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ITEM CA8

CABINET - 20 DECEMBER 2005

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE’S PLAN: RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

Report by Director for Learning & Culture

Introduction

  1. The Cabinet meeting on 18 October 2005 approved the draft Children & Young People’s Plan for wide consultation. The Cabinet asked officers to report back on the financial implications of the Plan and how they could be met, in the first instance from existing directorate budgets or otherwise through the budget bidding process.

    2. Working More Effectively with Existing Resources

  2. In general terms, it is intended that most of the actions in the Plan will be implemented within existing resources. There is much that can be achieved by realigning services, enabling staff to work together more efficiently and effectively and shifting the balance of our resources into prevention, early intervention and direct support for children and families.

  3. This will be achieved by:

    • the realignment of the Council’s directorates to create a single Directorate for Children, Young People & Families;

    • the establishment of a more integrated approach, including joint management and coordination arrangements, to planning and commissioning children’s services;

    • joint work across agencies to deliver the outcomes in the Local Area Agreement;

    • joint agency planning and shared resources to achieve common objectives;

    • the development of countywide, integrated services;

    • the development of local multi-disciplinary teams, using a common assessment and lead professional approach;

    • bringing together some of the County Council "back office" functions into shared services;

    • the management of the Connexions Service within Oxfordshire;

    • joint workforce development;

    • more effective partnership with the voluntary, community and private sectors;

    • a co-ordinated approach to the engagement of children, young people and families.

Areas Where the County Has Already Been Allocated Funding

  1. There are some areas where the County has already been allocated additional grant or other funding for children’s services and there may be scope to align or pool funding between agencies to meet needs more effectively.

    2. Children’s Centres

  2. The Council has been allocated £4.76m revenue funding and £4.53m capital funding for the development of 25 new Children’s Centres in Oxfordshire by 2008. This funding will also support three existing centres and all the associated management and support costs for the programme. The Government has indicated that there will be further investment in the Children’s Centre programme in 2008-10. As requested by the Cabinet on 16 October, the report back on the outcome of consultation on and development of the Children’s Centre proposals, will include a full financial and risk assessment for the medium term, to include the identification of implications and options and a costed exit strategy, in the event of external funding not being maintained. This is due for the 7 March Cabinet meeting, by which time it is hoped that the medium term funding position will be clearer.

  3. There is significant potential for a wide range of services for children and families to be delivered through Children’s Centres in the future.

    4. Extended Schools

  4. The Council has been allocated £1.657m (capital and revenue) in 2006/07 for the development of Extended Schools. This will increase to £2.057m in 2007/08. It is expected that officers will be able to report further on the medium term funding position at the same time as the Children’s Centres programme funding position referred to above.

  5. Again, there is significant potential for the development of a wide range of services to be delivered to children, young people, families and communities through extended schools given the commitment from different services and agencies to plan services jointly.

    6. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

  6. £1m CAMHS ring-fenced funding has been allocated to Oxfordshire. (£637,000 in Oxfordshire County Council and £455,000 combined PCT funding). The County Council and PCTs have worked together to develop a joint strategy for child and adolescent mental health services. £680,000 of this has been allocated to develop the new Primary CAMHS. This is within the base budget.

    7. Teenage Pregnancy

  7. A joint strategy has been developed to reduce teenage pregnancy. Standards Funds currently supporting the teenage pregnancy strategy for the county (£175,000) and the NHS sexual health budget (£150,000) have been aligned to deliver the strategy.

    8. Areas Requiring Additional Investment

  8. There are some areas where it is clear that additional investment is needed in order to deliver the improvements in outcomes for children and young people detailed in the Children & Young People’s Plan.

    9. Children’s Social Care

  9. There are pressures on the Children’s Social Care budget particularly relating to new legislation, agency residential care and assessment teams.

  10. £738,000 has been identified in the list of non-discretionary pressures under consideration in the current budget process to address existing pressures in relation to:

    • new adoption legislation;

    • new legislation in relation to safeguarding children;

    • new pressures in relation to care leavers;

    • agency residential care;

    • assessment teams.

Integrated ICT System

  1. The development of an Integrated Information Management system for children and young people is a key priority in order to improve the outcomes for children and young people described in the Children & Young People’s Plan. The challenges associated with delivering these requirements should not be under-estimated. Implementing effective solutions and technologies that can underpin and support improved integration across agencies will require considerable cultural change, organisational development and business process review, as well as investment in new technology.

  2. The Chief Executive’s report ‘Taking Forward the Change Agenda’, presented to Cabinet on 15 November, identified ‘Children and Older People’ as a major structural change project for the County Council. The development of an integrated management system for children and young people is integral to this project.

  3. Given the significance of the impact of change and the need to undertake detailed work to specify requirements, it is proposed that a project team be established, including business analyst, ICT Manager and Service Manager, to develop proposals to support the following key areas:

      - integrated information management systems, initially for children looked after and subsequently for all children;

      - integrated children’s system (ICS);

      - national information sharing index and tracking system;

      - electronic common assessment framework;

      - integrated service directories.

