Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Julie Ward, Cllr Shade Adoh, Cllr Mike Collins, Cllr Robert Jones and Cllr Paul Turner.    Sir Francis Habgood joined the meeting at approximately 3.00 pm.

Cllr Dominic Barnes declared that his wife worked for a grammar school in Buckinghamshire.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5 November as a correct record.

Cllr Dev Dhillon, the Chairman, advised that the actions had been discharged apart from the action under item 7, Educational Standards; the Chairman advised that the number of children in elective home education was 738. 

Cllr Johncock referred to item 7, Educational Standards, page 10 of the agenda pack, which stated that information on the high number of  exclusion rates for black and minority ethnic (BAME) children and how it would be addressed would be included in the next report to the Select Committee; Mr Simon James, Service Director, Education, confirmed the information would be included in a future report but agreed to circulate the it separately.

ACTION:  Mr James

Cllr Johncock also referred to item 8, Work Programme on page 12, which stated that a sub-group to discuss the recruitment of social workers would be set up.  The Chairman advised that the Select Committee members should have received an email before Christmas advising that, due to Covid restrictions and officer workload, it had been decided to postpone this work until there was increased capacity. 

Cllr Stuchbury requested an update on the number of children who required a laptop.  Cllr Stuchbury had raised the query during the last meeting, but it had not been included in the minutes.  Mr Vouyioukas, Corporate Director, Children’s Services, stated that over 850 laptops were distributed to disadvantaged pupils during the first two lockdowns; there was now the impact of the third lockdown and the issue on the Department for Education (DfE) website for ordering laptops needed to be resolved.  Mr Vouyioukas advised that he continued to discuss the issue with the DfE and offered to discuss the matter with Cllr Stuchbury outside of the meeting.

ACTION:  Mr Vouyioukas

Mr Mark Skoyles referred to item 6, Family Support Service, One Year On, the first bullet point on page 7, and requested clarity on the information provided.  Mr James confirmed that there were 16 Family Support Service centres and agreed to email Mr Skoyles regarding the number of youth centres and their management arrangements.

ACTION:  Mr James

RESOLVED:  The minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2020 were AGREED as an accurate record.

There were no public questions. 

For the Chairman to update the Committee on any Scrutiny related activity since the last meeting.

The Chairman requested that members of the Select Committee raise any further questions directly with the relevant officer.

The Committee will receive an overview of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Buckinghamshire and gain insight into the impact the Covid 19 pandemic might have had on children and young people this year.  In addition, members will learn about how schools have been supported in encouraging positive wellbeing amongst pupils during this challenging time.

Contributors:

Cllr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

Mr Tolis Vouyioukas, Corporate Director for Children’s Services

Mr Simon James, Service Director, Education

Dr Eleanor Rowsell, Head of Psychological Therapies, Bucks CAMHS

Dr Joe Clacey, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist/ Medical Lead for Bucks CAMHS

Ms Debra Rutley, Executive Headteacher at Aspire Schools

The Chairman welcomed Dr Eleanor Rowsell, Head of Psychological Therapies, Bucks Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); Dr Joe Clacey, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist/Medical Lead for Bucks CAMHS and Ms Debra Rutley, Executive Headteacher at Aspire Schools, to the meeting to advise on the mental health impact of Covid-19 and what was being provided to support children and families.  Mr James introduced the report which outlined the provision from CAMHS and the schools’ system; Mr James referred to the data in point 7 of the report and advised that the most up to date information would be provided after the meeting.

ACTION:  Mr James

 Dr Rowsell explained that CAMHS was an NHS commissioned service, delivered by Oxford Health; CAMHS commissioned online services and also worked in partnership with Barnardo’s.  Mental Health Support teams had been developed and several structured clinical pathways were in place along with an outreach service.  Nationally, there had been a 51% reduction in CAMHS referrals in April 2020, compared to April 2019, which was probably related to the closure of schools; however, by September 2020 there was a marked recovery.  The national benchmarking exercise normally covered the whole year but in October 2020 the rates were already 22% higher than in 2019 comparable levels.  The chart in point 6 shows graphically, that there were large fluctuations which related to school terms; there was usually a significant rise in October/November.  The increased referrals locally since August 2020 had mirrored national figures and had continued to rise. 

