Agenda and minutes

The Chair introduced herself and welcomed all members and observers to the Children and Young People Board held at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Manchester. The Chair additionally introduced and thanked the Board’s lead members for their work on behalf of the board to date.

No declarations of interest were made.

The Chair introduced Councillor Dick Madden to give an update on behalf of the Task and Finish Group for the Bright Futures report. Cllr Madden set the scene by outlining the work undertaken since the launch a year ago, its purpose and achievements to date.

Cllr Madden thanked the Minister for attending the Board, and for his willingness to engage in open and constructive dialogue with the local government sector. Cllr Madden particularly highlighted the Minister’s support for sector led improvement, noting that this had often felt overlooked by the Department in the past.

Cllr Madden reported that the Board was launching two new ‘resource packs’ for members at the conference: one on Permanence and one on Early Years Education. These and the Bright Futures Report included a full range of resources produced that outlines case studies and best practices to help councils learn from each other.

Cllr Madden also warned that funding cuts paired with increasing demand for services is proving extremely challenging and many councils have warned that the demand for child protection services and SEND support now significantly outweighs their budgets, and in some areas early help services have been significantly scaled back due to financial pressure. While the £410 million funding in the Autumn Budget 2018 for adult and children’s social care was welcome, it fell short of the combined funding gap for these services of £6.6 billion by 2025.

However, Cllr Madden acknowledged that previous Budget statements had made no mention of children’s services at all, and thanked the Minister for his work to put children’s services on the Treasury agenda. Cllr Madden concluded that the LGA’s offer to government is simple: we can make real and sustained difference to the lives of children, young people and families with new investment in councils and by supporting the new ways of working we have put forward in Bright Futures.

The Chair welcomed the Minister for Children, Nadhim Zahawi MP to the Board and thanked him for taking the time to engage directly with elected members following his earlier speech.

Nadhim Zahawi MP thanked the Chair and stated that key messages regarding funding from this Board had been heard, that the challenges faced by councils have been recognised, and that it was understood that funding is fundamental. Although the funding received in the Autumn Budget was an achievement, the Minister recognised that more work had to be done to prepare for the spending review.

The Minister praised the LGA’s leading role in this area and identified that the Bright Futures report had a strong focus on Local Leadership. The Minister explained that partnership work between local authorities and agencies were critical, therefore, the Department is improving work with this.

The Minister asked members for their comments and feedback. The following discussion took place:

-       One member raised concerns surrounding funding pressures on children services due to child poverty and the roll-out of Universal Credit, and asked whether funding for the Troubled Families would be extended beyond 2020. The Minister responded that government recognised that local authorities have used this troubled families funding to underpin core elements of the wider system of support for children and families and reassured the Board that the future of this funding  is an issue under active consideration.

-       Concerns were raised regarding the role of private foster care agencies, which were felt to be making large profits at the expense of hard pressed local authorities. . The Minister responded that this had been considered in an independent review  of foster care undertaken by Mark Owers and Sir Martin Narey, which concluded that the relationship between the private foster care system and the rest of the system is well balanced, and there are often negative repercussions when you tinker with an already complex system.

-       A member raised the issue of NHS spending on children with complex needs, such as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or mental health issues. The Minister recognised this challenge and stated that along with the additional £20 billon funding that has gone into the NHS, there is a need for the Leadership Board to become a task force on joint commissioning in order to focus on this particular issue of building partnerships.

-       Home-to-school transport was raised as a significant financial pressure with a particular impact on rural areas that is not being factored into funding. The Minister noted that this is an area that will be under review, and Cllr Bramble highlighted that the LGA would be undertaking work on this shortly.

-       A member raised the issue of funding in relation to young people remanded into custody, highlighting that accommodation and other support for over 18s was funded by the Home Office while children’s services were expected to cover the full cost for under 18s.The question posed to the Minister was whether there was scope to share the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Chair introduced the next item, which looked at getting reflections on the Bright Futures report from Board members.

The following discussion took place:

In response to a question about the LGA’s work in relation to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) Cllr Gillian Ford, a member of the LGA’s Asylum Refugee and Migration Task Force, responded that the group had recently met with the Minister and that feedback mechanisms were in place through the group’s regional representatives. A number of members highlighted that they had not received any recent feedback from the group, and asked that an update be circulated.Cllr Dick Madden said the LGA would write to all councils in an attempt to gather further evidence and use this as a vehicle to unite councils on challenges facing all. Cllr Madden urged council members to respond with the concerns they raised in the session.

-       Cllr Lucy Nethsingha said only half of authorities had responded to Isos’s SEND questionnaire, commissioned by the Task and Finish Group as to date. Councillor Nethsingha urged members to prompt their local authorities to respond if they have not already done so.

Action

The following actions were agreed:

-       The LGA will send out an update from the Asylum Refugee and Migration Task Group, alongside a list of regional representatives on the so members will know who their point of contact is

-       The Bright Futures Task Force will write to all councils to gather their individual evidence.

-       The LGA will recirculate the Isos questionnaire to member councils so that those local authorities who have not yet responded can do so.

The minutes of the last Board meeting 10 September 18 were agreed.

The Chair thanked all those who attended and closed the session.