Contact: Kate Hart Tel: 01962 876261 Email: [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report reviews the work that is being done within the overall programme of prevention and risk management that was subject to a scrutiny report in 2005 and an update report in 2006.

1.2 In 2006 the Director of Children's Services reported on work being done in respect of key elements of the Change for Children Agenda. This report reflects progress that has been made in these areas, that progress being substantial.

1.3 The report also summarises the developments that have taken place in respect of the areas identified by Members as being of key importance, and again there has been good progress.

1.4 The JAR report confirmed that in its view services for children in respect of the Staying Safe outcome were good.

1.5 The agenda is not static and more requirements are being identified through government guidance and legislation and through local service improvement plans. Work will therefore be ongoing for some years, to reflect the wide ranging nature of the overall programme and the fact that safeguarding and risk management is a central and fundamental priority for all Children's Services staff.

2 Background

2.1 At its meeting on June 5, 2006, Hampshire's Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee received a report from the Director of Children's Services on "The Prevention and Management of Risk with Children and Young People". This in turn was a follow up to a substantive report submitted in April 2005, reporting on a scrutiny study.

2.2 These reports address in particular the second key outcome identified by the Every Child Matters programme and the Children Act 2004 - namely Staying Safe. The reports cover the strategic activity designed to protect the community's most vulnerable children.

2.3 The recommendations of the 2005 report were made in respect of

· Training for the whole of the children's workforce.

· Using data to plan and prioritise actions to reduce risk.

· Using data to inform first a needs analysis, and then planning activity with partners to prioritise work to achieve key outcomes.

2.4 The minutes of the authority's Policy and Resources Scrutiny and Select Committee held on 5 June 2006 record that Members endorsed the approach set out by the Director of Children's Services. Members also underlined the importance they attached to:-

· Early intervention services consistently available in all areas.

· Involvement of the voluntary sector.

· Partnership with schools.

· The relationship with private schools and children attending them.

· The need for seamless services as children progressed from Children's Services to Adult Services and the importance of effective transition.

2.5 The Committee resolved (in summary)

· That the report of the Director of Children's Services be welcomed and that his approach be endorsed.

· That further consideration of progress with the Change for Children programme be referred to the Children's Services Policy Review Committee (or its successor) for them to undertake regular monitoring through the Children and Young People's Plan.

2.6 This report is written in response to that decision.

3 Progress in Three Key Areas

3.1 The 2006 report addressed changes, plans and priorities under the main headings of

· The Change for Children Programme.

· Partnership and Governance.

· The Local Safeguarding Children Board.

· The Children and Young People's Plan.

All of these areas have seen significant further work, in respect of which the key points are outlined here.

3.2 The Change for Children Programme

The structural change which brought about the creation of the Children's Services Department in 2005 has been of major scope and complexity and work has been ongoing to address all the resultant issues within the overall structural framework which was agreed in 2005.

As forecast, the structure was fully in place by March 2007. One key element of the new arrangements is the Early Intervention Service and progress on this is addressed later in the report.

3.3 The Deputy Director for Children and Families on her appointment in April 2006 undertook a major review of all business processes in the light of the new structural arrangements. Some of this work has continued to inform other developments such as the Contact Centre (Hants direct) and information systems but the outcome is that staff are now far clearer about due business process.

3.4 Work is progressing to look at a whole system approach to workforce development. This includes the need to look at career pathways and also to align the roles, training, qualification and remuneration issues across the children's workforce. This will serve to achieve the maximum flexibility and effectiveness of the workforce but also needs to preserve specific roles, qualifications and expertise in those areas where it is necessary. It is thus a highly complex piece of work which will be ongoing over some years.

3.5 Some training and development has already taken place on an interagency basis and this will serve as a model for the future, supported by e-learning programmes to reach as wide a number of staff in all settings as is possible. Information sharing and the Common Assessment Framework have been the areas where this training has been done. It has recently been independently evaluated and this has been very positive.

3.6 For the coming year, the government requires the implementation of the Integrated Children's System (ICS), the Electronic Social Care Record (ESCR) and Contact Point (this was previously known as the Information Sharing Index). These developments relate to the way in which information is recorded, managed and accessed electronically. However, they are all designed fundamentally to support practice in a way that will promote good and timely information and thus help practitioners to manage risk more effectively.

4 Partnership and Governance

4.1 The arrangements reported on in 2006 included the standing conference chaired by the Lead Cabinet Member, and the Children and Young People's Partnership Management Board (CYPPMB) chaired by the Director of Children's Services. The work of these bodies is ongoing.

4.2 Additionally a number of partnership boards have been developed or established to further key work programmes, such as the Programme Board for the Early Intervention Service and the Partnership Board for Information Sharing and the implementation of Contact Point.

4.3 The new structural arrangements whereby local management is arranged on a District Council basis has facilitated working relationships with District Council colleagues and while there is still much to be done, strong foundations have been laid through joint meetings on which much can be built in future.

5 Local Safeguarding Children's Board

5.1 There has been significant activity in this area, with a key workshop of all partners having taken place in the Autumn of 2006 in order to agree and plan subsequent changes and priorities.

5.2 A new structure has been agreed which will include an Executive Board function chaired by the Director of Children's Services with an underpinning Business Group and a number of broader based committees to progress key functions within the priorities set by the Executive. The reporting arrangements are clearly established and provide a much more robust structure than was previously the case.

