Agenda and minutes

The Chair (Cllr Bramble) welcomed members to the Children and Young People Board meeting.

Cllr Saunders declared that she was Trustee of North Yorkshire Youth who delivered services to councils and Cllr Cory declared that he was appointed by the Board as Trustee for the National Youth Agency.

No apologies were received.

Members of the Children and Young People Board agreed the notes of the last Board meeting, held on Tuesday 14 September 2021.

The Chair introduced the item in which guest speakers Paul Schofield, Jonathan Hopkins and Abbee McLatchie were invited to speak to the Board.

The Chair invited Paul Schofield from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to discuss the priorities of the new Minister, the youth investment fund, and the plans regarding statutory guidance.

Paul highlighted the following key points:

•           The Government announced a £500m package for Youth Investment Fund (YIF) in 2019. As a place-based programme, funds would be prioritised to meet the Levelling-up agenda, with majority of the country being covered.

•           It was important to engage with local authorities to understand how to connect youth service funding with other key priorities, i.e. keeping young people safe and building services they want and need.

•           In the coming weeks DCMS hoped to announce a small capital programme (approximately £10m) to provide equipment for youth services, i.e. IT and transport vehicles. Open to individual organisations in qualifying areas to bid for.

•           A larger fund in excess of over £350m would be delivered over the next few years for capital investment within the youth estate, both those owned by local authorities and Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector. Targeted for areas that have a high need.

•           DCMS are actively in discussions with large organisations such as Children in Need and National Lottery Communities Fund to secure a national body to arrange the funding to be delivered.

Following the discussion, the following comments were made:

•           The Chair commented that it was challenging to plan and build a sustainable model for youth provision over short funding pots, as over the years many services have closed and staff have left due to funding cuts. Paul agreed that over the last few years significant cuts had been made, prompting a central government response. Long-term engagement with national government and local authorities to engage on key issues would pull together a stronger comprehensive case for further investments within youth services.

•           Members agreed that local authorities should be in involved in working with DCMS to best spend the investment within their areas. As they would be able to provide bespoke and tailored services to their specific needs.

•           Members highlighted that the way in which youth funding was distributed was very problematic, as the National Citizen Service (NCS) took a disproportionate amount of funding given they only work with 16–17-year-olds, although recognised the change in the recent spending revenue. Local authorities needed both capital and revenue funding to use in partnership with other projects that could attract further funding.

•           Members raised that certain areas would receive larger capital funding under the Levelling-up agenda, but this would be unfair and leave many services without support and adequate funding. Paul stressed that the DCMS would not dictate where pots of investments would be allocated but would be keen to engage with local authorities to come forward with bids for what they would spend money the money on. 

•           Members expressed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Chair introduced the report which outlined the recent data released from the National Child Measurement Programme which showed an increase in obesity rates in primary age children and provided an update on the LGA’s current work in relation to childhood obesity.

The Chair invited Loretta Sollars, Deputy Head Children Young People & Families, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care, to present National Child Measurement Programme: Annual results 2020/21.

Loretta informed the Board that the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) was a statutory requirement for all local authorities, which measured the height and weight of children in England annually and provided data on the number of children in reception and year 6 who are underweight, healthy weight, overweight, obese or severely obese.

Loretta highlighted the following key points from the presentation:

•           A steep increase in childhood obesity had been recorded since the programme began in 2006/7 for both reception and Year 6.

•           Obesity prevalence among children living in the most deprived areas was more than double that of those living in the least deprived areas.

•           Boys continued to have a higher prevalence of obesity than girls and was greater in older age groups.

•           Obesity prevalence was highest among Black children in reception and Year 6 and lowest for Chinese children in reception and Year 6.

•           Data samples collected in 2020/2 were based on a selection of schools to produce a national representative sample, smaller than previous years due to closures.

Following the discussion. Members made the following comments:

•           The Chair questioned if the data looked at regional variation, as it would be interesting to look at different cohorts to further explore areas of disproportionality. Loretta replied that the regional breakdown which included deprivation, gender and ethnicity was mirrored at a regional level. But the overall levels would differ with some areas either above or below the national average.

