CHYP IN
Children and Young People In Newcastle
News for the voluntary and community sector
Welcome to CHYP IN winter issue
This issue includes items on the City Council budget; CHYP IN network; the new
Disclosure and Barring Service, safeguarding; and many resources.
This newsletter is also available on our website
www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk
Please tell us if you need this newsletter in a
different format and we will try to help you.
Call 0191 232 7445
Fax 0191 230 5640
Email ncvs@cvsnewcastle.org.uk
CHYP IN network
The CHYP IN open forum held in November was the last CHYP IN event attended by Jo
Colton, Voluntary Sector Liaison Officer before taking redundancy. We wish Jo well in
the future.
Recent CHYP IN network activity has included
 Workshop on homophobic bullying
 Progression Forum VCS steering group
 Collective/collaborative working group
 Action Learning Set on localism with NAVCA
Future sessions and workshops will include the Common Assessment Framework
(CAF), child poverty measures consultation, engaging and working with young people
from BME communities, new Safe Network Safeguarding standards, and the follow up of
issues raised in the homophobic bullying workshop. The next CHYP IN Open Forum will
include a workshop focusing on good practice in working with young people about
relationships and tackling the attitudes that domestic violence is an accepted part of life,
along with a focus on single gender work.
Making a response to the consultation on child poverty measures
29 January, 2.00pm to 3.30pm at Newcastle CVS, Higham House
CAF: improving practice workshop
14 February, 9.30am to 11.30am at Newcastle CVS, Higham House
Visit CHYP IN www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk
Fair choices for tough times
Newcastle City Council budget 2013 to 2016
Newcastle City Council (NCC) budget proposals are out for consultation until the
30th January. The proposals include cuts of £90 million by 2016 which is nearly a third of
the City Council budget. Proposals also include a reduction of 1,300 jobs including half
of senior management, moving all 16 office bases into three, and that most contact with
the public will be via digital media. The Council is legally required to set a one year
budget, and so the proposals for years two and three are indicative only.
Some of the proposals that most affect organisations working with children and young
people include:
Childrens social care: cuts £11.74 million

Ceasing all open access community play service, with staff redundancies and the
closure of play centres in Byker, Walker, Westgate Benwell and Scotswood and
Elswick; (year 1). No local authority holiday places for children with disabilities;
(year 2); £1,006,720

No NCC directly provided youth service (year 1). The Youth Service was refocused
from March 2012 to target vulnerable young people. A new function to monitor and
quality check commissioned services for young people will be developed, and
further youth services could be commissioned with £100,000 of the savings.
£597,000

Cheviot View, the short break unit for children with disabilities, is proposed to be
closed by March 2014 (year 2). Cheviot View is currently used by 57 children but
has a high unit cost compared to neighbouring local authority provision. It is also
expected that families with personal budgets will increasingly choose other short
break options, and that there will be increasing provision in the voluntary and
private sectors. £462,000

Sure Start budget cut of £1 million in year 1, and £4 million in year 3. This will
directly impact on health agencies and voluntary organisations, and end support
for nurseries, child minders and early years settings by 2015. By year 3, Sure Start
will no longer be citywide universal provision but targeted and restricted to priority
areas: Scotswood and Benwell, Elswick, Westgate, Byker, Walker, and Cowgate:
£5,000,000

Fewer looked after children by: fewer children coming into the system; increased
adoptions; and children turning 18 (there is a higher than proportionate number of
16 and 17 year olds). Including volunteers in the social care workforce: £3,685,000

Fewer family support staff in Initial Response Service, fewer social work staff, and
fewer safeguarding standards unit staff: £868,000
Services to schools: cuts include
 The employability and skills services (Connexions) funded by the council will
changes its criteria to target vulnerable young people most at risk and those who are
not in education employment and training, reducing 10 FTE posts and saving
£300,000
Culture and leisure proposed cuts include
 Closure of 10 of 18 branch libraries: in Blakelaw, Cruddas Park, Denton Burn,
Fenham, High Heaton, Jesmond, and Moorside in June 2013; Dinnington, Fawdon
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 2 of 9
Winter 2012/2013


