With the concurrence of the Chairman under Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, this item is included on the agenda to ensure that the Social Care Policy Review Committee is apprised of the work of the CYPSP.

1 Summary

1.1 This report seeks to inform Members about the function and business of the Hampshire Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership, setting developments in the national and local contexts.

2 Introduction

2.1 The Hampshire Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) was established in July 2003 in response to Government expectations that local authorities with social services responsibilities should put in place arrangements to oversee and coordinate at a senior level the work of the wide range of statutory and voluntary agencies involved in ensuring the welfare of children and young people.

2.2 The terms of reference and membership of the Hampshire CYPSP are described in Appendices 1 and 2.

2.3 The CYPSP plays a key role in trying to ensure at a local level, an understanding of the Government agenda in respect of children and young people at risk of harm or social exclusion and to promote developments at a local level which will address these requirements and deliver better outcomes. To this end priority will be given to those cross-cutting or common issues which need to be coordinated across organisations in order to achieve maximum effect; it is not intended to replace or question those services which individual organisations quite properly need to provide as part of their pathfinder duties and responsibilities.

3 Background

3.1 The Children and Young People's Unit (CYPU) was formed by the Government in 2000 to coordinate activities across the range of Government departments with responsibilities for children's services.

3.2 The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the then Minister for Young People and Secretary of State for Education and Skills published a "Our Vision for all Children and Young People" which identified 9 key aspirations, summarised as, "Every child and young person deserves the best possible start in life, to be brought up in a safe, happy and secure environment, to be consulted, listened to and heard, to be supported as they develop into adulthood and maturity, and to be given every opportunity to achieve their full potential."

3.3 A consultation document `Building a Strategy for Children and Young People' was published in which the Government announced its intention to "develop an overarching strategy covering all services for children and young people" to be published in the summer of 2002.

3.4 Already underway was the Government's cross-cutting review on children at risk which, together with the new strategy, was intended to inform investment over the three years from 2002/3 for all public services for children.

John Denham the then Minister for Young People wrote to local authorities in 2002 setting out the Government's formal expectations regarding the formulation of a local Preventative Strategy for 0-19's, recommending that a CYPSP be set up in order to deliver on this and other requirements.

Subsequently there were delays by Government in publication, brought about partly by the wish to take account of the findings of Lord Laming's Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié.

The Government subsequently set out its plans for all aspects of children's welfare services in the Green Paper, `Every Child Matters' published in September 2003, and formalised in the Children Bill 2004 published in March.

3.5 Over the last three years the Government introduced significant new development programmes, accompanied by requirements that local authorities put in place new services. These initiatives have included the SureStart and Children's Centres programmes, the Children's Fund for 5-13's, Connexions for the 13-19's, the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, Pathfinder Children's Trusts and the Information Sharing and Assessment Strategy (formally Identification, Referral and Tracking - IRT).

These programmes have come with a variety of funding arrangements, timescales and conditions from various Government departments. A common feature is rigorous monitoring and evaluation which contribute to the `Star Rating' of the Social Services Department and in turn the County Council's Comprehensive Performance Assessment grading.

4 The Hampshire Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership

4.1 Hampshire's CYPSP was established in July 2003. The Partnership has wide ranging representation from the key stakeholders, the statutory and voluntary sector agencies, users and carers. The County Council's commitment is demonstrated by the level of elected Member and senior officer representation. Three Executive Members sit on the CYPSP, with Councillor Mrs Felicity Hindson as chair, together with the Director of Social Services, and the County Education Officer.

4.2 A shadow CYPSP is being put in place which will ensure the direct contribution of children and young people and coordinate the work of the wide range of bodies already in place, as well as providing a focus for consultation and participation.

4.3 The CYPSP has developed a business and reporting schedule whereby all partner organisations share strategies and service plans, and seek commitment where necessary from partners in addressing common goals. Examples include the Early Education and Childcare Unit business plan, the Children's Fund, the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and the Information Sharing and Assessment programme.

4.4 The results of the monitoring and evaluation of services by central Government are reported to the CYPSP, and the CYPSP is used as a vehicle to comment on Government policy e.g. in respect of the Hampshire Children's Fund budget allocations where the strength of the Partnership influenced Government decisions to the benefit of Hampshire's children.

4.5 The CYPSP is in the process of determining the most effective strategic planning arrangements on a local basis, taking into account the key roles of District Councils, Primary Care Trusts, and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSP's).

4.6 The key role to be played by the CYPSP in respect of the Hampshire Strategic Partnership (HSP) and its recently published Community Plan, has been acknowledged. The CYPSP works closely with HSP, both in terms of ensuring that the views and interests of children, young people and their carers are represented, and is taking on work commissioned by the HSP.

