Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllrs Clarke, Darby, Hussain, Jones, Kayani and Parent Governor co-optee Zoe Williams

Cllr Nathan Thomas substituted for Cllr Darby

Cllr Stuchbury substituted for Cllr Kayani

For Committee Members to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

Cllrs Bates, Osibogun and Turner declared a personal interest as a school governor within Buckinghamshire.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd November 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 2^nd November 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee. The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

There were no public questions received.

For the Committee to note the improvements made by the Youth Offending Services since the HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) published their findings in January 2023 following the service inspection made by them in September 2022.

Contributors:

Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services

John Macilwraith, Corporate Director, Children’s Services

Aman Sekhon-Gill, Assistant Director of Quality Assurance and Standards, Children’s Services

Cllr Cranmer introduced Aman Sekhon-Gill, Assistant Director of Quality, Assurance and Standards. She explained that this is a very complex service area and reminded the committee that a Youth Justice Plan had recently been presented at Council as was required annually and had been circulated to select committee Members.

Ms Sekhon-Gill explained that the HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) had inspected the service a year ago, and this was a response to that inspection report detailing progress made to date against recommendations set out by HMIP.

The HMIP report had rated the service as good overall, with one area ranked as outstanding and one area requiring improvements. Ms Sekhon-Gill noted that an action plan had been produced to monitor progress and this was overseen by the Strategic Partnership   Governance Board with partners being responsible for the delivery of services jointly.

The Chairman commended the service on the good inspection report from the HMIP.

In response to Councillors’ questions several points were raised and responded to as follows:

·       Ms Sekhon-Gill responded to a query regarding the number of youths who had not returned into mainstream education after offending, noting that it was a key priority and vital that education was resumed to enhance outcomes for young people. It would also help to drive down re-offending rates. A qualified teacher had been recruited into the re-offending team to help with educational support for reintegration and to assist with basic skills when outside of the educational system. There were no specific targets for re-entry into mainstream education as this would not be appropriate for all children. The Partnership Board looked at reintegration levels and quality assurance to understand the background to cases and address the relevant issues.

·       Action: Ms Sekhon-Gill to provide the committee with details of the reintegration targets into education or apprenticeships.

·        In relation to a question as to whether children’s ages were significant for their re-entry into mainstream education, Ms Sekhon-Gill noted that it was a nuanced picture and that the needs of the young person were central to successful integration, in addition to finding the most appropriate setting for them.

·       One Councillor considered that the issue of abusers becoming perpetrators of crime. Ms Sekhon-Gill explained that the service sees young people as children first, not as perpetrators and any interventions were tailored to the needs of the individual child. A very small percentage of children were noted to reoffend.  John Macilwraith considered that an additional report to look at the types of intervention used could be brought to the committee in the future. This would assist the Select Committee in understanding the practices involved in the service.

Action: YOS to bring a further report on types of intervention as part of the 2024 to 2025 Select Committee work programme.

·       Ms Sekhon-Gill explained that the training of staff was ongoing regarding the audit work and the service worked jointly with social care teams on this.  All new staff members undertook training. The Partnership Board is responsible for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

For the Select Committee to receive an update on the progress of the Children’s Services Transformation Programme.

Contributors:

Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services

Errol Albert, Service Director, Transformation and Improvement, Children’s Services

Cllr Cranmer introduced Errol Albert, Service Director, Children's Services - Transformation and Improvement. She noted that the transformation programme was a long-term programme of work for the service.

Errol Albert explained that at his last appearance before the committee, he set out plans for the initial phase of service transformation. This report was to update the Committee on progress within those plans.  The report included details of the rationale for change including increased demand, increasing complexity of cases, national reforms and the general overview of the service.

The report also detailed the feedback on the first phase of transformation, the key principles of which were:

1.      A movement towards locality-based teams

2.      Teams would be smaller, cohesive and multi-agency

3.      Trusted lead professionals to work with families to provide timely support

4.      A one-service approach to be paramount

This was a lengthy programme and there was still much to do. Family Hubs were significant for early help and support. Volunteers played a useful role.

In response to Councillors’ questions during the following discussion several points were raised:

·       Errol Albert outlined that in children’s services, the focus should be  on early intervention. Families’ needs were dynamic. With community support early on, it may have been possible to keep some children out of higher-tiered intervention such as the criminal justice system.  There are instances where referrals have been made where help could have been provided earlier. A wide range of issues presented to the service ranging from speech and language difficulties to family relationship problems. Seventy-five local authorities were quite advanced in organising Family Hubs and Buckinghamshire Council could learn from these. Where children were concerned, it was vital to intervene before a problem becomes a crisis.

·       Errol Albert explained that the Transformation Board has oversight of the action plan. A significant part of phase one was the re-structure of internal staff. HR was an integral part of this and form part of the membership of the Transformation Board.  Performance monitoring would be measured via several sources of data, for example from the police, health providers and the voluntary sector. Regular contact was maintained with DfE and OFSTED via inspections and annual conversations. The aim was to lower referral rates and re-referral rates. The lived experience of young people also would also be studied.

·       John McIlwraith pointed out that transformation updates would be shared with Cabinet every six months. The select committee might wish to see more focussed information on particular areas of the transformation programme.

·       Errol Albert explained that there could be several indicators of success. Currently, several teams involved with hand-offs of cases to each other and one assessment could involve three teams. Children have fed back that there are too many changes of social workers and that they have to repeat their story. It was important that young people develop a relationship with one trusted professional. A measure of success would be a lower number of hand-offs and an increased number of young people remaining with their birth families.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

For the Committee to

(i)                  consider and agree the draft scoping document for the Select Committee’s review of school attendance issues and

(ii)                consider which committee members would like to take part in the review group.

Contributors:

Cllr Julie Ward, Select Committee Chairman

Katie Dover, Senior Scrutiny Officer

School attendance levels have fallen since the pandemic and the committee wanted to investigate this issue and see what could be done to improve the problem which was a national issue. John McIlwraith felt that the review would be very helpful.

The Committee agreed the scoping document for the review.  

Any Member who wished to part of the review group could email the Chairman or Scrutiny Officer.

The Chairman invited suggestions for the work programme either now or later. Cllr Thomas was involved in the Autism Strategy. This would be presented to the Cabinet in the next few months.

The next meeting of the Select Committee will be held on Thursday 7^th March at 2.00 p.m. in the Oculus, The Gateway, Aylesbury.

Thursday 7^th March 2024 at 2.00 p.m. in the Oculus, The Gateway