and Newbiggin Hall by March 2015 (96% of residents will still be within 1.5 miles of a
library) along with fewer staff and funding for books. Library services may be
provided at other venues; Walker and Newburn will move venues. Young people
point out that many use libraries to do homework and for access to the internet.
Cuts in leisure services and closing some facilities: £1,073,000
Closure of City Pool
Communities services, ward committees, budgets, community buildings:
£1,425,000
 Restructure Communities Service, ward committees, cut ward budgets by 40%
 Transfer the management and ownership of community buildings
To find out more and have a say about the proposals
For a two page tweet style summary of some of the City Council budget proposals of
interest to the voluntary and community sector visit http://digbig.com/5bgtne
Each of the budget proposals has a more detailed paper setting out the proposal, the
impact assessments and what consultation has been carried out. The proposals make
commitments to hold stakeholder consultation and involvement. Visit
www.newcastle.gov.uk/your-council/budget-and-annual-report/social-care
Presentations have been written for children and young people outlining the main
proposals. There is one for primary school aged children and one for secondary school
age children. A one page budget summary poster is also available. For a copy contact
wendy.banks@newcastle.gov.uk
To comment on the proposals, visit www.letstalknewcastle.co.uk/budget2016
Email letstalk@newcastle.gov.uk
Youth budget cuts summit
19 January, 10.00am to 4.00pm at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle
This Newcastle Youth Council event is for 11-18 year olds to find out how the City
Council budget cuts will affect them and to give their views. Alternatively 11-18 year olds
can respond using the youth council online survey.
To find out more visit www.newcastleyouthcouncil.co.uk/Pages.aspx/Page/113
To take part in the online survey visit www.surveymonkey.com/S/DN5XNLX
Childrens Services budget proposals
21 January, 3.00pm to 4.30pm in the Armstrong Room, Newcastle Civic Centre.
John Collings, Executive Director of Children’s Services, will outline the main proposals
as they affect children young people families and services for children and young
people. Please confirm your attendance by emailing wendy.banks@newcastle.gov.uk
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 3 of 9
Winter 2012/2013
Safeguarding Children and Young People
Are they safe?
The new version of the free resource Are they safe is available to download from the
Safe Network website. It includes everything your group needs to become safe, along
with a wall chart to follow your progress. Hard copies of the pack will be available soon –
you can pre-order yours now. New users need to register with the Safe Network.
To find out more visit www.safenetwork.org.uk/_layouts/createregistration.aspx
Alcohol and Paracetamol: the risks to children and young people
In 2010 a Newcastle teenage girl (Child B) died from liver failure after drinking a lot of
alcohol and then taking paracetamol. The overdose was probably accidental but it was
three days before medical help was sought. The Serious Case Review (SCR)
recommended that children, young people and families should be warned about the
dangers posed by paracetamol and that the danger threshold is lowered by alcohol. A
paracetamol overdose may have no immediate effect but then can be fatal days later,
while treatment needs to be as soon as possible, within the first 12 hours. Multi-agency
groups including the Young Peoples Substance Misuse Commissioning Group are
continuing to work on these issues.
At a recent NHS meeting it was highlighted that last year there was a 25% increase of
overdoses involving using paracetamol, across all ages in Newcastle’s west end; this
increase reflects the current national trend.
For guidance visit www.pharmweb.net/pwmirror/pwy/paracetamol/pharmwebpic9.html
For safeguarding procedures visit www.nscb.org.uk/
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
In December the CRB and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) merged to become
one body known as the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). All terms referring to
CRB should now be referred to as DBS. The DBS will carry out the same functions as
the CRB and ISA.
The DBS offers 4 levels of checks




