Minute of meeting of 30 September 2022
Perth and Kinross Council · 15 March 2023
Back to Learning and Families Committee — 15 March 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES’ PARTNERSHIP Minute of virtual meeting of the Children, Young People and Families Partnership held on Friday 30 September 2022 at 10.00am. Present: Councillor L Barrett Councillor M Frampton (substituting for Councillor J Rebbeck) S Devlin, Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) H Robertson, Head of Services for Children, Young People and Families, PKC, B Atkinson, Independent Chair of Child Protection Committee J Cunningham, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration T Leonard, Chief Inspector, Police Scotland L Sharkey, Chief Midwife, Women Children and Families Division, NHS Tayside In Attendance: P Davidson and D Williams (all PKC). Apologies: Councillors J Rebbeck and C Shiers; T Glenn, S Johnston, K Ogilvy, S Rodger (all PKC). H Robertson in the Chair 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE H Robertson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies for absence were submitted and noted as above. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest in terms of the relevant Codes of Conduct. 3. MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minute of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Families Partnership 4 March 2022 was submitted and noted as a correct record. 4. MATTERS ARISING There were no matters arising from the minute of the previous meeting.
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S DEVLIN ENTERED THE MEETING DURING CONSIDERATION OF THE FOLLOWING ITEM, AND TOOK THE CHAIR FOLLOWING CONSIDERATION OF THE ITEM. 5. PERTH AND KINROSS CHILD PROTECTION COMMITTEE BUSINESS ACTIVITY REPORT SINCE 17 JUNE 2022 There was submitted a report by the Independent Chair, Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee, (G/22/152) providing a summary of the key business activities of the Child Protection Committee since the last written update was submitted to the Partnership on 17 June 2022. B Atkinson advised members that, since the previous meeting of the Partnership, there had been a refresh of the Child Protection Committee website. B Atkinson also advised that, with an inspection of the Child Protection Committee expected next year, there was a focus being put upon self- evaluation, with a large improvement agenda, and there was also work being undertaken to see what work could be jointly done between the Child Protection Committee and the Adult Protection Committee. He also advised that there had not been a rise in the work of the Child Protection Committee, and there had been a fall in Case Conferences. H Robertson advised that inter-agency referral discussions were not being recorded in the way that they should be, and this would be reflected in the audit. B Atkinson advised members that there had not been as much multi- agency work as usual, due to the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. B Atkinson advised members that Tayside improvement work was continuing. The Partnership: (i) Noted the information as set out in report G/22/152. S Devlin, in the Chair 6. THE TAYSIDE PLAN FOR CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES (2021-23) There was submitted a report by the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services), (G/22/153) providing an update on the continued commitment to joint working with the Tayside Regional Improvement Collaborative to deliver on shared objectives in a single Children’s Services Plan (CSP) for 2021-2023. The report highlights improvements against headline actions within Perth and Kinross (P&K) and the full detail of actions from all three local authorities, and the statutory partners in NHS Tayside and Police Scotland, is contained within the annual update (Appendix 1).
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S Devlin advised members that the Plan only covered two years, as it was decided to continue with the initial plan in order to see the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. H Robertson advised that this plan was unique in Scotland, as it is the only joint plan between local authorities. H Robertson advised that there was both advantages and challenges in the delivery and local implementation of a regional plan. H Robertson further advised that there was a conscious effort to take in the voices of children, and also advised that a lot of objectives were achieved in spite of the challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic. In response to a query from Councillor Barrett, S Devlin advised that whilst the App regarding income maximisation was not yet ready, there was a lot of innovative partnership working taking place in this regard, and that help was being given to those entitled to it who might not have been otherwise aware. The Partnership: (ii) Noted progress on the agreed actions within report G/22/153. (iii) Requested the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) provided an annual progress report and revised Tayside Plan (2023- 2026) to the Learning and Families Committee in August 2023. 7. WHOLE FAMILY WELLBEING FUND There was submitted a report by the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services), (G/22/154) providing a summary of the aims of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) and includes the proposed initial spending plan to transform holistic, whole family support services across Perth and Kinross. The Children, Young People and Families Partnership hold collective responsibility to build transformational capacity which will help keep commitments to The Promise and help address child poverty. The spending plan to promote Whole Family Wellbeing will be reported to the Scottish Government on 3 October 2022 (Appendix 1) H Robertson highlighted this as an exciting initiative, and advised members that the Partnership hold responsibility for transformational change. H Robertson further stated that the timescale for the scale of change is ambitious, but added that the first year was valuable for planning. H Robertson advised that she was keen to bring in a range of colleagues, from areas such as Adult Services and Housing. She added that, as time goes on, the spend will become significant, and that the establishment of an Executive Sub-Group would be necessary as quarterly meetings of the Partnership may not be sufficient, with S Devlin adding that and Executive Sub-Group would provide leadership, and added that any decision taken by the Executive Sub-Group would come back to the wider Partnership. H Robertson advised that this would be based around early intervention, and that a portion of funding would be by direct grant to Third Sector Interface, which would require further work.
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The Partnership: (i) Reviewed the content of the report, the proposed actions and approved the initial spending plan. (ii) Agreed to the establishment of an Executive Sub-Group of the Partnership to approve future spending of the WFWF allocation. (iii) Requested the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) to provide an annual update on progress. 8. THEMATIC APPROACH TO PERFORMANCE REPORTING There was submitted a report by the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) (G/22/155) continuing the thematic reporting plan for performance and outcome information focused on children, young people and families. It sets out a suite of information around the second of the themes, namely Quality of Life. P Davidson advised members that there was a downward trend in terms of the Child Protection Register. T Leonard, Police Scotland, advised members that, with regards to youth offending, there had been a number of low-level disorder crimes and also a low-level of youths charged with multiple offences. He also advised that there had been a rise in first-time offenders, and work would take place in this regard. J Cunningham, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, advised that there had been a rise in referrals in Perth and Kinross directly from Police Scotland. S Devlin advised that this would be something which would be looked into. The Partnership: (i) Noted the information as set out in Report G/21/155. 9. ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS There was no other competent business. 10. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 2 December 2022 at 10.00am