  1. The project team will undertake further investigations to establish detailed business case, costings and implementation plan.

  2. Additional funding for this project has been included in the Council’s Corporate and Cross-Directorate Policy Choice Options, under consideration in the current budget process. £1.1m has been identified over 4 years for this project, commencing 2006/07. £200,000 has been allocated in 2006/7.

    3. Youth Service

  3. The Youth Service in Oxfordshire has been commended by inspectors as providing a very good service, but one which is not sustainable within existing resources. In line with requirements in the Youth Green Paper, the Plan proposes further strengthening the services available for young people and establishing a new integrated youth support service. The Youth Service will be integral to this development.

  4. Over recent years there have been significant pressures on the youth service budget including a national restructuring of youth workers’ pay grades.

  5. The Youth Service requires an investment of £250,000 per annum to enable it to be fully staffed and resourced at the current establishment. In 2005/06, the service is projected to overspend by £53,000 after an additional sum of £50,000 is transferred from underspends elsewhere in the Council.

  6. £100,000 has been included in the Council’s Corporate and Cross Directorate Policy Choice Options under consideration in the current budget process.

  7. The remaining £150,000 will have to be found either by maintaining a high level of vacancies or by service reductions, particularly in management and support posts.

  8. It is proposed that there should be a fundamental service and budget review of the Youth Service in 2006/07.

    9. Local Multi-Disciplinary Teams

  9. Feedback from children, young people and families highlights the need for more direct support from frontline services working together more effectively. They highlight the need to reduce the number of different assessments which they receive and to have a named professional who can get to know them and develop a relationship with them over time.

  10. It is proposed that children and families in all areas of the county should have access to a local, multi-disciplinary team which is able to provide this support. Children, young people and families will be involved in the development of the local teams to ensure that they are customer-focussed and responsive to needs. Introducing a single, common assessment for children and families and a lead professional for every child and family who needs one will reduce duplication of effort and ensure that more resources are available for direct support for children and families.

  11. Overall, this development will be achieved within existing resources by organising existing staff into local multi-disciplinary teams. Responsibility for the coordination of local teams will be shared between the different services and agencies within existing resources.

  12. However, there is a need to appoint a Service Manager to lead this work, including the development of local multi-disciplinary teams throughout Oxfordshire, the implementation of a single, common assessment for children and families and the allocation of a lead professional for every child and family who needs one. £75,000 is required for this key post, including administration and resources.

  13. Funding for this post is included in the Corporate and Cross Directorate Policy Choice Options under consideration in the current budget process.

    14. Engaging Children and Young People

  14. Securing the ongoing participation of children, young people and families in the development of services is key to our success in improving outcomes for children and young people and in developing customer-focussed and responsive services.

  15. There are already a number of examples of good practice upon which to build, including:

    16. - the work of the Youth Service in developing youth forums in partnership with District Councils;

    - the work of the Early Years Service in engaging the very youngest children in the county;

    - the development of Sounding Boards to listen to direct feedback from children and families and ensure their participation in decision-making.

  16. There is a need to secure funding to maintain and develop this work. It is proposed to establish a key post to lead this work and secure the ongoing participation of children and families in the development of our services. This will include:

    17. - leading the work on consultation with children and families to ensure that the views of children and families are listened to and acted on and that children and families receive feedback;

    - leading the work to ensure the participation of children and families in decision-making, e.g. through School Councils, local forums and countywide Sounding Boards;

    - organising regular Sounding Boards for children, young people and families so that they can participate directly in decision-making;

    - working with a wide range of agencies and partners so that there is a coherent, co-ordinated approach to this work;

    - regularly surveying the attitudes and experiences of young people to ensure that services are responsive to their needs and as a way of monitoring progress in improving outcomes for young people.

    A total of £75,000 per year is required for the appointment of a full-time post, including administration and resourcing of the Sounding Boards.

  17. Funding for this post is included in the Corporate and Cross Directorate Policy Choice options under consideration in the current budget process.

    18. Conclusions

  18. Overall, it is intended that most of the actions in the Children & Young People’s Plan will be implemented within existing resources. However, there are some areas where additional investment is required. These have been included in the Corporate and Cross Directorate Policy Choice Options and are subject to the budget process.

  19. If it proves to be not possible to meet some or all of these pressures then the developments will have to be curtailed accordingly. The implications potentially include:

    20. - reduction in youth services;

    - problems implementing the requirement to establish local multi-professional teams;

    - delay in developing an integrated management system for children and young people;

    - problems securing the ongoing participation of children, young people and families in the development of services.

    Recommendation

  20. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the resource implications of the Children & Young People’s Plan and that these are included in the Corporate and Cross-Directorate Policy Choice Options under consideration in the current budget process.


    KEITH BARTLEY
    Director for Learning & Culture

    Background papers: Draft Children & Young People’s Plan

    Contact officer: Gillian Tee, Head of Children’s Services, Tel: 01865 815125

    December 2005

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