Standard DBS check
Enhanced DBS check
Enhanced DBS check and barred list check (child)
Enhanced DBS check and barred list check (adult)
The checks will be carried out in a similar way to CRB checks, with applicants having to
fill out a form and provide identification. Online forms can now be used to apply for a
DBS check and may be available to use by your authorised body.
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 4 of 9
Winter 2012/2013
A fee is still charged for carrying out a DBS check for employees and volunteers remain
at no cost, except for the umbrella bodies’ administration fee.
New: Age Limit
Individuals have to be at least 16 before they can undergo a DBS check.
New: Portable DSB checks
The government intends to offer an online Update service to see if a DBS check is up to
date, so that those moving to different positions do not have to apply for a DBS check
each time. The Update service will be free for volunteers and there will be a small
annual fee for paid staff. There had been concerns that this would be a chargeable
service for volunteers. Newcastle CVS campaigned for this to be free and therefore
welcomes this decision. The Update service is expected to be available early this year.
Regulated activity
Barred list checks should be made for regulated activity. As previously, it is a criminal
offence for anyone to knowingly allow a barred person to carry out regulated activities.
The definition of regulated activity with children changed in September 2012. In many
voluntary and community organisations, activities with children will be regulated as the
worker or volunteer is unsupervised and the activities are frequent (on 4 days in a
month, once a week, or during the night).
There is statutory guidance on what ‘supervision’ means. If an activity is supervised as
defined by the guidance, it can be counted as not regulated, even for activities which if
unsupervised and frequent would be regulated. But, carrying out supervision is a
regulated activity itself.
The statutory definition of supervision is on the Department of Education website, and it
includes some examples to help you decide which checks you should carry out. Visit
www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/statutory/g00213977/supervision-guidance
To subscribe to DBS email news visit the DBS homepage
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/dbs/services/dbs-subscribe/
Newcastle City Council and Newcastle CVS are arranging a DBS briefing, planned for
Monday 18 March at 12.00pm to 4.00pm; more details will be available soon
Children speak out about domestic abuse
Newcastle Children’s Trust and Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board Annual
Conference took place in November. The powerful presentations on gender based
violence and living with fear, the impact on children, Teenage Kicks, and the Youth
Independence Forum are all on the website.
Two presentations are of pictures drawn by children and quotes as they speak about
their situation and domestic abuse. Visit
www.nscb.org.uk/training-courses
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 5 of 9
Winter 2012/2013
Healthwatch Newcastle
Newcastle City Council has awarded the contract for Healthwatch Newcastle to a
partnership consisting of Newcastle CVS, Involve North East, and Newcastle Citizens
Advice Bureau (CAB). The CAB will use its expertise established over many years in
giving advice to provide the new Advice, Information and Signposting Service, formerly
PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) for Newcastle. Involve North East will use its
innovative ways of engaging with the public, patients and carers to ensure Healthwatch
Newcastle is kept fully aware of the key issues that matter to local people. Newcastle
CVS will use its experience and strategic overview to engage with the wider voluntary
sector and statutory partners.
Healthwatch Newcastle will be established in April 2013 and in the next few months
appointments will be made for the Healthwatch Board. There will be a number of
opportunities for a range of people and organisations to become involved at different
levels of Healthwatch Newcastle as Healthwatch Champions and as part of the Local
Healthwatch Partnership Forum. There will be a launch event for Healthwatch Newcastle
in April / May, but we will keep you informed of our activities and ask for your support to
make Healthwatch Newcastle a success.
Lay members appointed to Newcastle CCGs
Three of the four lay members who are appointed to be on the NHS Newcastle Clinical
Commissioning Groups from April 2013 are from the voluntary and community sector.
Mandy Taylor, Head of Service at Children North East and Jeff Hurst, Chief Executive of
Newcastle YMCA are appointee designates for NHS Newcastle West CCG. Oliver
Wood, a Director of Tyneside Mind and an ambassador for the Strengthening Disabled
People’s User Led Organisations programme is an appointee designate for NHS
Newcastle East and North.
Child poverty measure consultation
The Government is launching a public consultation on better measures of child poverty.
The consultation explores how we can best reflect the reality of child poverty in a multidimensional measure. It considers a number of potential dimensions: income and
material deprivation, worklessness, unmanageable debt, poor housing, parental skill
level, access to quality education, family stability and parental health.
There is a meeting to make a joint response to the consultation on Tuesday
29 January at 2.00pm to 3.30pm at Newcastle CVS.
If you would like to come along to the meeting, contact
pam.jobbins@cvsnewcastle.org.uk
The consultation will close on 15 February 2013. To find out more visit
www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmentalinformation/consultations
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 6 of 9
Winter 2012/2013
Resources
The sexual exploitation of children – can you recognise the signs?
This is a 20 minute film to raise awareness about grooming and sexual exploitation. It is
intended for training police officers but can be used with anyone who works with children
and young people. The film uses the East ender storyline of Whitney, an adolescent girl
who has previously been abused. She meets Rob who makes her dependent on him.
Actress Shona McGarty talks about why Whitney is vulnerable and how Rob
manipulates her. The film lists key indicators.
To find out more visit www.cse.siyonatech.com/
“I thought I was the only one. The only one in the world”