There was an increase in referrals for the mental health support teams which was a new national project.  It was part of the natural service development but demonstrated that there had been an increase in demand for the mild pathways.  There had been a 42% increase in the crisis assessment area of the service and there had been a 32% increase in eating disorder referrals which was of concern nationally.  The number of paediatric assessments and admissions had risen by 50% compared to the same period last year and it was a concern that young people presenting to the service were so low weight that they needed a paediatric assessment and admission.  There had also been an increase in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder referrals and a slight increase in drug and alcohol and bi-polar disorder.  CAMHS had looked at the impact of other pandemics and had anticipated higher levels of anxiety and depression; however, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had not been noted at this stage.   

Dr Joe Clacey explained that, in addition to his role as the Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist/Medical Lead for Bucks CAMHS, he also led the Crisis and Outreach Service and one of the significant concerns was an increase in self-harm presentations.   There had been a 42% increase in the relevant time period; young people were also presenting with increased amounts of reported thoughts of suicide.  There had not been an increase in very severe outcomes i.e. those suffering severe long-term harm, completed suicide or admissions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee will receive an update on the work of the Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Partnership, which replaced the Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children’s Board in mid-2019.

Contributors:

Cllr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

Mr Tolis Vouyioukas, Corporate Director for Children’s Services

Sir Francis Habgood, Independent Chair of Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children’s Board

The Chairman welcomed Sir Francis Habgood, Independent Chair of the Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership whose role was to ensure children and young people were safeguarded in Buckinghamshire by providing leadership, support, challenge and quality assurance.  Sir Francis emphasised that he did not represent any single organisation; he represented the partnership and he also chaired the Safeguarding Adults’ Board.  It was the first time there had been an independent chair for both partnership/boards; it was a positive factor as there were similarities and crossover.  Sharing a Chairman would prevent gaps and help provide a smooth transition from childhood to adulthood. 

The report stated that there used to be a Children’s Safeguarding Board, but it was changed from a board to a partnership in 2019.  There were three statutory partners in the partnership; the Local Authority, the Police and the CCG who all had joint and equal responsibility.  A key priority was to make sure all three partners took on the responsibility and to ensure a business plan was in place and an annual report was produced.  An effective quality assurance framework needed to be in place and a key responsibility was learning and development which was embedded, and made available to statutory partners and other organisations, after a study of case reviews. 

A small business unit covered both the children’s safeguarding partnership and adults safeguarding board; the team supported the senior leaders who lead the sub-groups across children’s and adults safeguarding areas.  There were several partnership boards across Buckinghamshire; links between the boards were important and a new domestic abuse board would be set up from April 2021.  Sir Francis stressed the need to have a robust process to ensure learning was captured from the case review recommendations.  The final page of the report showed the aims/priorities for 2021; most of which had been completed.  There was a new website and an online conference would be arranged.

The following key points were raised in discussion with Members:

• In response to whether councillors would be able to attend the forthcoming event on 21 January 2021; Sir Francis advised he would check availability and let the Chairman know.
• Clarification was requested on the point that there were no serious case reviews regarding 22 child deaths; Sir Francis explained that none of the child deaths were of a safeguarding concern; they were medically related.
• A member of the committee highlighted that there was a planned reduction in the Children’s Services budget of £2.8m and asked if the Children’s Safeguarding Partnership was partly funded by Children’s Services; Sir Francis assured the Select Committee that all the funding partners would continue to provide the same level of funding.  Mr Vouyioukas added that the financial commitment from the Council would not be withdrawn from the Children’s Safeguarding Partnership.
• Sir Francis confirmed that the Joint Protocol document referred to in paragraph 1.8 had been agreed but he was unsure if it had been published.  It was agreed that Mr Vouyioukas would identify if the joint protocol document had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The  Committee will note the work programme.

It was agreed that the item “Support to Care Leavers”, lead officer Mr Nash, would be presented at the meeting on 4 March 2021.

Cllr Stuchbury requested early sight on the effect of Covid-19 on children’s education and the 11+ when it became available.

The Chairman thanked all the Children’s Services officers, school staff, teachers and care workers on behalf of the committee for all their hard work.

RESOLVED: The Children and Education Select Committee NOTED the work programme.

Thursday 4 March 2021 at 2.00 pm.

Thursday 4 March 2021 at 2.00 pm.