5.3 Three Area Multi Agency Safeguarding Fora are being established to ensure local engagement is given high priority among partners and also to facilitate effective communication with large numbers of staff.

5.4 The Safeguarding Unit has now been established within the Department and as part of this development, a LSCB Board Manager has been appointed who took up her post in September. This will help ensure that the work of the Board and communication to and from the Board is managed effectively.

6 The Children and Young People's Plan

6.1 Hampshire's CYPP was submitted in May 2006 after much consultation and joint work with partners. It includes a detailed needs analysis which in turn informed priorities for a period of three years (the life of the plan) but with an inbuilt review requirement.

6.2 Hampshire's Children's Services were subject to a Joint Annual Review Inspection in May 2007 (JAR). The plan with appropriate updates served as a key baseline for informing the JAR Inspectors of the County's jointly agreed priorities for action and the data that informed these decisions.

6.3 The JAR report and feedback were very positive about the work done by Hampshire Children's Services Department with its partners and the judgements made in respect of the separate areas so graded were all "good", or Grade 3 (out of 4). Some elements were judged to have outstanding aspects. The report included an analysis of work done in respect of the 5 outcomes and Hampshire's work in safeguarding children - Staying Safe - was judged to be "good".

6.4 Inevitably after a lengthy and detailed inspection, areas have been identified for further work. Most of these had already been identified by Children's Services staff in their preparation for the Inspection. However, these areas will be reflected as appropriate in the next review of the Children and Young People's Plan.

7 Update on Work Identified by Members in 2006

7.1 Early Intervention Services consistently available in all areas. A separate report is being presented to the Children's Services Select Committee on October 3, 2007, to detail the progress made in this area.

7.2 In summary the project team, who were fully in post by early 2007, are on track to have multi disciplinary Locality Teams up and running in each District by April 2008, as planned. The roll out has been a phased roll out so in some Districts these teams have already started work.

7.3 Through the use of the Common Assessment Framework, children's needs will be identified at an earlier stage and there will be provision within these teams to respond either directly or through support and co-ordination of other front line staff.

7.4 In time it is planned that these teams will become multi agency teams but the nature of this change will be managed through the Children's Partnership Management Board.

7.5 Involvement of the Voluntary Sector. This has been consistently addressed through their representation on all interagency Boards.

7.6 More recently a series of presentations to Voluntary Sector staff has been made (on an Area basis) to ensure they are fully appraised of developments and to answer any questions.

7.7 Partnership with Schools. This remains a high priority for all Children's Services staff, and school heads are invited to sit on a number of Boards and steering groups. It is to their credit and to the advantage of the Change for Children Programme that so many heads make the time to contribute in this way.

7.8 Similarly Children's Services staff attend Schools Conference, executive and forum meetings as invited or as appropriate to discuss the developments taking place through the Change for Children Programme, and to provide information as requested.

7.9 The relationship with private schools and children attending them. This remains a significant challenge in terms of communication and involvement because of the governance arrangements attaching to these schools.

7.10 This challenge will be highlighted through the implementation of Contact Point (the Information Sharing Index) where their involvement is crucial, as for any service working with children. However, this does mean that there will be a particular focus and requirement to ensure there is a clear and constructive relationship which will in turn have other positives for the implementation of the Change for Children Agenda.

7.11 The need for seamless services as children progressed from Children's Services to Adult Services and the importance of effective transition. The Children's Services Department fully embraces this policy principle, and has initiated a number of work streams to address it.

7.12 A particular focus has been, and continues to be, with regard to children with disabilities. A second focus is through the Care Leavers' Service as many looked after children have particular vulnerabilities which mean that they have difficulty in living independently as young adults without significant support.

7.13 Relationships between the two new Departments continue to be developed through joint planning and policy fora. On an individualised basis, care plans for young people in Children's Services are - at the appropriate stage - made jointly with or in consultation with Adults Services, to promote a seamless service.

8 Legal Implications

8.1 There are no particular legal implications arising from this report.

9 Finance Implications

9.1 There are no particular finance implications arising from this report.

10 Personnel Implications

10.1 There are no particular personnel implications arising from this report.

11 Impact Assessment

11.1 No further impact assessment has been undertaken in response of the overall programme for the development of Children's Services. The programme's objective remains the provision of services to a wider range of children according to need at an early stage, hence any impact will be a positive one.

12 Crime prevention issues

12.1 There are no particular crime prevention implications arising from this report.

13 Conclusion

13.1 The Change for Children Programme is a very wide ranging programme affecting all services for children, whoever provides them. It is a multifaceted programme with a number of interdependencies and connections. Progress therefore requires the close involvement of all partners in a range of planning and policy fora, with associated monitoring and review activity.

13.2 This report clarifies that much work has been done in the last year. Significant progress has been made and the finalisation of the changes to achieve the new Children's Department structure has freed up staff to advance the interagency agenda's.

13.3 The JAR report offers external verification of the fact that the work done is sound, the `direction of travel' highly appropriate, and the pace of change sound and sustainable.

13.4 Much of the work outlined in this report will be "work in progress" for some years to come, due to the broad and ambitious scope of the overall programme. While some elements may be completed, overall objectives will be the subject of ongoing work plans for some significant period.

Recommendations

1 There are no recommendations arising from this report.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have 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 or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None.