Report of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny.
TITLE:
Feedback from the meeting held on 22 November 2007.
Members agreed the following.
1. Members asked the officers to return in 12 months time to update them on
progress with the Locality Teams.
2. Members asked for further information on the Play Strategy funding bid as it
becomes available.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This report informs Members of the matters considered by Children’s Services Overview
and Scrutiny on 22nd November 2007. Issues considered were:Locality Teams
Children’s Centres
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
Reports to Scrutiny are available to download from
the internet by accessing the following link:www.salford.gov.uk/councilpapers
CONTACT OFFICER: Peter Kidd, Senior Scrutiny Support Officer.
Tel: 793 3322 E-mail: peter.kidd@salford.gov.uk
WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S):
All
KEY COUNCIL POLICIES:
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DETAILS
Issues considered
Locality Teams
Following a request by Scrutiny members Simon Hood and Stephen Hobbs, who are
both locality team managers, attended the meeting to present an outline of the role and
function of Locality Teams (LTs).
Established in September 2006, There are four Locality Teams operational in Salford.
Each team is made up of staff from different professional backgrounds including
education welfare officers, social care workers, educational psychologists and family
action coordinators. By working together and sharing information they aim to reduce
some of the difficulties that a child or young person aged may be experiencing.
The locality teams have attempted to reform the system to build services around children,
young people and families, intervening earlier and more effectively before any problems
escalate. They strengthen universal services like health and education, through working
together more effectively and efficiently. They also create a basis for bringing in targeted
and specialist support that some children need. They offer increased opportunities to all
children but especially to children who don’t achieve because of their background or
circumstances.
The teams have one point of contact and are able to provide a coordinated approach to
service delivery, they provide a more holistic family focussed approach, they work with
schools and parents and other parties to give a fuller picture of a childs circumstances.
Children can refer themselves or can be referred by their families or neighbours, though
more commonly schools will refer children via the educational welfare officer.
The teams use a common assessment framework, a tool to look at all aspects of a childs
life including outside school and their family life. The team will then consider appropriate
actions to address issues and concerns. They work with schools, parents and individuals
in their homes or in a school setting to make sure the actions are effective and efficient.
Simon and Stephen exlpained to members the threshold of intervention, a model which
provides indicators of the circumstances when intervention in a childs or young persons
life is required and also what type of support is needed. this continuum model of
childrens needs has at one end, level 1, children with no identified needs (the majority of
children who access universal services) and at the other, level 4, children with very
complex needs. The team works to try and keep children in or move them toward the
level 1. more work needs to be done to develop the models and training in its use is
taking place in schools, where crucil work can be done to identify problems as the
emerge.
Members raised several issues;
Did the LTs find it difficult to recruit educational psychologists? There are no capacity
problems at the moment the work of the teams seem to appeal to officers. Importantly the
team strive to maintain the differences between professionals they are multi-discliplinary
teams and though they share experiences and information they will not become a team
of generic officers.
Are there disadvantages to being split in four localities?
The teams reflect the locality and the Primary care trust divisions, they access local
resources to support familiies at a community level and are more accessable to the
public. If they were centralised the teams would lose the nieghbourhood connection.
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Increasingly grandparents look after children some are quite elderly and not in the best of
health. The team recognise this, if it were’nt for such informal arrangements there would
be potentially many more placed in care. The teams always consider if other more
appropriate family can look after children and provide support and they are as responsive
to their needs as they are to a young family.
Do the team cover health issues? Although it is in it’s early stages locality teams are
establishing close links with the PCT, who have significant staff involved in early
interventions, although they do not split services to adults and children in the same way
the authority does, more cooperation makes sense. The intergration of health workers is
very desirable In the long term PCT staff may be coopted onto the locality team.
The teams are developing closer working relationship with Sure Start.
What monitoring and evaluation arrangements are inplace? The teams visit
headteachers, the major customer, and there is a questionnaire for schools on the
services from the local authority, repsonses are very positive so far.
Has the arrival of refugees and migrant workers affected the role of the team?
The teams primary prerogative is the child always has rights, though they are sensitive to
cultural differences a childs safety is paramount. They gave examples of where the team
have engaged with the jewish community and with travellers.
The locality teams provide services which are more responsive to individual needs, they
aknowledge that more intergration of service is needed particulary with health but
changes will take time, they are making progress and already seeing improved outcomes
for children and young people.
Members recognised the improved service and welcome officers back in 12 months to
discuss progress.
Childrens Centres
Jane Middleton, Head of SureStart and Extended School Services, attended the meeting
to present a brief report and discuss children’s centres and extended schools. There are
currently 15 in development across Salford these will be completed in March apart from
one which completes in September 08. Further funding has been approved for phase 3
children centres. By March 2010 all areas in Salford will have children’s centres, which is
in line with the governments strategy.
The childrens centres, together with the extended schools provide universal and early
intervention services for children 0-16. They are proving very successful in engaging with
pre-school children. The service’s multi disciplinary teams and close working
arrangements with health workers in particular and it’s developing linkages with the
voluntary sector are really making in roads, delivering better outcomes for children and
families.
Where the Locality Teams focus on the more vulnerable children and their additional
needs, childrens centres cater for all children and also provide targeted support for
vulnerable children, and importantly if they achieve the outcomes with early intervention
then the locality teams may have less to do. They are working in the same
neighbourhoods and with the same schools and it is important that the relationship
between the two is managed to avoid possible duplication and inefficiencies.
All childrens centres are different, they evolve to suit their circumstances and available
resources, they have a recognisable base but may have a number of satellite buildings.
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Broughton for example have 3 buildings due to the large numbers provided for between
the ages 0-5.
Members raised several issues;
Childrens Centres can and do utilise private service providers to deliver some services
where appropriate.
Managers will be expected to look after 2 centres, they will not necessarily hold childcare
qualifications, though they will if it is identified as essential. Their role is to ensure the
integrated multi agency teams work together to identify the children in need and make
services attractive to them. The childcare provisions all have professional managers.
The service is well positioned to learn from other authorities who have more experience
operating children’s centres and is in regular contact with other authorities in the region
and across other groups.
Jane has responsibility, implement the Parenting Strategy for Salford (deadline March
2008), which will help ensure parenting service across the city meets the range of needs.
Children centres have a major role.
The Play Strategy covers services for children 0-16 describes the need for a better
coordinated and resourced play service in Salford and provides the basis for a funding
bid from the Big Lottery. Scrutiny Requested more information on this as it becomes
available.
Report from the last meeting
This was approved
Forward Plan
Nothing arising
Work programme
Scrutiny support would be contacting members to ask for volunteers to join a scrutiny
commission which will be drawn from Children’s Services Scrutiny and Strategy &
Regeneration Scrutiny looking at a particular piece of work around the Respect agenda.
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