Issue - meetings

Report by Director of Children, Young people and Learning.

The Committee is asked to assess the impact of the first year of implementation of the new Early Help Model (implemented January 2022). 

8.1        The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Learning and Skills, Cllr Russell, introduced the report which she felt gave a positive picture of the redesigned service which had been implemented in January 2022.  She reported that initial challenges with recruitment had been resolved, that there was now good morale amongst staff and that the Ofsted inspection comments had endorsed the new service.

8.2        The Committee heard from Mrs Dickens, Assistant Principal at Midhurst Rother College and Designated Safeguarding lead.  Mrs Dickens reported that the College had a Dedicated Schools Team (DST) worker who was available to discuss incidents or situations and how best to deal with them.  They welcomed that from September the DST worker would be based in the school one day a week.  The College worked in a collaborative way with the DST worker to make decisions or referrals. The DST worker also helped to support sessions, family meetings, home visits and provided tailored support to young people and their families. 

8.3        The DST worker spends time in school with pupils running workshops on issues such as keeping safe on-line and health relationships, as well as supporting pastoral staff. 

8.4        Mrs Dickens reported that DST workers were also working with primary feeder schools to help the transition of pupils to secondary school. Half-termly meetings were held to discuss new students, concerns and review progress of those pupils already being worked with.

8.5        Staff from the College had attended a DST training day which had provided helpful tools which were being used in the school.

8.6        Members asked Mrs Dickens if there were any areas where she, or her colleagues across the county, felt there could be improvement or development and were advised that schools would always welcome more support, particularly in dealing with things earlier, but that the service was hugely supportive and the introduction of the DST over the last year had made such a difference.

8.7        Mrs Dickens responded that where families do not give consent to being involved, the school continued to work with the student in school, but having consent gave the best support for the whole family.

8.8        Members of the committee asked officers questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

8.9        Early Help is a non-statutory service. Ofsted comments suggested the service was good making a positive difference to children’s lives.  The service has been on a journey since the redesign was implemented and there is a clear practice improvement plan.  A key element for improvement is the time children wait to receive the service.  This was a national issue and in later 2022 the County Council had seen an improvement in the numbers of unallocated cases and waiting times had been reduced.  Officers would be happy to speak with Members who had individual reports of where the service was not meeting expected standards.

8.10     Referral rates into the service were 43% from schools, 18% self-referral, 15% from the Police and 11% from health professionals.  The proportion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8

Report by the Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning.

The Cabinet will be asked to agree recommendations to implement a revised Early Help service offer.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People will introduce the report.

The Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Committee will be invited to speak for up to three minutes to provide the views of the Committee on the report.

Each of the main minority group leaders will be invited to speak for up to three minutes each on the report.

The Cabinet will then discuss the report and proposals prior to taking any decision.

Following consideration of the report, Cabinet resolved to:

1.      Approve the revised Early Help Service offer for implementation in December 2021.

2.      Agree plans for a staff consultation from early September 2021 to begin the process of implementing the new offer.

3.      Agree plans for Early Help to continue to operate out of 12 centres and declare the other centres surplus to the Early help services operational requirements.

The call-in deadline is 5 August 2021.

8.1      Cabinet considered a report by the Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning. The report was introduced by Cllr Jacquie Russell, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, who outlined the redesign proposals, the responses to the consultation and the changes made after reviewing those.

8.2      Cllr Stephen Hillier, Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Committee advised that, overall, the proposals were supported to continue with the Children’s Services improvement journey and to reduce intervention from social care. The Committee further felt that effective communication would be crucial for residents and partners to know how and where to access services.

8.3      A written statement from Cllr Kirsty Lord, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group was read out. Cllr Lord questioned the decision to carry out change whilst responding to the pandemic and alongside improvement work. She questioned accessibility with fewer ‘front doors’ and the impact on other services which operated from some centres. Cllr Lord stated that the response to consultation did not show support and suggested it be re-run.

8.4      Cllr Chris Oxlade, Leader of the Labour Group commented that the consultation results made clear how essential the service was and that the Labour Group did not feel it was clear how the service would be delivered or how the centres would be utilised. He praised the troubled families initiative and asked how families who need support would be identified through the new model and suggested the decision be deferred and rethought.

8.5      The following comments and points were made by Cabinet in discussion:

Ø  The consultation had taken account of what the public had said, with 5 changes which strengthened the original proposal.

Ø  The Early Help offer was about delivery of a service and not the preservation of buildings.

Ø  The service review supported the principles of the Council Plan in that it made best use of available resources, prioritised the most important things and those with most impact and through managing demand on services.

Ø  The universal offer was preserved in areas where there was the greatest need.

Ø  The DfE Commissioner for West Sussex Children’s Services improvement supported the proposals in principle.

Ø  Dedicated link workers in schools would play a key role in the revised offer in identifying children in need of help.

Ø  The Early Help offer would be a flexible service increasing reach and providing a more targeted approach.

Ø  Evidence and experience from other authorities has been drawn on.

Ø  Local member knowledge would be vital over the coming weeks, as would talking to community groups to find alternative arrangements for other building users.

Ø  Running costs would be reduced to enable additional staffing to deliver bespoke group work. Equally, WSCC would save on buildings’ emissions, a step towards mitigating the effects of climate change.

8.6      The Leader thanked respondents to the consultation and highlighted the decision is about creating the most agile and effective service which reduces the need for intervention from social care. Cllr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8

Report by Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning.

The Committee is invited to review the outcome of the public consultation and provide recommendations to Cabinet on the final proposals prior to a decision being taken.

15.1     The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning on the revised Early Help Service redesign proposals following the public consultation.

15.2     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People recapped that in the previous seven months since the scrutiny committee had reviewed the initial proposals there had been extensive consultation with a good response rate, which had shaped the amended proposals. 

15.3     The Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning, Mrs Butler, introduced the item which would invite the Committee to review the outcome of the public consultation and provide recommendations to Cabinet on the final proposals prior to a decision being taken.  Common themes had emerged on consultation timing, Covid-19 and demographic issues in rural and growth areas.

15.4     The Assistant Director – Social Care, Ms Boyd reported the use of one manager, the launch of one front door, the introduction of the Children Safeguarding Model would all help align services and allow much closer working with children and families in the community. 

15.5     The Service Lead for Early Help, Ms Hayes, reported that high demand over the last year had seen a significant impact on the number of children waiting for service.  Demand was reported to be currently outstripping resource and staff were working under pressure.  The staff had mobilised well during the pandemic but pressures on them were unsustainable and a conclusion to the proposal was sought by staff. 

15.6     The Committee asked the questions and received answers under the following headings:

Identifying those needing support

15.7     How are vulnerable children identified and come to the service?  There was strong engagement with partners in health and schools and very low numbers of referrals were made through Children and Family Centres. During the pandemic families were still making contact with the service.  Part of the proposals were to improve regular contact with schools as often cases were picked up there.  The integrated front door was available for any type of concerns.

15.8     Named Link Workers in schools – How would this work in practice and what additional training would be provided?  It was anticipated that each area would have a dedicated proactive team which would work flexibly so any member of the team could pick up with a school to provide an enhanced service.  Team size would depend on the area.  The work of the teams would be reviewed by practitioners who already worked closely with schools.

15.9     How were Electively Home Educated children being identified as vulnerable? Any child moving to home education is notified to the Education and Skills service and their Pupil Entitlement team already worked with Early Help to ensure this cohort did not get missed. 

15.10  How do people in need find out about the Early Help service in times of need?  There is a lot of information available through health providers, online, word of mouth and advisory boards.  Members expressed that they would be keen to help get information out into communities.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15