4.7 The scrutiny of health services recently taken on by the County Council through its Health Review Committee has been embraced by the CYPSP in terms of work in relation to the health of Children Looked After (CLA), and the health of school age children.

4.8 Progress on improvements in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) through the award of Pathfinder Children's Trust status to Hampshire by the Government is reported regularly to the CYPSP.

4.9 The CYPSP is being used as a key reference group in terms of the developments underway in response to the Green Paper `Every Child Matters' and the Children Bill; the Chief Executive of the County Council Peter Robertson addressed the CYPSP on 30 June following the report to Cabinet on Children's Services on 28 June.

5 Conclusion

5.1 Hampshire being a large County with diverse character and needs, presents significant challenges in terms of achieving an effective overarching strategic body for Children's Services. By the same token the need for such arrangements is compelling, both in terms of the nature of Hampshire, and the complex and demanding children's welfare development agenda set by the Government over recent years, underpinned by the Green Paper `Every Child Matters' and the Children Bill.

6 Recommendations

1. That the Social Care Policy Review Committee notes the report on the role and business of the Hampshire Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The Following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt of confidential information as defined in the Act.

None

Appendix 1

Terms of Reference for Partnership (Children's Leads ) group.

Membership:

Kate Hart - County Manager Children & Families (Operational) - SSD

Graham Wright - County Manager Children & Families (Strategy)-SSD

Natalie Trentham - County Manager Partnership & Performance - SSD

Viv West - Project Manager Local Preventative Strategy - SSD

Fliss Dickenson -

Jenny Templeman

Sue Sylvester

Tom Key

Jane Nind

Tina Tompkins

Sally Pastellas

Clare Messenger

Helen Clanchy - Partnership & Social Care Manager - SSD/PCT

Each agency may appoint a deputy to attend in the absence of the nominated member.

Meeting frequency:

5 weekly cycle

Chairing and administration of meetings will be done by each agency on a 3 monthly basis.

Purpose of the group

Members of the group will work together to act as a scrutiny panel, on behalf of the CYPSP, for joint Health/Education/Social Services developments which will have a direct impact on staff and service delivery.

The function of the group will be to look at joint strategic proposals for Children's services, in order to consider the operational impact taking into account resources, geography, internal and external factors.

The group will promote wherever possible integration of services, good practice, pooling of knowledge, expertise and resources in order to ensure the best outcomes for children, young people and their families.

All new developments must be part of the overarching strategic framework agreed by the CYPSP, which will enable the effective delivery of a range of services for children and young people who may be at risk of social exclusion.

PRINCIPLES

· Children, young people and their families/carers must be enabled to participate in the design, development and delivery of services

· Partnership working must be open, transparent and accessible and where possible streamlined to prevent duplication of effort

· Partnership working means fully engaging with and supporting voluntary and community organisations to enable them to play an active part in developing preventative services.

KEY OBJECTIVES

· To facilitate the delivery of a local preventative strategy (to include the participation and information sharing and assessment strategy) for children and young people, 0 - 19 yrs.

· To facilitate the development and implementation of the NSF for Children

· To facilitate the development and implementation of the SEN guidelines.

· To ensure that an overview is taken of new developments for vulnerable children and young people, in the context of multi partnership working and local delivery

· To share information and knowledge that will improve practice, service delivery and outcomes

The Key Objectives will be achieved by :-

1. Supporting local partnership groups to enable the delivery of preventative services.

2. Ensuring local delivery of the NSF for Children

3. Ensuring that joint developments, which have a direct correlation to the multi partnership agenda are reported to Partnership (Children's Leads) group

4. Ensuring that service development is targeted towards individuals, groups and communities which have been clearly identified as being most in need according to statistical analysis and research.

5. Ensuring that developmental proposals have clear resource implications, timescales and desired outcomes.

OUTCOMES

Through meeting the key objectives the group will enable children and young people to :-

¬ Be healthy: enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy lifestyle

¬ Stay safe: being protected from harm and neglect

¬ Enjoy and achieve: getting the most out of life and developing skills for adulthood

¬ Make a positive contribution: being involved with the community and society and not engaging in anti-social or offending behaviour

¬ Enjoy economic well-being: not being prevented by economic disadvantage from achieving their full potential in life.

Reference(s);- The Green Paper "Every Child Matters"; The Children Bill 2004;Working To-gether; Interim guidance to Chief Executives on Local Preventative Strategy; Children's Fund; Local Development Plans (Health); LEA Education Development Plan; Early Years Childcare and Development Plan; Connexions Business Plan, Teenage Pregnancy Strategy.

Appendix 2

CYPSP