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s inquiry into child sexual exploitation in
gangs and groups has released this, its interim report. And similarly, the University of
Bedfordshire has produced its interim findings about gang associated sexual exploitation
and sexual violence. To find out more visit www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/
Young people’s thoughts on child poverty policy
Poverty and Inequality is currently a key area of work for the Webb Memorial Trust.
While there is much talk about the future of the child poverty in this country and how we
should measure it, children and young people rarely have a say in these debates. Over
2012, five groups of young people from some of the most financially deprived regions
across England, Gateshead, Liverpool, Manchester, Tower Hamlets, and Westminster,
worked to develop their own Child Poverty Strategies. While each strategy is distinct –
responding to different local needs and reflecting the different life experiences and
demographics of the participants – together they show that young people successfully
can, and crucially want to, actively participate in the policy discussions around child
poverty. For further information about this research, or to contact the groups involved in
this project, please contact Rys Farthing at rys.farthing@spi.ox.ac.uk
For the report visit www.cpag.org.uk/content/young-peoples-thoughts-child-povertypolicy
Engage toolkit for BME family carers
The Children's Society in collaboration with The Afiya Trust have developed a webbased toolkit as a resource to address the barriers that black and minority ethnic (BME)
family carers face when accessing health and social care services. It’s aimed mainly at
practitioners from a range of organisations (including adults’ and children’s services,
health education and the voluntary sector) but is useful for anyone providing services to
families affected by ill health and disability.
To find out more visit www.engagetoolkit.org.uk/
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 7 of 9
Winter 2012/2013
Taking a balanced approach to play and risk
The Health and Safety Executive have produced a guide to a balanced approach to risk
in play and leisure activities, recognising the benefits to children and young people of
challenging play opportunities.
To find out more visit http://digbig.com/5bgrxb
Transition from children's to adults' mental health services
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has produced two films that focus on the
transition from children’s to adults’ services for young people with mental health
problems. In the first film, four young people from different parts of the country share
their experiences of transition. The second film looks at a pilot scheme to address the
difficulties that young people face and to try to ensure that they do not lose contact with
mental health services at the time of transition.
To view the films visit http://tinyurl.com/cmzrzuu
‘Relative Experience’ project launch and Kinship Carers Focus Group
Wednesday 14 February 2013, 10.30am to 1.30pm for project launch
The Assembly Rooms, Fenkle Street, Newcastle, NE1 5XU
The ‘Relative Experience: North-East Pilot’ is a new project to support kinship carers in
the North East.is funded by the Big Lottery Silver Dreams fund and is being delivered in
partnership between Grandparents Plus, Family Lives, and the Family and Parenting
Institute (FPI). The project aims to help older people who are kinship carers
(grandparents or other family members raising a relative’s child) by providing peer to
peer parenting support from trained older volunteers in the North East of England. To
book a place at the free event please contact Swati Patel at
events@familyandparenting.org or call on 0207 424 3460
Big Lottery Partnership Opportunity - Fulfilling Lives a Better Start
Newcastle City Council is seeking an agency to be named as Lead Partner in a
Newcastle Expression of Interest for a Big Lottery bid to the Fulfilling Lives a Better Start
initiative. The ten year initiative will invest £30 to £50 million in 3 to 5 areas to deliver a
step change to preventative approaches in pregnancy and the first three years of life to
improve life chances.
To be transparent and fair, Newcastle City Council is advertising the opportunity to be
Lead Partner on the NEPO portal, Procontract with a closing date of 28 January. It is an
application process not a contract. Opportunities to deliver part of the programme will
come later if the bid is successful.
To find out more about the Newcastle opportunity visit
www.qtegov.com/procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_opportunity?OpenForm&contract_id=CON
TRACT-QTLE-93YNBF
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 8 of 9
Winter 2012/2013
To find out more about Fulfilling Lives a Better Start visit
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/england/fulfilling-lives-a-betterstart
Kittens are Evil2: heresies in public policy
6 March 10.00am to 4.00pm, Kings House conference Centre, Manchester
A national conference on payment by results and outcomes based performances. This is
a follow on from the popular event hosted last year by Newcastle CVS, Newcastle
University Business School (NUBS) and North of England Transformation Network,
NET2 and includes case studies and a call for a national campaign. The event costs £45
plus VAT. To book a place, please contact janice.mack@vanguardconsult.co.uk.
CHYP IN is published by Newcastle CVS
Previous copies are on the networking and involving pages of NCVS website.
The information in CHYP IN is published in good faith, but Newcastle CVS accepts no
responsibility for any inaccuracy in the items. Organisations are welcome to copy any or
all of this publication for use in the promotion of voluntary and community activity. For
more information email Pam Jobbins or call 0191 235 7017
NCVS provides many services to the voluntary and community sector, many free. To
find out more about our free membership and our services, contact askNCVS.
Call 0191 235 7037
Email askncvs@cvsnewcastle.org.uk
Fax 0191 230 5640
Visit www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk
MEA House, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8XS.
Newcastle Council for Voluntary Service is a registered charity (number 1125877) and company limited by
guarantee (number 6681475) registered in England and Wales | Our registered office is as above
NCVS: CHYP IN
Page 9 of 9
Winter 2012/2013