Elizabeth Hartley, Assistant Director Early Help and Prevention, introduced the report of the Director of Children, Family and Education that provided the Children, Young People and Education Committee with an overview of the developing early help model. It provided details of insight work undertaken in the first year of the Community Matters initiative, described the emerging model and its key components, relationship to the wider children’s services system and outlined the year two work plan and pilot activity.  Appendix 1 to the report contained the Year 1 Discovery Work Plan, Appendix 2 - Why Community Matters report, Appendix 3 - Next Steps summary and Appendix 4 - Elements of the Early Help Model. 

The report informed that the early help model sought to contribute to the following priorities of Wirral Council’s Plan 2025:

• Working for brighter futures for children, young people and their families by breaking the cycle of poor outcomes and raising the aspirations of every child in Wirral.

• Working for safe and pleasant communities where residents feel safe, and where they want to live and raise their families.

The Assistant Director Early Help and Prevention highlighted the most important piece of learning from Year 1 had been that stakeholders perceive early help as ‘a service’, something that was ‘accessed’ and ‘delivered to’ children and families, rather than something that we can all do. Stakeholders perceived early help as sitting in the third ring, Support Services Network. It was the intention of the new model to push early help into the inner rings of Child and Family Network and Community Network, through a model based on influencing behaviour change.

Members questioned the Assistant Director Early Help and Prevention on a number of matters highlighted in her report. The Assistant Director responded accordingly.

Moved by Councillor Tom Usher and formally seconded by the Chair, it was:

RESOLVED – That

1)  the progress made since January 2019, through the Community Matters initiative, to develop an innovative new early help model be noted; and

2)  the approach and ongoing developmental work and pilot activity be supported.