Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Members observed a minute of silence to mark the passing of long serving councillor and Chair of the Board, Ann Shackleton.

Councillor Shackleton had represented the Cradley Heath and Old Hill ward since 2004. She had been Chair of the Children’s Services and Education Scrutiny Board since 2020 and had previously been the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care from 2016- 2019. She was also the Deputy Mayor for the 2011- 2012 municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Akhtar and Dhariwal.

Members to declare any interests in matters to be discussed at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2022 as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2022 are approved as a correct record.

To determine whether there are any additional items of business to be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent additional items of business to consider. 

To consider and comment on the recent transformation and changes in demand on emotional well-being and mental health in Sandwell.

The Board received a presentation outlining the changes to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) since the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had taken over the lead provider role in July 2022, and how the increase in demand in recent years was being addressed. 

The changes in service delivery would ensure better collaboration with Voluntary and Community Sector partners, Primary Care Networks, Local Authorities and children, young people and their families. The changes it was hoped would enable easier and equitable access that would provide a better patient experience and improve outcomes. The consequent harmonisation of resources would ensure equity of access across the Black Country.

The Board noted the following key points in relation to the transformation:-:

·      Core CAMHS services for Sandwell had improved following investment which had increased capacity by 16 wholetime equivalent staff.

·      Investment had allowed for aligning the CAMHS service across the Black Country ensuring support up to the age of 18 years.

·      In-patient mental health beds for children and young people had moved from specialised commissioning through to provider collaboratives where BCHFT was a partner. The service as a gatekeeper for young people requiring in-patient facilities. Contracts with the in-patient providers would allow for a greater investment into preventative measures.

·      Eating disorders services had been aligned across the Black Country. Sandwell had benefited from being one of the first areas to receive the all age eating disorder provision.

·      There was an outreach team being developed in Sandwell that would be working with young people and adults in the community when they were not well enough to attend their out-patient appointment. They would also be supporting lower level services, ensuring everybody was aware of the pathways into specialist eating disorder service.

·      The service was taking part in the national FREED research project, which was looking into early intervention for young adults.

·      Young Adult Transition 18-25 service was being developed with adult mental health colleagues. The service would focus on those young adults who did not meet the threshold for adult mental health support.

·      Mental Health Support Teams in schools was a nationally led initiative.

·      The Children and Young People Intensive Support Team was supported those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

·      The tier four delayed discharge programme supported those with eating disorders and supported keeping young people at home or working with them in an acute setting.

·      The Barnardo’s Keyworkers Pilot would support young people who could not be discharged due to ongoing social circumstances with Barnardo’s acting as a conduit to address the social needs of those young people.

·      There was now a Single Point of Access lead.

·      Patients now had the choice of remote or face to face support, however patients with complex mental health needs and eating disorders were seen face to face..

·      Work was underway to embed the I Thrive Model, supporting young people to thrive and move away from the medical model, offering them a helping hand in everyday language.

·      A number of services were being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/23

To consider and comment on the Early Help provision in Sandwell and its impact on those who access the service.

The Board received an overview of Early Help provision in Sandwell. Early Help delivered a range of early interventions for children, young people and families at their earliest point of need.

Early Help was a key focus in Sandwell with the Grant Thornton Review, LGA Peer Challenge Report and feedback from Ofsted 2022 all highlighting how important it was to get the provision right.

Early Help provision was made up of a range of partners including the Council, Sandwell Children’s Trust, voluntary sector, Police and Health Services focused on preventing escalation of problems and reducing the number of children and young people requiring statutory services. Early Help was able to be flexible in its approach, which was not always the case with statutory services. The Sandwell Early Help Strategy, which had been launched in February 2022, brought together statutory guidance and best practice, embedding partnership working across all approaches.

The Early Help Partnership oversaw the implementation of the Early Help Strategy and reported in to the Children and Families Strategic Partnership. The Sandwell Children’s Safeguarding Partnership also received regular updates and assurances on the progress against the Strategy.

The Board noted the universal services that could be accessed by all, and the progression path to statutory services.

