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  • Agenda item
  • Agenda item

    Mr Roger Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education), Danielle Bride (Assistant Director (North and West Kent) for Adolescent Services, Open Access and Head of Youth Offending) and Louise Fisher (Head of Service (0-25), Children, Young People and Education)

    Minutes:

    Dan Bride (Assistant Director for Adolescent Services, Open Access and Head of Youth Offending), Louise Fisher (Head of Service (0-25), Children Young People and Education - South), and Roger Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) KCC were in attendance for this item

     

    (1)  Mr Gough welcomed the focus of the Select Committee, which not only reflected the national picture but also consistent with the reshaping of in-house services that had been underway. The Adolescents, Open Access and PIAS Service in Kent County Council had been underway for a few months, and had seen the merger of Youth Services, Alternative Provision, Attendance and Behaviour, Inclusion Services and Youth Justice. He spoke of successful projects in Kent, such as the “Supporting Families against Youth Crime” which would see the implementation of a new toolkit at the end of a two year grant funded project. Overall, he felt that KCC had not seen the large spike in knife crime that other areas had but agreed the Council could not be complacent and would continue to work to safeguard young people.

     

    (2)  The Committee questioned the reasons behind young people committing knife crime. Mr Gough referred Members to the earlier presentation and recognised that young people could be both the victim and perpetrator of knife crime. There were multiple risk factors, and the starting point could often be traced back to a significant and prolonged childhood trauma. Ms Fisher referred to the Adolescents, Open Access and PIAS Service and how part of their remit was to understand those characteristics and support those young people that may be vulnerable to becoming an offender.

     

    (3)  In response to a question about partnership working, Ms Bride spoke to the importance and success of multi-agency panels where individual cases of vulnerable young people were discussed. The partnership was instrumental in allowing agencies to share information, along with successful projects. However, the performance of those panels was not consistent across Kent, so the processes were under review.

     

    (4)  Ms Fisher expanded that partnership working involved schools as well. A purely preventative model for reducing knife crime involved working with schools and academies, such as inclusion in PHSE classes. That partnership was a work in progress due to the sheer number of schools in Kent and the changing relationships due to the increase in the number of academies.

     

    (5)  Building on the importance of school attendance, a Member questioned the link between school exclusions and criminality, and the extent to which a restriction in the Local Authority’s powers in that area had an impact. Mr Gough agreed that in his opinion, the Council should have more powers in relation to school exclusions. However, there had been improvement in the quality of the information shared by schools, and the new Ofsted framework also had a focus on off-rolling.

     

    (6)  Asked about the reduction in the Youth Services budget over recent years, Mr Gough did not accept that the service was failing. He accepted it had reduced but argued it had received greater protection than similar services in other counties. Lessons had been learnt over the years and this had been used to improve the service offer; the overall approach had been to sustain capacity.

     

    (7)  In response to a question about the impact of austerity on increasing wider criminality, Mr Gough acknowledged that would have played a part, but considered that other areas, such as housing costs and labour market changes, would also have contributed. He recognised the pressure placed on young people.

     

    (8)  A Member noted the increasing difficulty in finding community role models, that young people could look up to and aspire to be.

     

    (9)  Questioned why knife offences had seen an increase in recent years, Ms Fisher explained that Serious Organised Crime Groups prayed on young people and their ability to use County Lines. Those groups were likely to use violence against the vulnerable young people, which could in turn result in those young people using violence against others. The issues of child exploitation and child trafficking were relatively new, as were the dynamics of social media and instant communications.

     

    (10)               The Chair thanked the officers and Cabinet Member for attending the Select Committee and commended them for their work around youth offending.

     

    (11)               Ms Bride concluded by saying the following were key:

     

    ·         holistic public health approach;

    ·         building on existing partnerships;

    ·         a focus on preventative and early-intervention strategies;

    ·         improving upon what was already working. 

     

    Supporting documents: