Agenda item

[Andrew Wolverson, Head of Service Children's Strategy and Partnership, to present report]

Andrew Wolverson, Head of Service Children’s Strategy and Partnership gave an overview of the Yo! Summer Festival Programme.  The programme of activities follows on from previous programmes aimed families and young people in Wolverhampton. The Head of Service outlined the four objectives of the programme and gave an analysis of the data under each in terms of level of community engagement and the number of events.

The Head of Service commented that the Council is committed to providing activities and opportunities for children and young people and to create opportunities for local organisations to benefit from the funding available.  The Head of Service added that over 18,000 young people and parents enjoyed activities during the programme.

The Head of Service commented on the community and leisure offer to vulnerable children and their families during the programme of activities. The Head of Service added that 5000 children took up the offer of six-week programme of activities which was co-ordinated and supported by members of Voice for Parents.  The Voice for Parents co-ordinated the SEND offer for the programme and commissioned over 15 organisations.

The scheme was funded by DFE and aimed at children in receipt of free school meals to allow them to access an activity, which also included an offer of a meal. To avoid being stigmatised when attending events, a holiday activity card was issued and piloted to allow people to register for events. The Head of Service commented that the scheme worked well and was developed by ICT. The card was scanned 2,800 times during the programme. In total, 21 local organisations across the city were commissioned to deliver activities as part of the holiday programme.

The Head of Service commented on the efforts from across the Council to support the delivery of the summer programme, which cover over £700,000 to deliver.

The Head of Service commented on the extra wider support provided for disadvantaged families and children who were particularly affected by the impact of Covid pandemic. The project was funded by over £900,000 from the Government’s Covid Support Grant. The Head of Service gave a breakdown of how the money was spent on different projects and activities between June 2021 and September 2021. 

The Head of Service commented on the success of the Beat the Street scheme and that 3 out 4 players who took part were from the most deprived communities.

The Head of Service commented on positive comments from children during the programme and an analysis of internet traffic when people have used the Yo! Programme website. There are plans to further develop the site to become the main source for information about sources of help and advice on different aspects of family life.

The Head of Service commented on plans to build of the success of the summer programme and outlined plans for the October 2021 half term school holiday.  The service has received 20 applications from organisations to provide activities in the holiday and 17 have since been granted funding by members of YES Board who assessed them.

The Head of Service outlined plans for the service and highlighted plans to offer continued support for local foodbanks and community cafes. £250,000 has been allocated by the Council for the programme titled No Child Goes Hungry.

The Chair thanked the Head of Service for a positive report and specifically the work done to support deprived communities across the City. The members of the panel were invited to comment and ask questions on the presentation and report.

The panel queried if judging by the photographs of the events that the programme was aimed at the age range of five to 13 years for cost savings reasons and expressed concern about how needs of older young people were met during the holiday programme.

The Head of Service commented that the service has worked hard to offer a wide programme of activities across a range of age groups and added that many of the providers involved in the summer programme offered specific services and activities to a younger age profile. The Head of Service reassured the panel that providers have been asked to offer some activities for older children as part of the overall October half term school holiday programme and accepted that more work is needed to give secondary age children more activities.

The panel queried the reference in the presentation to budget of £1.4 million used to fund the summer programme and wanted clarification in the report of £700,000 from the DFE for holiday activities and £900,000 funding from the Covid Support Grant meant that £200,000 was unspent from the total of £1.6 million.

The Head of Service confirmed that £1.4 million of the budget had been spent on the summer activities programme. Emma Bennett, Executive Director for Families, added that money from Covid Support Grant is a ring-fenced fund that was specifically targeted at those families, individual households in financial hardship or fuel poverty.  The grant fund was also used to cover the cost of providing meals alongside the holiday activities programme and supporting the work of the foodbanks and community cafes.

The panel queried the future sustainability of the programme at a time of increasing need for services in the community. The panel were advised that an extra £2.6 million grant of Government funding to support the work had recently been awarded from the Household Support Fund, which was previously called the Covid Support Grant.  The money must be spent by the end of March 2022. 

