Council and councillors

To receive a presentation from the Director of Children’s Services.

A presentation was received from Mrs D Godfrey, Strategic Director of Children and Families.  The purpose of the presentation was to update Members of the scrutiny committee on the progress of the review of the Children’s Services offer.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·         Mrs Godfrey informed the Committee that it had been planned for Mr Kevin Quinn, Transformation and Assurance Lead to attend the meeting to help present the report but was unfortunately unable to attend due to ill health.

·         Mrs Godfrey gave an example of one of the changes related to the Children’s Services Offer.  Pre-pandemic, the children’s centre services were place-based i.e. all services were held within the children’s centre itself in Oakham.  This made accessing services difficult to those people/families not living in Oakham.  During the pandemic, most services were provided virtually, and this resulted in wider engagement and the feedback from families was that they found accessing virtual services much easier.  Mrs Godfrey also stated that events had been recorded so that any person/family who had not been able to access the event at the specified date/time, could still participate and learn from watching the recorded event at a date/time convenient to them.

·         Mrs Godfrey emphasised that the aim moving forward was to engage partners in becoming co-ordinators of the services provided to families rather than just Children’s Services organising everything including the provision of services provided by our partners. 

·         Mr Begy confirmed that a hybrid system was required moving forward to enable better engagement and enquired how improvement would be measured.  Mrs Godfrey replied that data would show improvements for example the reduction in the number of re-referrals to the service but that services would also be provided in a cost effective and sustainable way.

·         Mrs Jones queried if partners were willing to change and become more involved.  Mrs Godfrey stated that the pandemic lockdown had changed the way everyone worked.  Partnerships had been strengthened and this had resulted in a willingness to change and move forward.

·         Mr French queried if there had been a rise in the number of referrals during the lockdown.  Mrs Godfrey confirmed that an increase in the number of referrals had not been seen but that there had been an increase in the complexity of the cases referred.

·         Cllr Wilby stated that he would continue in his role as Portfolio Holder by monitoring improvements in Children’s Services and reporting any issues to Cabinet.  He confirmed that the service was working well and was well focused and well led.

·         Mrs Godfrey informed attendees that the new domestic violence strategy had changed to include children as victims rather than just witnesses and that two members of staff had been trained to offer psychological therapeutic support to children and young people at a very early stage.  This would be in addition to the other mental health support services offered.

·         Mrs Godfrey confirmed that the final draft version of the Children’s Services Offer would be distributed for consultation at the end of September 2021.

·         Mrs Webb enquired about the number of children who were not in education, employment or training (NEET).  Mrs Godfrey stated that this number was low in Rutland but that apprenticeships would be promoted by the service as part of her role as the council’s ‘Apprenticeship Champion’.

·         Mr Ainsley queried how the quality of services provided especially by partners would be monitored.  Mrs Godfrey confirmed that a quality assurance framework and additional training would be in place to maintain the provision of high-quality services.

RESOLVED

a)    That Scrutiny NOTED the progress of the review of the Children’s Services offer.