Meeting documents

The Executive
Tuesday, 19 April 2005

EX190405-07

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ITEM EX7

EXECUTIVE - 19 APRIL 2005

BEST VALUE REVIEW OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES

Report by Director for Learning & Culture and Director for Social & Health Care

Introduction

  1. The Best Value Review of Children’s Services has reviewed the services for vulnerable children and young people aged 0-19 years and makes recommendations about the implementation of "Every Child Matters" and the Children Act 2004 in Oxfordshire. The review is jointly led by Social & Health Care, Learning & Culture and Health. The review has involved:

    • a detailed needs analysis;

    • extensive consultation with children and young people and parents and carers through the development of two Sounding Boards;

    • consultation with staff from all agencies and partners, including the voluntary sector;

    • in depth analysis of six areas where outcomes for children and young people need to be improved; and

    • visits to other authorities.

  1. The Review report (attached at Annex A) (download as .doc file) was presented to the Best Value & Audit Committee on 9 March. The Committee endorsed the report and recommended it to the Executive, "except insofar as it recommended that the County Council put in place arrangements for the appointment of a Director of Children’s Services, which required further consideration". The Committee also asked the review team "to develop a detailed action plan, to include as full costings as can be provided, and report back to the Committee on 20 July 2005".

    2. National Context

  2. The Best Value Review has taken place within the context of major changes in the national agenda for services for children and young people. The Children Act 2004, "Every Child Matters: The next Steps" and the Government’s wider "Change for Children" programme (which encompasses the Public Health White Paper and the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services) followed a widely welcomed Green Paper "Every Child Matters" published in September 2003, and the Government’s response to Lord Laming’s Inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié. It introduces 5 statutory shared outcomes for children and young people across the range of public services:

    • to be healthy: enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy lifestyle;

    • to stay safe: being protected from harm and neglect and growing up able to look after themselves;

    • to enjoy and achieve: getting the most out of life and developing broad skills for adulthood;

    • to make a positive contribution: to the community and society and not engaging in anti-social or offending behaviour; and

    • to achieve economic wellbeing: overcoming socio-economic disadvantages to achieve their potential in life.

  1. The major themes of the Government’s "Change for Children" programme can be summarised as:

    • a new duty on services to co-operate "to improve the wellbeing of children and young people";

    • shifting the balance of services towards prevention and earlier intervention services, including improved support to families and support in early years or at key transition points;

    • clearer organisational accountability, in particular through Children’s Services Authorities and Directors of Children’s Services;

    • improved co-ordination and integration of education, health and social care around the needs of the child, including multi-agency team work and co-located, local services;

    • Children’s Trusts (at least one to be established in each local authority area by 2008);

    • a single integrated Children and Young People’s Plan to guide the work of different agencies to improve outcomes for children and young people;

    • integrated inspection arrangements across health, social care and education;

    • raising the priority of child protection across all services, including via the establishment of new Local Safeguarding Children Boards;

    • the development of extended schools;

    • improved sharing of information between services;

    • common assessment arrangements across agencies.

Needs Analysis

  1. Overall, children and young people in Oxfordshire get a good start in life compared to the rest of the country. However, within this overall context there are variations. There a number of factors which contribute to the vulnerability of children including: poverty and/or housing problems or homelessness; family breakdown; domestic violence, or family conflict; having very young parent(s); having parents with poor parenting skills; substance misuse; physical/mental health problems; being a young carer; being a child with a disability; having emotional or behavioural problems; offending; sexual risk taking; or bullying. There are significant variations in the prevalence and incidence of these factors in Oxfordshire, with some specific areas with concentrations of multiple risks.

    2. Feedback from Children and Young People

  2. A Children and Young People’s Sounding Board has been established. More than 200 children and young people have been involved and there have been regular meetings with 15 children and young people throughout the process. Some of the main themes which have emerged are:

    • the value of securing the participation of children and young people in finding solutions to difficulties and the need to maintain this in the future development of children’s services;

    • the importance to children and young people of relationships with adults based on mutual respect and with sufficient time to listen to and understand each other;

    • the value of a named professional who is able to develop a relationship over time with the child or young person;

    • the need for early practical support for children and young people when things start to go wrong, e.g. improved leisure activities, young people to talk to with similar experiences, practical support for parents; and

    • the need for better information in different forms about support that is available.

Feedback from Parents and Carers

  1. A Parent and Carers Sounding Board was established involving over 270 parents through questionnaires and face to face meetings. A detailed report has been produced of the feedback. Some of the main themes which have emerged are:

    • health visitors, schools, GPs and family centres are key points of contact for parents;

    • parents emphasise the importance of being able to develop a good relationship with professionals, based on mutual trust and respect;

    • 45% of parents said their difficulties had to get very serious before they received help;

    • 80% of parents said things had got better as a result of help;

    • parents particularly valued the support of the voluntary sector;

    • parents of disabled children highlight the need for more respite support;

    • parents who had experienced parenting programmes valued them and recommended them to others.

Proposals for Improving Support for Vulnerable Groups of Children

  1. The Review report makes recommendations for improving support for vulnerable groups of children and young people in the following areas:

    • mental health and emotional wellbeing;

    • teenage pregnancy;

    • disabled children and young people;

    • support for vulnerable families;

    • looked after children and young people; and

    • the educational achievement of vulnerable children and young people.

