Agenda item

Report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education.

Following a reduction in government funding for the ‘Think Family’ initiative in 2019/20, IPEH must adapt its service to manage this decline in funds. The report sets out how the service proposes to manage this reduction of £560,000, and proposes that a targeted family support service is developed to support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged families in West Sussex.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People will be asked to approve proposals to maintain the services delivered using the national Troubled Families Initiative grant in 2019/20, beginning with those set out in the report.

The Committee is asked to review and comment upon the approach to reshaping IPEH to manage the reduction in resources in 2019/20.

27.1   The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education, and the Director of Children and Family Services. The report was introduced by Hayley Connor, Head of Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH), who told the Committee:

·         Following a reduction in government funding for the Troubled Families Initiative (TFI), IPEH must adapt its service to manage this loss of funds in order to maintain its successful Think Family programme, which supports families and has prevented children being taken into local authority care.

·         Savings of £560,000 were required in 2019/20, and the service has had to think carefully about IPEH’s spending and delivery. £560,000 represented 3.8% of the net IPEH budget.

·         3 services were proposed for alteration in order to realise the saving of £560,000 as follows:

Ø  Operating authority for the Duke of Edinburgh’s (D of E) Award Scheme

Ø  Administration and delivery of National Citizen Service (NCS) in Chichester and Arun

Ø  Mobile Offer – Purple Bus

·         Vacancies within the service would also be managed by reassigning existing staff to operate in a more flexible way, as opposed to recruiting to fill these roles.

·         It was necessary that the service act now to ensure the protection of essential elements of the IPEH service. The grant will reduce from 2019.  

27.2   The Committee discussed the following key points, and questions were answered by the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, the Head of IPEH, Jo Millward, Service Leader for IPEH and Mark Frankland, Principal Manager Operations Safeguarding and Child Protection.

·         Members were very concerned about the implications for children going forward and noted the positive difference that these initiatives made to their lives. The Cabinet Member and Head of IPEH explained that provision for the continuation of these services outside of the local authority was being explored. The plan to relinquish the Duke of Edinburgh Award licence would not impact any young person currently enrolled on the scheme. Members also heard that WSCC would not be unique in no longer co-ordinating or administering the service, and many other LAs had relinquished the licence in the same way. For the NCS, officers advised that the regional contract provider had indicated a willingness to deliver the service from January 2019.

·         Members questioned whether this was a short-term solution to what might be the beginning of many further cuts to come, and if so, what degradation of service would be next. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explained that the service could deal only with the current circumstances, however every effort would be made to continue to maintain key areas of support.

·         Members considered the risk that IPEH might drop from being a pioneering service to offering just average targeted and universal services. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People advised that financial challenges meant services would be inevitably be in transient positions, and as with other portfolios, service propositions have to be reviewed in order to operate within their funding parameters.

·         Members considered the risk to children and vulnerable families by losing some of IPEH’s workforce. The Head of IPEH advised these vacant positions were not being removed from frontline areas, and the staff in question were being reassigned in order to deliver more face-to-face work with families. The purpose of not filling these vacancy gaps, and the withdrawal of some services, was to further strengthen and invest in the Think Family programme to continue to operate a high level of service for the most vulnerable children and families.

·         Members noted that 11% of the IPEH budget was for resourcing intentionally homeless issues, and asked how WSCC could address and share the burden of this. The Head of IPEH advised that partnership working with district and borough councils did take place, however the drivers for homelessness were many and varied. She added that the Worthing Hub was trialling a homelessness intervention scheme which was already showing dividends. Members hoped this might be an area to help neutralize further cost pressures in the future.

27.3   The Chairman of the Committee had received a letter from the Chairman of the Trustees for the Purple Bus, which requested the content be considered at the meeting. The letter asked that West Sussex County Council (WSCC) continue to fund the Purple Bus scheme until the end of the 2018/19 financial year (31^st March 2019) as had been understood, and not cease in December 2018. This would enable them time to secure new funding streams and continue the work of the Trust. Members of the Committee suggested that WSCC should continue to fund the scheme until the end of the current financial year. The Head of IPEH noted there were operational details to be considered, however a commitment had been made with the Trust to manage the transition.

27.4   Resolved that the Committee endorses the proposals to reshape IPEH in order to manage the reduction in resources in 2019/20, subject to the consideration of appropriate contingency arrangements as detailed in Recommendation 4. The Committee further recommends:

1.   that the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People write to the relevant Government Minister to strongly request the continuation of the Troubled Families Initiative (TFI).

2.   that the Cabinet Member consider the wider impact these changes may have on other IPEH services.

3.   that the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People contact local MPs, District, Borough, Town and Parish councils to strengthen collaborative working with IPEH, particularly earliest help, to keep this offer strong.

4.   that the Cabinet Member considers whether contingency arrangements can be put in place for all three affected areas to allow effective continuation of service beyond IPEH, and that no children are disadvantaged or discouraged.

5.   that the IPEH service returns to the Committee at the earliest possible opportunity to consider any further reductions that may be required resulting from future declines in funding.