To deliver the multi-agency Early Help provision, there were a number of tools:

·      Early Help Assessment – an assessment completed with families to identify needs and develop a support plan.

·      Early Help Module – an electronic system to record all multi-agency intervention.

·      Team Around the Family – a multi-agency meeting attended by the child and family to develop and monitor the support plan.

·      Lead Professional Role –the main point of contact for families receiving support.

Members noted a number of changes that had been made over the last few years, including the appointment of three dedicated police officers by West Midlands Police to work across schools in Sandwell including  Pupil Referral Units.  

(Councillor Preece left the meeting.)

The impact of these changes had been demonstrated with:-

·      a 3% increase in  multi-agency Early Help led by agencies across the partnership since July 2022 with a further 2% increase since November 2022.

·       a 20% increase in the number of families accessing the Strengthening Families Service that would suggest more families were being supported in the Early Help arena.

·      there were 400 fewer children open to social care compared to 2021;

·      demand for Early Help training had increased.

The areas for further development within Early Help were noted as:

·      the ongoing promotion of the Strategy and the messaging around Early Help to ensure commitment and engagement from all partners;

·      the Early Help data dashboard to be used to proactively challenge partners across partnership;

·      further reduction in the amount of Multi Agency Request Forms received by Sandwell Children’s Trust that resulted in no statutory social work intervention;

·      continued cultural change across the partnership to ensure a focus on prevention it at every level.

(Councillor Mayo left the meeting.)

Following comments and questions from members of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/23

Consideration of the final draft report and recommendations to the Executive.

The Board considered the draft report and recommendations following its review into the Impact of Lockdown on Children and Families, which had commenced in 2021/22.

The working group had investigated several topics including impact of the lockdown on exam results, child poverty and social care. Members each had a specific work-stream on which to focus and were able to interview relevant officers and key witnesses to help their research.

The Director of Children and Education had been consulted on, the recommendations and was supportive of them.

(Councillors Chambers, Dunn and W Gill left the meeting.)

The gap in educational achievement had widened for our most disadvantaged children and it was hoped that the recommendations would help to address this.

Resolved :-

(1) that the Chair of the Thrive Board presents a report to the scrutiny Board outlining its work and the impact of, in relation to the impact of the pandemic on students’ mental health and well-being;

(2) that representatives of the SEND Strategic Board/SEND Operational Board report to the Board on the services and support provided to SEND children and the impact, including attainment data;

(3) that the Director of Children and Education reports to the Board on the progress and outcomes of the national review into the covid-19 response in so much as it relates to education and children’s services;

(4) that, the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board is requested to undertake a review and monitors the recovery strategy of mental health services within the Borough;

(5) that the Chair of the Children’s Services and Education Scrutiny Board writes to the Sandwell Children’s Trust to request details of its plans to address the challenges of recruitment and retention of social workers;

(6) that the Chair of the Children’s Services and Education Scrutiny Board writes to the Chair of the Corporate Parenting Board.to request details of their plans to address the challenges faced by children in care and care leavers and to understand how the pandemic has impacted them and what has been done to address this;

(7) that the Director of Children and Education reports to the Board, providing an update on the Councils’ Covid-19 Recovery Plan, in as much as it relates to education and children’s services

(8) that the following recommendations are submitted to the Cabinet:-

a)            that the Director of Children and Education works co-operatively with the Department for Education to improve the education standards of children and young people, utilising Education Investment Area funding;

b)            that the Director of Children and Education is proactive in working with schools in the area to consider the creation or adoption of multi-academy trusts;

c)             that the Director of Children and Education is proactive in considering suitable locations in the Borough for specialist sixth-form free schools which are funded by central government;

d)            that the Council joins the Department for Education’s 1-2-1 attendance mentoring pilot to monitor issues in schools across the Borough;

e)            that, the Cabinet Member for Children and Education pledges to improve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/23

Standing item to consider and note progress on implementation of actions and recommendations.

The Board noted progress on actions and recommendations from previous meetings.

Standing item to consider the Children’s Services and Education Work Programme and future items on the Forward Plan.

The Board noted the Cabinet Forward Plan and its Work Programme for 2022/23.