Agenda item

[Emma  Bennett, Service Director Children and Young People, to present report  which sets out plans for a fundamental re-design of front line services that deliver early intervention and prevention.]

Cllr Val Gibson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, outlined the proposed changes detailed in the report for the redesign of the current early intervention and prevention model. The changes support the aim to reduce the number of children being taken into care.

Cllr Gibson explained the benefits of the planned changes and the expected outcomes.  Cllr Gibson explained the work done with external consultants, iMPOWER to support the project. Cllr Gibson explained that new structure will be aligned to the new planned multi-agency safeguarding hub.

Cllr Gibson explained that the new model will cover the age 0-18 – the age will be extended to 25 cover disabled young people. Cllr Gibson explained that the eight locality strengthening families hubs will be aligned with the existing learning communities. The sites for planned outreach work with families will be provided on an ad-hoc basis - rooms will be booked in local venues which are suitable for families.

Cllr Gibson explained that the planned changes will be supported by the transfer of commissioning responsibilities of health visiting and school nursing to Public Health within the local authority. Resources will be distributed on the basis of need.

Cllr Gibson referred to example case studies and also reductions in staffing numbers. A number of the posts were vacancies and there will be opportunities for re-deployment of staff in the new structure.

Cllr Gibson explained that £2.8 million of the savings £6.8 million will be reinvested in the service. Cllr Gibson explained that the local authority will always need to have provision to bring children into care where necessary. The proposed plan was aimed at reducing the number of Wolverhampton’s looked after children to a figure that is closer to that of neighbouring authorities. In line with statistical numbers a reduction in the number of looked after children to 500-600 will also lead to a corresponding reduction in the number of staff.

Emma Bennett, Service Director, Children and Young People, explained that the changes are timetabled to be implemented by April/ May 2016.  Service Director explained that the staff concerned had been briefed about the plans and they welcomed the changes. Service Director commented that staff queried in the briefing session if the proposed model would be sustainable for the future

Cllr Gibson explained that there is a requirement on the Council to provide universal services that the proposed changes support other targeted interventions such as Troubled Families aimed at improving and sharing best practice and also part of wider efforts to change the culture of the service.

The panel queried what a realistic number for the number of looked after children in Wolverhampton. Service Director explained that a figure of 500- 600 would bring the Council closer to the figure of comparator authorities. The looked after children figure for Wolverhampton is much higher when considering areas with higher levels of deprivation. The current number of looked after children is 697. 

Cllr Gibson explained that the changes are aimed at getting only the right children into care and that early intervention work will help to reduce the demand for specialist services.

The panel welcomed the report and supported the recommendations.

The panel queried the plan to align the eight locality-based design with the Schools Learning Communities. There was concern about the low level of attendance at meetings and queried the nature of the relationship with schools. Service Director explained that there has been a positive response to briefings from schools and the changes have been welcomed.

The panel queried the wording of paragraph 8.4 of the report and the specific reference to young person with disabilities and suggested that this should be changed to refer to a young person with special needs. Emma Bennett agreed to make the correction to the report

The panel queried the wording of paragraph 10.2 of the report and suggested a change to make it clear the original meaning and intention.

The panel queried paragraph 11.3 of the report and if there was clarity about the role of the School Readiness Officer and how the proposal relates to original idea of having a single point of contact. Service Director explained the change is part of work to provide a universal offer and targeted support.

The panel queried the reference in paragraph 14.7 of the report to the use of Valley Park Campus as outreach base as there was information that ownership of the site was in the process of being transferred. The agreement to change ownership is due to be signed in early December. Service Director explained that alternative location would be found if the site was not available for use as an outreach base.

The panel queried the proposed new staffing structure which suggested that the number of frontline workers would be reduced much more than the number of managers. The understanding of the current policy was that savings would be achieved through reductions in backroom staff, while protecting front line staff numbers.

Service Director explained that the table detailed in Appendix 1 did not reflect the reality of the impact of the planned changes on the numbers of managers compared to the number of frontline staff and accepted that the information will be changed to make it clearer. The situation is complicated by the some current roles being reclassified to reflect changes in post holder responsibilities.

Emmerson Morris queried how the plans will affect the support that young people receive in the future. Service Director explained that the changes would help young people get a more targeted response.  Key workers will work with the whole family and there would be an increase in intensive flexible support when there is a crisis. Service Director outlined the type of crisis support available to young people and the level of support will increased if extra resources are needed.

Resolved:

The panel support the proposals for the children service re-design, subject to full consideration of the issues highlighted and suggested changes to the draft, as part of the formal consultation process.

The meeting closed at 18:43