Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed Members and officers to the meeting and noted that they would observe two minutes silence at 11am to mark Remembrance Day.

It was agreed to take item 7 Family Solutions Plus before item 6 Health Inequalities and the Chair thanked all those presenting on the items for facilitating the change.

Apologies were received from Councillor Juliette Ash (substituted by Councillor Jane Murphy).

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2021 (POSC4) and to receive information arising from them.

Councillor Michael Waine asked when the question of co-opted members for the Committee would be discussed.  Councillor Andy Graham also noted that there was no discussion of the Committee’s Work Programme on the agenda for this meeting.

The Chair responded that both of these would be discussed at a workshop for Members to be arranged around the end of November or start of December.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2021 were agreed and signed.

Report by Corporate Director of Children’s Services

The report (POSC7) discusses the progress to date and what has been achieved, both quantitatively and qualitatively, a year into the implementation.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

a)            consider the contents of the report and put relevant questions to the Cabinet Lead member, Director of Children’s Services and supporting officers.

b)           decide if any further action is required.

c)            consider recommending to the Oxfordshire Place Board consideration of the Family Solutions Plus (FSP) business case to agree the future funding approach.

The Committee had before it a report discussing the progress to date and what has been achieved, both quantitatively and qualitatively, a year into the implementation of Family Solutions Plus (FSP).

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Young People’s Services described the service as a success story in its first year.  The service deals with children who have been referred to the MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) and the number of referrals has been increasing.

Councillor Brighouse reminded Members that the courts decided when the Council has to look after a child and therefore the courts must decide when that responsibility can end.  The new service aimed to work with families to alleviate the many different problems that can be the cause of child safeguarding issues.  It was a real step in the right direction.  It cost money but the Council needed to invest in our children in the same was as any parents would in their children.

Hannah Farncombe, Deputy Director of Children’s Social Care, gave a presentation on the links between FSP and the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Ray Fitzpatrick, Professor of Public Health, University of Oxford, and Charles Vincent, Professor of Psychology, University of Oxford presented an independent evaluation of the service.  They found:

·         Reduced numbers of looked after children in care

·         Reduced numbers of children on child protection plans

·         A model of working which has universal support of the staff in the service

·         The service is achieving well but is challenged by high workloads and the impact of the pandemic

·         Emerging findings of approval by families

·         Reduced numbers of police call-outs

·         Reduced volume of emergency mental health service use.

Delia Mann, Head of Services for Family Solutions Plus and Early Help Teams, and Andy Symons, Senior Operations Manager, Turning Point, the Adult Substance Misuse Service, recounted case studies involving mental health needs and substance misuse by parents where they did not have to remove the children because they were able to assist the family in a more holistic way through partnership working.

Members thanked officers and guests for the report and presentations and raised a number issues:

Staffing

Members asked

·         how staff were being supported given the often emotional and stressful nature of the job and unsocial hours;

·         how workloads were managed to ensure work/life balance;

·         if front-line staff had access to independent counselling.

Officers responded that recruitment and retention were national issues in this sector.  The difficulties of the job were acknowledged but it could be very rewarding too.  There was independent counselling available but more psychological support embedded within the teams would be helpful.

The Council was trying to ‘grow’ its own staff with an early professional development unit with bespoke packages of support.  An external expert view was being sought on how the Council could do better on retention and in the Oxfordshire employment market. Bringing the workload down was a key issue in terms of retention.  There were economic factors too such as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11/21

Report by the Corporate Director of Public Health and Wellbeing.

The purpose of this briefing (POSC6) is to provide the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee with requested information on health inequalities in Oxfordshire to provide an opportunity to review current approach to tackling inequalities, the context for future agenda items and inform the development of the scrutiny work programme.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to

a)            note the background information provided on health inequality in Oxfordshire;

b)           note activity currently underway and consider implications for the Committee’s future programme of work.

The Committee received a briefing which provided background information on health inequality as context for future agenda items and to inform the development of the scrutiny work programme.

Councillor Mark Lygo, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Equality introduced the report.  He drew attention to the definition of health inequalities in paragraph 5 as “unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population, and between different groups within society”.

Councillor Lygo emphasised the importance of partnership working across the local system which was particularly evident during the pandemic.  This included the city and district councils as well as the voluntary and community sector.

Ansaf Azhar, Director for Public Health, added that, while there were many partners involved in the wide range of activities, tackling underlying causes – primary prevention – lay very much within the local authority remit.  He went on to outline the governance element.  He co-chaired the Health Inequalities Forum on BOB-ICS (Bucks, Oxon, Berkshire West – Integrated Care System).  They were in the process of setting up an Oxfordshire Forum across the health and care system and this will develop a local policy which will include tackling underlying causes, ensuring all partners are working together and avoiding duplication, and will tie in to the Council’s Corporate Plan.  The Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board will also be involved and that is where Members will have input.

Members expressed concern that the creation of these multi-agency fora can have the effect of taking discussion further away from Members.  There was also a concern that inequalities in rural areas were often overlooked because the numbers were smaller.  Councillor Lygo responded that they would be working with district councils on any outreach work they can do.  Ansaf Azhar added that Members would have an important role in identifying inequalities in their areas.

The Chair noted that one of the ten most-deprived wards had been profiled and that the other nine had been delayed due to Covid.  Ansaf Azhar responded there was now funding to progress the other wards.  They had also gained useful insights during the pandemic.  However, the ward approach was not the only one.  For example, the FAST Programme (Families Active Sporting Together) was going to be expanded out across the County to counter physical inactivity.  This will be paid for through a health inequality fund.

Robin Rogers, Programme Director Covid Response, added that the County Council’s joint working with Cherwell District Council had supported a lot of work on health and wellbeing which was now being applied across the county with the other district councils who in turn have close links with Parish Councils and local communities.

Members noted that six of the ten wards were in Oxford East.  There had been long-term problems with educational achievement, linked to deprivation in that area.  It was suggested that the committee – perhaps through a deep dive – could take a close look at education data in that area to see how schools were coping.

Members asked about cuts to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12/21