Emma Dodd declared interest in item 8, as she was part of the commissioning process.

David Armstrong updated there will be a Fostering Inspection on 4^th August.  The Adoption Inspection went very well and scored four outcomes as Good and one area as Outstanding.  These are provisional gradings. 

  David Armstrong noted his thanks Councillor Sheila Clarke for her work Chairing the Board.

  David Armstrong also noted that as recommended at the previous meeting that the District Boards have now ceased.

  Councillor Pat Williams added that she found the Board very useful and hopes that all the work that has been done and lessons learned will be used elsewhere.  Julia Hassall noted that all young people who had been involved with the Board had been thanked formally for their valuable contributions.

  David Armstrong noted his thanks to those people involved in the EIG commissioning process over the last few weeks.

  Minutes agreed as a true record.

Councillor Sheila Clarke has been nominated as Vice Chair of the Board.

Iris Batman gave an overview of the Wirral CAMHS/Social Care Partnership, which consists of six teams delivering wide ranging support services to support children and young people. The service includes direct therapeutic intervention, adoption and foster support, training to social workers and contribution to care planning and reporting for court proceedings.

A new direction for the teams is to provide highly intensive support and structured intervention for those young people at risk of social exclusion. Iris noted that the partnership working between Integrated Services, Wirral LA and CWPT is unique across the Country.

  The recent OFSTED Safeguarding Inspection noted that the contribution by Health partnerships as Outstanding.

  Jane Owens requested information of numbers of children who use the service and examples of case studies. Hazel noted details were with the accompanying report which will be made available to Board members via the internet.

  David Armstrong thanked Iris and Hazel for their presentation.  He noted that some of the current rationalisation of office space by the council which may affect health colleagues around building would be managed well and people moved appropriately, to secure the current joint working arrangements.

  Councillor Ann McLachlan added her thanks to Iris and Hazel.  She noted the areas of good practice and integrated working.

  Caroline McKenna updated on the Government response to the Munro report which was released on 14^th July.

  Caroline outlined the following:-

§  Change in Initial and Core Assessments. 

§  Revision of OFSTED inspection framework in place by May 2012.

§  New suite of indicators by May 2012.

§  Principal Child and Family Social Worker in each LA from April 2012.

§  Chief Social Worker within Government Child and Adults by late 2012.

§  LSCB include a QA function by December 2011.

§  DCS and Lead Member remain statutory status but will be up-dated.

§  LSCB annual report now to be submitted to Chief Executive of LA and Leader of Council.

§  SCR OFSTED evaluation will cease.  SCIE pilots will continue.
Social Work reform subject to national development for 2012.

Julia Hassall added that the Social Work Reform Board has recently agreed a new professional capabilities /standards framework.

Elizabeth Hartley, LSCB Manager, updated that the Section 11 audit is underway.  The Section 11 audit is a process to ensure safeguarding arrangements are in place for agencies working with children.

Caroline McKenna also added that two Serious Case Reviews are currently out for evaluation.

Resolved the Board note the report.

Nancy Clarkson outlined the revision of the Memorandum of Understanding. Minimal changes have taken place, including removal of the reference to District Boards.  The Board were asked to consider the position and role of the Children’s Trust Board for the coming year.

Cllr. McLachlan put it to the Board that they continue with the current arrangements for a further year, with a view to look at development of the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) over the coming months.

  Fiona Johnstone added that the HWB will have a first meeting in September and will then meet quarterly; it will cover both children and adults.  Fiona added that a Children’s arm of the HWB would be key to delivering outcomes for children, and that could be the Children’s Trust Board.

  Pat Higgins noted that in the changing scope it would be wise to ensure that all parties are at the table, for example the Community Trust.

  Resolved: The Board continue for a further 12 months and continue to produce a one year Children and Young People’s Plan for 2012-13.

Maureen McDaid gave a presentation up-dating the latest position on the IEF Commissioning process.

  Evaluation

  -  Training for providers on how to complete tender application.

  -  Paperwork to be revised.

  Implementation

  -  Contracts from 1^st August.

  -  Advertising / Information available to public / professionals

  David Armstrong thanked Maureen for the presentation and hard work with the process.

  Val McGee asked how the long term impact of the EIG on outcomes for children be measured.  David noted that case studies are used and that the Joint Commissioning group will focus on this area of work.

  Bev Morgan noted that a report on the evaluation of the progress from the Voluntary, Community and Faith sector will go to Overview and Scrutiny.

  Councillor Ann McLachlan thanked Maureen McDaid.

  Resolved: The Board note the report.

  Julia Hassall presented the Staying Safe Group Annual Report, as Strategy Lead.  The priority areas for delivery have been refreshed for 2011-12 to include:

·  Vulnerable children, young people and families receive targeted, early intervention which meets their needs and improves their life chances;

·  There are improved outcomes for children in care and care leavers;

·  The are improved outcomes for children and young people in need of protection;

·  Children live in communities where they feel safe, and where harmful behaviour is actively addressed and reduced. 

  The Staying Safe group also feeds into the LSCB and is aligned to and informed by the work of the CICC and Corporate Parenting Group.

  Key recent achievements include:

·  “Good” grades were awarded for both Safeguarding and Looked After Children in the OFSETD announced inspection in January.

·  A Corporate Parenting Group has been established.

·  Children’s Social Care restructure is now implemented.

·  All virtual teams will be co-located by Autumn 2011.

·  More children with disabilities are receiving short breaks. More vulnerable children are receiving support through programmes delivered through Children’s Centres.

  Key issues include:

·  Challenge in economic climate causing greater hardship to some of the most disadvantaged children and families.

·  Budget pressures affecting all public sector services.

·  Delivering the changes in light of the Munro review.

·  Delivering the recommendations of the Social Work Reform Board.

·  Sustained high numbers of children requiring Local Authority Care.

  Councillor Pat Williams noted that despite the extra costs to the council, it was positive that children in need were identified and all children received the care services they required.

  With regard to the work supporting families as a whole unit, Val McGee noted that work is underway in health to identify and liaise with veterans and their families to ensure that they have all the extra support they require, with regard to the particular strains that they face. David noted that the Council are also working in this area to ensure that Council support is also provided.

  Councillor McLachlan thanked Julia for her report.

  Resolved: The Board note the report.

  Bev Morgan gave an overview of the Child Poverty event which took place on the 8^th June.  The meeting was well attended and the outcomes of the event will be used to inform the Child Poverty Strategy.

  A discussion took place about how the impact of pupil premium in schools would be measured.

  Councillor McLachlan noted that again early intervention is key to supporting families.

  David Armstrong updated that four branches have now been streamlined into three branches.  The Participation and Inclusion branch has been removed and the specialist functions provided by the branch have been moved into the three remaining branches. 

  Resolved: The Board note the report.

  Nancy Clarkson gave an overview of the HELP Survey.  The survey has been run to capture information previously collected from the National Tellus Survey.

  Response from Primary Schools was as in previous years.  However, completion from Secondary schools was very low, 25% of the response rate of previous years.  Feedback will be evaluated.

  Jane Owens commented on the numbers of skipped questions.  She asked whether the questions were written for appropriate age groups and were assurances given that answers were confidential. Nancy noted that questions had been written by National Foundation for Educational Research (NFeR) and had been tested. The same sets of questions were asked in previous TellUs surveys.

  Resolved: The Board note the report.