The Executive Director added that there was no commitment from Government to continue funding this work after March 2022. However, there are discussions within the Council about developing a strategy to continue supporting residents in financial hardship. The Executive Director of Families reassured the panel of the Council’s commitment to providing support activities, such as targeted and detached youth work in the future.

The panel queried the lack of information in the report about the range of activities offered analysed by ward and asked for more details.

The Head of Service commented on the difficulties in getting an accurate data from all providers on the young people they have worked with during the summer programme and reassured the panel that work is ongoing to collate details about other activities across the City to get a more accurate picture. The Head of Service stated that he was confident that there was a good range of activities across the wards delivered as part of the summer programme.

The Head of Service encouraged Cllrs to get involved in developing the programme of activities for the October school holiday and suggested that ward funds could be used to support children and families in their area.  In addition, Cllrs were encouraged to refer local groups known to them to contact the service so they can be added to the programme to get publicity and to apply for funds available to support their activities.

The Head of Service commented that the service is working with providers to get a better spread of activities across the City. Cllr Beverley Momenabadi, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, endorsed the plea from the Head of Service about Cllrs getting involved in the programme of activities by encouraging organisations known to them to contact the service so families and children can get better access to support and leisure activities across the whole City.

The panel queried the levels of participation by young people and families in the activities estimated to be below 50 percent on average and the sale of tickets to events linked to the Relight Festival and asked what more could be done to increase numbers of people attending.

The Head of Service commented that a lot of work was done to increase the participation levels in recognition of the low numbers attending large scale events which may have been due to concerns among families about Covid 19.

The uncertainty about the restrictions due to Covid 19 meant that the service had to plan events both for a virtual programme and a face-to-face programme depending on the situation at the time, which was a challenge The Head of Service added that the service has learnt from this experience and the issues highlighted will be considered when planning future events.

The panel queried the profile of the people who took part in the Beat the Streets initiative and the reasons for the data showing an under representation of males and if there were any specific plans to get more males involved in the future. The Head of Service commented that the Beat the Streets initiative is part of an overall strategy from colleagues in public health to get communities more fit and active, and to offer activities that may be attractive to males. The service will be looking at different ideas for improving participation and to increase take up levels among specific groups.

The panel queried if the Council was committed to continue working with members of Voice for Parents in the future when planning events and activities. The Head of Service confirmed that the Voice for Parents is a strategic partner and will continue to be involved in the co-production and co-ordination of the programme of activities in the future.

The panel discussed the opportunity to still use ward funds as the understanding that the deadline was 30 September 2021. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People advised the panel that it was still possible to make a funding application.

The panel expressed concern of reports from parents complaining about using the Yo programme website and in some situations being timed out when trying to access information. The panel suggested changes were needed to make it more user friendly for the public.

The Head of Service advised the panel that work had been done to improve the website and welcomed feedback from members of any specific areas that are not working well, which will help to address the concerns raised and make the service better in the future.

The Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Work commented on a response to an earlier question about the involvement of Voice for Parents in planning activities and events in the summer holiday programme. The Cabinet Member advised the panel that there are fortnightly meetings with members of the group to provide them with the opportunity to share concerns directly and in developing the SEND offer during the summer programme of activities. The panel thanked the Cabinet member for the comments.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People advised the panel that there was still time for panel members to contact the service about local providers within their ward that can be added to the programme for half term holiday activities programme. The panel were advised to contact the Cabinet Member to discuss the matter further.

The panel thanked the Head of Service for the presentation. The panel asked for the panel comments on the report to be considered in the development of future holiday activities programme.

Resolved:

• The panel agreed to note the report.
• The Head of Service to consider the comments of panel about the findings from the review of the Yo! Summer Festival programme.
• The Head of Service to update the panel on progress of future activities aimed at supporting vulnerable children and families.