Agenda item

Stuart Collins, Director of Integrated Childrens Services was in attendance for this item.

1) Mrs Chandler introduced the item, noting that the Task and Finish Group had done a lot of work, and that it had been reported in full in the agenda.  She offered her thanks to Ms Hamilton for chairing the group and thanked the officers who had supported it.

2) Ms Hamilton, as Chair of the Task and Finish Group, expressed her thanks to everyone involved.  A lot of work had taken place; the Group had considered a lot of information and had identified areas of strength, areas for development and areas for further exploration. She added that Start for Life programme was a pillar for integrated care.

3) Mr Collins introduced the report.

4) Further to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

• There was some further work to be done to investigate the reasons for the rise in number of EHCP requests for children under 5 years of age. There was evidence that some were as a result of the restrictions in place during the Covid 19 pandemic; for example, some children were experiencing speech and language challenges bought about from a lack of interaction with others.  It was expected that over time the number of EHPC requests would fall as the impact of the pandemic diminished.
• Some Members of the Task and Finish Group would have liked to have had the opportunity to comment on the report before it was bought before the Committee for consideration.
• The understanding and provision of appropriate services for a child at an early age could help avoid an escalation of care needs, and associated cost, as the child got older.
• The continuation of focus groups would be very valuable.  They would enable tracking of the situation though analysis of up-to-date data. 
• No parents or careers were invited to attend the Task and Finish Group sessions; although their voice was captured through the collation of feedback from 100’s of families.
• The offer of support for new parents, similar to the National Childbirth Trust service, was not specifically referenced in the report, but the provision of perinatal mental health support would form a key part of the Family Hub model and would link with GP networks.
• There was a significant variance between each district or brough in the number of Healthy Child Clinics on offer.  These clinics were run by Midwives and Health Visitors. 
• It would be good to consider an updated report in a years’ time to monitor progress against the baseline data that has been gathered.

5) RESOLVED to note the work of the Task and Finish Group.