•           Members commented if there were any conclusions that could be drawn from the findings in the long run and if there was any information regarding the financial implications on the system. Loretta explained that it was significant to look at this with a whole system approach as there was no single factor that contributed to obesity but rather an accumulation of factors. She went on to say it was important to understand and consider that children were at school for limited proportion of the day, and it was important to evaluate their environment and influences around them that could contribute to obesity levels. Regarding financial implications, information could be found on Making obesity everybody’s business: A whole systems approach to obesity report on the LGA website.

•           Members highlighted that ethnicity correlated massively with deprivation, as biologically it wasn’t to do with their makeup but rather to do with ethnicities being in deprived situations. Loretta replied that deprivation was the major contributor of obesity. Upon further complex analysis, the link between the impact of deprivation and ethnicity showed that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair introduced the report which considered recruitment and retention in early education and childcare and the impact of this on sufficiency of places. The report also provided the opportunity to consider the draft recommendations from research commissioned by Officers to develop further policy positions on early years provision.

The Chair invited Flora Wilke, Adviser, Children and Young People to introduce the item. Flora informed the Board that she sought to gather comments from Members around the considered recruitment and retention in early education and childcare along with the impact on sufficiency and how councils were being able to fulfil their duties. Flora also mentioned that the LGA commissioned work at the end of last year to look at what works for children in early years settings, the cost of effective provision and what was needed to improve outcomes for children.

Following the brief discussion, Members made the following comments:

•           The Chair highlighted that there was an opportunity to do cross-party piece of work on early years, specifically around how different departments reflect and impact on children and parents in early years. Additionally, the reduction in birth rates, COVID-19, the cost per child and working from home would all have an impact on how sustainable placements were.

•           Members reflected on the idea of more 30 hour per week placements and noted that adequate funding would need to be in place to ensure correct staffing levels and continued investment for maintained nursery schools (MNS).

•           Members commented that were challenges around securing qualified staff in the sector and if there was scope to draw in better recruitment and retention approaches which would be worth considering.

•           Members highlighted that the universal childcare offer for 3 and 4-year-olds, eligibility criteria benchmark needed to either be more rigorous or scrapped entirely.

•           Members expressed that this sector was neglected and overlooked during the pandemic. There was a danger of a downwards spiral with parents being unable to get childcare and therefore not being able to return to workforce, making workforce issues worse than they currently would be.

Direction:

Members of the Board noted the Early Years report.

Actions:

•           Officers to continue to work with councils to understand the situation regarding recruitment, retention and sufficiency in the early years and feed this into central government.

•           Officers to continue to develop key policy lines based on members’ comments and accompanying work.

The Chair introduced the report which set out that in October 2019 the LGA Board approved a new 3-year business plan, built around the United Nations sustainable development goals. In 2020, one additional priority – narrowing inequalities and protecting communities was added, bringing the total to seven.

•           Funding for local government

•           Adult social care, health and wellbeing

•           Narrowing inequalities and protecting communities

•           Places to live and work

•           Children, education and schools

•           Strong local democracy, leadership and capacity

•           Sustainability and climate action

The 2021 update was approved by the LGA Board on 8 September 2021. The LGA’s work on Supporting Councils now underpinned each of the seven priorities and there was a greater emphasis throughout on resilience, economic recovery and levelling up.

Following the brief discussion, Members made the comments:

•           Members asked how the success of outcome would be measured and when would plans be drawn up for the following year. Ian Keating, Principal Policy Adviser, responded that there was an internal process where Officers at the LGA regularly reported against the objectives to senior colleagues and stakeholders. 

•           Members highlighted that youth work and services was not mentioned.

•           Members added that a reference to poverty needed to be included as it was an undercurrent of mitigating inequalities.

The Chair brought the meeting to a close.

Decision:

That the Safer and Stronger Communities Board note the 2020/21 update of the 3-year business plan as the basis for work programmes over the coming months.