reports are sent home. They also have parents’ evenings but these are very poorly attended by the parents of students on low level courses. It would be interesting to track this back to monitor engagement at an earlier stage in the child’s life. Early intervention may be useful here.
• A great number of parents are not confident in coming into school / college – it can be very intimidating, especially if their child has been in trouble. The new principal of Tameside College is very keen to get out into the community. A community day is being held after half term with local residents being invited to attend. He is also keen on inviting the voluntary sector and other services to take advantage of the college facilities after college hours.

Questions 8 & 9 were covered in earlier discussions.

CB requested that the group take these questions back to their teams for further discussion. All comments and suggestions should be back with JW by Friday 27th November 

Item 6: Participation Update

Participation Project

• This has been recommissioned and will now be led by Tina Lavender from 4 Children.
• 4 Children are a national charity.
• They develop and share national policies and produce innovative programs to deliver joint working for children, young people and families.
• Over the next 18 months, the key areas of focus will be:
  • School Councils
  • Local Democracy
  • Training and Consultation
  • Consultation Provision.
• A new project began on 1st October.

Participation Options Paper

• The report was about how best to get engagement from children and young people on consultation and participation.
• The paper, which had 3 models went to the CYPSP on 3rd September..
• The target age range will be 11-18 year olds.
• The Participation Project will be leading on this.
• It will look at what participation is, the level of influence, and what the model will look like.
• It will build on existing youth forums and school councils.
• Young people will identify needs in their areas, obtain funding and deliver the project. They will also be involved in the commissioning, recruitment, and producing job descriptions and person specs.

• TL reported that work has already begun in terms of identifying funding options and meeting with various people.
• She will be talking to school councils to look at how to progress to national initiatives e.g. transport.

• AC reported that two new engagement posts have been recruited within the college to focus on community and student/parent engagement and to set up a student council.
• ACTION - TL and AC to meet to discuss opportunities around this.

• EV explained that children and young people have democratic say in how exhibits are presented.
• ACTION - TL and EV to meet to discuss this further.

Young Citizens Action Agenda

• North West initiative – ground breaking project.
• It will provide exciting, interactive ways for young people to learn and engage in politics, economics and citizenship.
• It will improve confidence and aspirations.
• Target age group – 14-19 year olds.
• Delivered by the Institute of Citizenship – funded through AGMA.
• A launch event took place in Manchester last week.
• Workshops will be taking place in Tameside which can cater for 60-150 young people at each one.
• An event is taking place on 19th November at the Opera House, Manchester.
• The young people will be invited to form a panel, of which there will be 10 across the North West.
• The panel will be responsible for developing the Young Citizens Action Agenda to look at the issues that matter to them and the impact that can be made.
• This will then be fed in to the 20 year plan of the North West Regional Development Agency.
• JW has communicated the information to schools and is now looking at who will be involved. Interest has already been expressed from Longdendale Community Language College, New Charter Academy and Audenshaw School.
• Anybody wishing further information can Google ‘Young Citizens Action Agenda’ or Institute of Citizenship.

• It was acknowledged that there needs to be a clear link between the Young Citizens Action Agenda Panel and the Youth Forum, to avoid duplication and confusion.

Common Standards in Young People becoming Volunteers

• JW has been asked to look at the recruitment, supervision, training, expenses, rewards and recognition within different organisations that recruit young people as volunteers.
• This work is ongoing and he will feed back when there is further update to give.
  

Item 7: AOB

Participatory Budget Event

• SN reported on this event which took place last Saturday night.
• The young people who attended gave presentations for their bid for the voluntary sector grant offered by the Youth Service.
• The young people then had to vote on which project would receive the grant.
• It was a great success and can be developed as a powerful tool to be used for commissioning.

Friday & Saturday Night Provision

• This has been commissioned to the voluntary sector and was led by young people.
• They completely took control of the whole process and we are the first council to do this.
• This group will hopefully progress to other commissioning projects.

CB thanked everyone for their attendance and contribution today.