Proposals for Improving Ways of Working Across Agencies

  1. The Best Value Review Team has explored the most effective ways of working across agencies in the future. The challenge is to propose service developments which do not undermine the current high quality of many services, but which build further on inter-agency co-operation to meet the needs of services users and which makes better use of the range of resources available.

  2. The recommendations propose significant changes to the organisation of services for children and young people, including:

    • a Children and Young People’s Commissioning Trust;

    • creation of a Director and a Lead Member to be responsible for the functions of the Children’s Services Authority;

    • integrated county-wide health, education and social services provision; and

    • network arrangements for ensuring responsive and well co-ordinated services for vulnerable children and young people in localities throughout the county.

Consultation

  1. The Best Value Review report has been circulated widely for consultation and there have been a number of consultation meetings, including:

    • County Councillors and PCT and NHS Trust Executives and Chairs

    • Chief Leisure Officers of District Councils

    • multi-agency partners

    • schools

    • health services

    • voluntary sector providers.

  1. There have been 85 questionnaire responses returned. The vast majority of these, together with the feedback from consultation meetings, support the proposals in the Best Value Review paper. A summary of the feedback is provided at Annex B (download as .doc file). A full transcript of the detailed feedback is available in the Members’ Resource Centre.

  2. Consultation feedback highlighted particular support for:

    • the strong focus on early intervention and prevention to support children and families before difficulties become intractable;

    • the need to ensure effective co-ordination of parenting education and to provide support to enable it to be universally available;

    • the proposed arrangements for the greater integration and co-ordination of services;

    • the redesign of mental health services;

    • greater involvement of the District Councils and voluntary sector services;

    • the engagement of children and young people and parents and carers in the development of services; and

    • the appointment of a Director of Children’s Services.

  1. Areas highlighted as concern included:

    • the need to ensure a clear focus on performance in relation to outcomes for children and young people during the change process, for example in relation to safeguarding children;

    • the need to ensure sufficient focus on other groups of children and young people as priorities for support, including young people who are disaffected or with behaviour difficulties, young offenders, young people from ethnic minorities, young people with drug or alcohol problems, young carers, pupils out of schools, young people who are homeless or experiencing domestic violence, parents with mental health problems;

    • the need for additional resources, particularly additional pump priming money, to implement the changes;

    • the need to ensure effective links with adult services across all agencies; and

    • the need for further consideration of the role of the youth service in the light of the Youth Green Paper.

  1. There was general support for the development of services in three areas (North, City, South) but some concern about the need to improve links with District Councils and whether this could be achieved most effectively by organising in three or five areas.

  2. There was strong support, through the consultation, for the development of locality networks. However, some concerns were expressed about how these localities are to be configured. In order for locality networks to be effective, there needs to be a commitment from all agencies working with children to organise their services, where appropriate, on this basis and support their development.

  3. It is proposed that there is a need for further, time limited, work to determine, in consultation with the range of agencies working with children, which areas and localities would best meet the needs of children and young people in Oxfordshire.

  4. It is proposed that the result of this work will be reported back to the Executive in October 2005 as part of the implementation plan.

  5. The Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee considered the Best Value Review report on 22 March 2005. (The Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee on 16 February resolved not to consider the Review report but to consider the action plan when available.) The Committee welcomed the report and commented in particular on:

    • the value of the extensive consultation with children and young people, parents and carers;

    • the need to ensure that proposals are realistic, for example teachers might be given training to undertake additional responsibilities but time needed to be made available to enable teachers to undertaken them, to enhance practical, direct support for children and young people with behaviour/mental health difficulties;

    • the need to clarify that the focus should be on unintended teenage pregnancy;

    • the needs to ensure that vulnerable children in rural communities receive appropriate support;

    • the need to develop a protocol to clarify lead responsibilities in relation to different aspects of children’s services; and

    • the potential benefits of organising services in five areas coterminous with District Council boundaries and the need to take account of where local people choose to access services.

  1. The Scrutiny comments are generally to be welcomed. On the last bullet point above, there will be further consultation on which areas and localities would best meet needs.

    2. RECOMMENDATIONS

  2. The Executive is RECOMMENDED:

          1. subject to (d) below, to endorse the conclusions of the Best Value Review Report on Services for Vulnerable Children and Young People;

          2. to welcome the proposal for development by the review team of a detailed action plan, to include as full costings as can be provided, for report back to the Best Value & Audit Committee in September 2005 and to the Executive in October 2005;

          3. to note the comments of the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee and the intention of the Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee to consider the action plan when available;

          4. to ask officers to report further, in the context of the action plan:

              1. with proposals for the development of a Children and Young People’s Commissioning Trust for Oxfordshire, with a view to implementation by April 2006; and

              2. on the implications of the requirement under the Children Act to appoint a Director for Children’s Services and to nominate Lead Member for Children’s Services, with a view to implementation during 2006/07

 

KEITH BARTLEY
Director for Learning & Culture

CHARLES WADDICOR
Director for Social & Health Care

Contact Officers:
Gillian Tee, Head of Children’s Services, Learning & Culture, Tel. (01865) 815125
Sarah Ainsworth, Acting Operations Manager, Social & Health Care, Tel. (01865) 815892
Sarah Breton, Children’s Trust Project Manager, Tel. (01865) 810560

Background Papers:
Best Value Review: Feedback from Children and Young People
Best Value Review: Feedback from Parents and Carers
Best Value Review: Detailed Needs Analysis
Best Value Review: Background Document

April 2005

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