Agenda item

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

The report outlines the proposals for a new Early Help Service model and the proposed plans for consultation and engagement. 

42.1     The Committee received a report by Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning outlining the proposals for a new Early Help Service model and the proposed plans for consultation and engagement.

42.2     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Russell, introduced the report on the proposed redesign of the Early Help offer, which was a key component of the overall service transformation.  The aim was to provide an enhanced targeted approach, with greater alignment between Early Help and Children’s Social Care to provide an agile, robust and targeted early help offer to the most vulnerable children and families in West Sussex and reduce the need for statutory intervention.  The focus of the meeting would be on the offer and suggested consultation process.  Cllr Russell reported that today marked the very beginning of a process which would start with initial informal partner engagement sessions in January/February.  Subject to a decision by Cabinet on 23 February 2021, a 10-week consultation would be launched in March which would involve elected members, schools, partners and members of the public.  A final decision report was expected to Cabinet in July, followed by a staff consultation in August with a proposed implementation date of October 2021.

42.3     Cllr Russell highlighted that the service had continued to function during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns when the centres had been closed and uptake of services were high and proving the service did not need a fixed position in a building in order to reach the families that most needed it.

42.4     The Executive Director Children, Young People and Learning, Mrs Butler, told the Committee that the number of children within our social care and early help system had increased over the past few years.  The changes proposed followed an in-depth review and hoped to become an integral part of the modernisation and redesign across the whole of children’s social care.  Mrs Butler assured the Committee that many local authorities had moved to this new way of working and been commended by Ofsted for being innovative and community focused.

42.5     Claire Hayes, Service Lead for Early Help, took the Committee through a presentation on the key points to the proposal.

42.6     The Committee thanked staff who had worked hard to keep the service moving whilst buildings were closed during lockdowns.  The Chairman reminded the Committee that the focus for scrutiny was to comment on the aims and principles of the redesign and the proposals for the consultation which was subject to a decision by Cabinet in February.  The Committee would have an opportunity to scrutinise the outcome of the consultation and final proposals in the summer.

42.7     The Committee made comments including those that follow:

·         Questioned whether closing centres would deprive families of access to wider services such as midwives and health visitors?  It was confirmed that whilst Early Help supported new mums, midwifery and health visitor services were not part of the Early Help offer but they often shared buildings, which were not always owned by the County Council.  Removing the Early Help service from centres did not equate to centres not being used by other services.  Additionally, some services such as toy share schemes and groups were duplicated in places like community libraries.  The consultation would be fundamental in working out what the consequences of any closures might be.

·         Asked how staff had been consulted on the proposed changes.  Mrs Hayes reported that the staff were considered the most valuable asset to the Early Help service and were being fully involved.  The proposed offer had been shared with staff who had known it would be coming for some time.  Staff would be able contribute to the public consultation as well as the formal staff consultation.

·         Requested more information on footfall at the centres by district.  Mrs Hayes reported that footfall statistics were not the most useful tool in seeking how much of the Early Help service is delivered at a location.  Impact and reach are important to help understand where early help is making the most impact.  Levels of deprivation in an area were a key factor when deciding which buildings to retain. Over two thirds of the work the service undertook did not take place in centres.

·         Sought further clarification on the opportunities and impact on young people in the proposed new model. Mrs Hayes reported that the youth offer would be reviewed as part of the wider transformation work.  The service work with around 1,500 children aged 11-17 years on early help plans and there were a number of services working with young people such as mental health in schools teams, the young carers offer, the domestic abuse young people’s offer.  The remaining centres would all be open full-time hours and would be available for young people to drop in and receive a face-to-face service if that was felt to be critical.

·         Expressed concern at how public health issues could be picked up by a virtual service.  Mrs Hayes explained that the County Council already had a collaborative working agreement on public health matters in place.  Early help staff assessed the public health need in each contact, not just the initial presenting issue.  There was also close working with health partners to ensure early identification of issues and the identification of clear pathways.

·         Sought clarification on how the proposed model would improve the lives of children and enable them to perform better in school.  Mrs Hayes reported that the aim would be to have a dedicated school’s team who could be much more reactive and respond flexibly to meet the needs of children, rather than the current termly conversation approach.  There would be early workshops direct with headteachers to work out how to enhance and shape this provision.

·         Highlighted the importance of communication, both in terms of the current work on the redesign and also ongoing communication to residents on what the new service is and how they can access it.

·         Recognised the importance of the development of an asset plan on how to manage any buildings where early help services would be withdrawn and working closely with partners and community groups on potential uses for the space moving forward.

1.07pm Mr Cristin left the meeting.

·         Highlighted the importance of an equality impact assessment (EIR) to understand the impact the proposal could have on those with protected characteristics and the unintended consequences of the reduction of delivery points.  Mrs Hayes confirmed that the assessment would be available in the paper going to Cabinet on 23 February 2021 and would form part of the final proposals.

1.45pm Mrs Ryan left the meeting.

42.8     The Committee considered a recommendation “That the Cabinet Member defer the decision to proceed to consultation on the Early Help redesign until the information requested had been reviewed by the scrutiny committee.”

42.9     The revised recommendation was rejected based on a majority vote recorded with 9 votes against and 3 votes for the recommendation.

42.10  Resolved - That the Committee:

1.   Broadly supports the need to investigate an improved and targeted early help offer for vulnerable children and families and request that work is progressed in order to achieve this.

2.   Raised concern on the potential implications on the universal offer and how this will impact on future service demand.

3.   Request that the following is provided in a further report to the Committee following the consultation and to inform the final proposals:

·         Clarity on how the proposals will help improve the identification and support of vulnerable children and families to access early help support.

·         Includes a communication plan on the new proposal and ongoing support for residents on how they will be able to continue to access the services, especially for those areas where delivery points will be withdrawn.

·         A robust Equality Impact Report.

·         Clarity on the impact of the proposals on wider services, including partners who use the delivery points to deliver their services.

·         Further data and information on usage and services provided in each children and family centre by all partners.

·         The breakdown of consultation responses by hub area.

·         How the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on families has been taken into consideration when assessing the proposals and their resilience.

·         Information on the outcome of early help redesign in other Local Authorities and how this learning is taken into account in the proposals for West Sussex.

·         More detail around proposals for service delivery to remote service users.

4.   Highlights the importance that the consultation proactively approaches service users and stakeholders and requests that the consultation document, including the list of prospective consultees, is shared with the Committee prior to launch so that they can be satisfied that it is fully inclusive.