To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Members for Specialist Children’s Services and Adult Social Care and Public Health, the Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing and the Director of Public Health.
Minutes:
1. Mr P J Oakford, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services, gave a verbal update on the following issues:
The Children’s Commission Takeover Challenge had taken place on 25 November, and 8 young people had attended, which included a mixture of care leavers and young people from schools. There had been a good agenda, and the participants had been sent papers in advance. They were given an opportunity to quiz officers on accommodation, fostering, and performance reports. It had been a useful day, and it had been agreed it should be repeated on an informal basis.
Tunbridge Wells Social Workers – On 13 December, he had spent the day with Social Workers for the Tunbridge Wells district. He would be visiting Social Workers in each district over a period of time.
Children’s Commissioner – Following the letter sent to the Children’s Commissioner focussing on other local authorities placing their children in care within Kent, a meeting had been held with the Children’s Commissioners deputy, and Kent Police. A lot of material had been discussed, and a follow up note had since been received stating that the concerns raised would be built into the Children’s Commissioners business plan.
2. In response to questions from members, Mr Oakford made comments including the following:
· Over 250 young people arriving in Kent had been dispersed. Since July, all young people arriving had been dispersed. There had been fewer arrivals, resulting in the closure of one of the reception centres. The implementation of the dispersal programme was evidence that Kent had lobbied, and the Government had listened to the concerns raised.
3. Mr A Ireland, Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, then gave a verbal update on the following issues:
UASC – there was a diminishing number of UASC, and this was partly due to there being fewer new arrivals, due to the activity in Calais, but those who had arrived had been dealt with by the dispersal programme in a timely fashion. January saw the balance switch towards more care leavers over the age of 18. Funding discussions with the Home Office were ongoing, both for those aged over 18, and for Millbank Place, which was an integral part of the scheme.
Following the dispersal in France, assessments were being carried out. There had been a group of young people arriving before Christmas under the Dublin III legislation, who had been placed at Millbank. Only six of that group remained. Where family could not be located, the young people would become part of the national dispersal programme. At present, there were 13 young people at Millbank Holding Centre, which was far less than in 2015 when there had been around 120 young people.
OFSTED Inspection Position – The new Inspection Framework would be introduced in 2018. There were still 35 local authorities waiting for an inspection prior to this, and Kent was one of those. The Joint Targeted Inspection Programme continued, with themes around Domestic Violence and neglect. It was likely that there would be more notice of that inspection. The themes and focus were likely to change in March, and Kent may or may not be a recipient of this. The new Inspection Framework following the SIF looked quite different and could include potentially critical changes. The Committee would continue to be appraised of the situation.
Children’s and Social Work Bill – This had completed its transit through the House of Lords in November. Various amendments had been made to the bill, including a new social work regulator. It would be moving back through the House of Commons, and was due to conclude next week.
Peer review – Under the Regional Scheme, a peer review had taken place of the Adolescent support group. The scheme involved carrying out peer reviews across other authorities. Verbal feedback had been positive, and officers felt it was a worthwhile exercise.
4. Mr Ireland then responded to a question by a Committee Member, and stated that there was always a risk of UASC disappearing, but generally, the young people were unlikely to choose to be in Kent. If any of the young people were picked up by the Home Office, they would more likely be brought to Croydon.
5. Mr Gibbens, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, then gave a verbal update on the following:
Children’s Commissioner Takeover Challenge – This had taken place on 22 November, and a group of young people from the Canterbury Academy who were taking part in Youth Health Champion Training came to County Hall to take part in the takeover day in the Public Health Team. The young people had shown an interest in the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), and what KCC were doing with regard to the provision of Mental Health Services, including ‘Six Ways to Wellbeing’. The young people had a good understanding of mental health issues, which indicated good coverage of the topic in schools.
As an outcome of discussions during the day, the young people would be meeting with Canterbury CCG to discuss improving care for people of their age in Primary Care services.
Peer review – He had taken part in a Peer review in November, and invited Members to volunteer to take part in one. He stated that he would be happy to point Members to the relevant contact officers within the LGA.
A Committee Member then commented on the work of the Youth Advisory Group in Thanet, and stated they had received an award for their work towards drugs and alcohol abuse. The Member added that young people were best placed to deliver the message, rather than local authorities.
6. Mr Scott-Clark, Director of Public Health, then gave a verbal update on the following:
Drug and Alcohol Strategy – The Strategy would be developed with partners, led by the Kent Drugs and Alcohol Partnership. The Strategy covered resilience, identification, early help, recovery and supply.
Mental Health – The Prime Minister had covered a range of issues in announcements. The detail was unclear at this stage, but it was good that the parity of physical and mental health had been recognised.
7. Mr Scott-Clark, then responded to a question of a Committee Member and stated that in terms of providing adequate services for mental health, it was a case of making the best of the funding received. There were improvements that could be made such as getting providers to communicate with each other, and getting the system to work right from beginning to end. It was good that the focus was on the parity between physical health and mental health.
8. Mrs P Southern, Director Disabled Children Adult LD/MH, then responded to questions of the Committee Members and made points including the following:
· She could not give a figure for how much it would cost to provide adequate mental health services, but discussions were taking place around this.
· There was important developments in mental health, and the focus in Kent had moved away from totally focusing on crisis management to looking at prevention and recovery.
· Those aged 14-24 were the group to focus on as it’s the age when people will experience their first episode of mental health so it was crucial to have the right preventative services in place to support young people.
· KCC needed to work in conjunction with the health service, and more preventative work was needed.
The Chairman then suggested that a Members Briefing on mental health would be useful.
Mr Ireland then added that there was a need to recognise that KCC played a minor role in comparison to the NHS and had limited influence.
9. RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.