YorOK BOARD MEETING
Date:
Time:
Venue:
Monday 10 November 2014
9.30 – 12.00
The Severus Room, West Offices
Helen Billson
Angela Crossland
Jess Haslam
Tricia Head
Judy Kent
Cllr Janet Looker
Graeme Murdoch
Carol Redmond
Paula Richardson
Dr. Sophie Roberts
Cllr Carol Runciman
Eoin Rush
Jon Stonehouse
Rosy Tebbutt
Andy Weir
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PCU, CCG
Youth Offending Team
Head of Disability and Special Educational Needs
Virtual Headteacher, Danesgate School
Head of Children’s Trust Unit and Early Intervention
Lead Member, Children’s Services, Education & Skills (Chair)
York College
CAMHS Service Manager, Limetrees
Acting Head of Service; Early Years & Children's Centres
Limetrees
Elected Member, City of York Council
Assistant Director, Children’s Specialist Services
Director of Children’s Services, Education & Skills
Head of Operations, York CVS
Associate Director - Specialist & Learning Disability Services, Leeds
& York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
York University
Public Health Children and Young People's Manager
Dr. Aniela Wenham
Lesley White
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In Attendance
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Yvette Bent, Martine Eddom, Carolyn Ford (Minutes), Amanda
Gaines, Polly Griffiths, Tina Hardman, Dawn Moores, Linda Murphy
and Sheena White
Apologies:
-
Lucy Botting, Jayne Hill, Julie Hotchkiss, Lynn Parkinson, Debra
Radford and Simon Westwood
Public Participation
-
Dawn Moores had registered to speak
ACTION
1.
Pupil Bullying & Wellbeing Surveys
Tina Hardman, Yvette Bent and Amanda Gaines presented the findings from the 2014
“Stand up for Us” survey and Year 10 Wellbeing Survey of 4000 pupils, and Carolyn
Ford was asked to circulate the presentation with the minutes of the meeting. The
survey is undertaken by the LA and York St. John University and provides schools
with an analysis of their own data and the LA with data for the city as a whole, with the
ability to break this down into vulnerable groups. Pupils undertake the survey online
and any safeguarding concerns are immediately addressed. Key messages included:
Secondary schools:
 Bullying has reduced by 10% over three years and occurs most frequently in the
school corridors.
 Emotional bullying is now the most common form of bullying, accounting for 41%.
 30% of secondary school pupils did not tell anyone they were being bullied.
Primary schools:
 The number of pupils being bullied is reducing.
 Verbal bullying is the most common form of bullying and most frequently takes
place in the playground.
 The most common reason for being bullied is weight, size and body shape.
 The majority of victims reported that they were being bullied and they felt that
something was done, although 6.4% of pupils did not tell anyone.
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ACTION
Social Networking:
 27.6% of primary school pupils had an account with a social networking site.
 Over a third of secondary school age pupils had a computer in their bedroom.
 61% of Year 8 pupils have their social networking site open to public access.
 23% made virtual friends that they did not personally know.
 21% of Year 10 pupils had received naked images and 80% had taken naked
photos of themselves.
Primary Pupil Wellbeing:
 2.5% primary pupils never eat breakfast.
 48% have tried alcohol and 5% have tried smoking.
Secondary Pupil Wellbeing:
 25% of girls and 10% of boys did not eat breakfast.
 10% have tried smoking and 3.6% smoke more than 20 cigarettes a week.
 37% have had more than five alcoholic drinks in a day.
 A quarter of pupils have been offered drugs but 90% have never used drugs.
 13.7% have had a sexual relationship.
 70% want health professionals to each them about sex rather than a teacher.
 14% do not have anyone to talk to about concerns.
Pupil Concerns:
 Primary school pupils were most concerned about moving to secondary school,
school work/exams and friendships.
Secondary school pupils were most
concerned about school work/exams, their future and weight, size and body
shape.
Pupil Perceptions:
 When pupils were asked to state at what age they thought their peers were
undertaking certain activities, they responded: drinking alcohol - at 14; smoking –
at 15; having sex - at 15; and taking drugs - at 16.
Other Highlights:
 A high percentage of pupils said they had no information on SEN, mental health
issues, LGBT and gambling.
 25% said something had happened online which had frightened them, and 20%
did not tell anyone.
 A quarter of girls had done something when drunk which they then regretted.
 It was noted that the number of young people often feeling lonely had reduced and
this was attributed to the team of ELSAs across the city.
Cllr Looker thanked Tina Hardman, Yvette Bent and Amanda Gaines for their
presentation. Board members felt that a future challenge for the board and schools
would be to better align collective resources on those children with risky behaviours.
Tricia Head added that the biggest pressure for young people was exams and that it
was important for adults not to externalise and transfer anxieties to young people. Cllr
Runciman suggested that PSHCE cannot be seen as the panacea to issues.
2.
Minutes of Last Meeting and Matters Arising
It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2014 were a true
and accurate record of the meeting. There were no matters arising.
Any Other Business - Castlegate
Public participation - Dawn Moores had registered to speak and was invited to do so.
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ACTION
Dawn Moores updated Board members on the proposal to close Castlegate in March
2015 and transfer statutory services for young people to West Offices in order to save
£200,000 per year. She outlined her concerns about the loss of holistic early
intervention services for vulnerable young people and them having to access adult
services in West Offices. Cllr Looker responded, explaining that the decision on the
Castlegate proposals has been “called in”, giving officers time to explore other funding
and location options, and that she supported the decision to explore other options.
Cllr Looker confirmed that the council was under huge financial pressure to balance
the budget and that the decision to “call in” Castlegate provided an opportunity to take
another look at the proposals and to consult more widely. There is a wide range of
counselling services being provided across the city by the local authority and other
partners. It was noted that there is no proposed reduction to the counselling and
statutory Connexions services currently provided at Castlegate, and that these
services could be relocated to West Offices. It was acknowledged that proposals
should have been shared with the YorOK Board at an earlier stage.
Further work will now be undertaken to analyse existing data to establish the age
profile of service users, the services they are accessing, and to contact service users
to establish the impact of services and the outcomes achieved for them. In response
to a Board member’s query regarding how the local authority could gather sufficient
data in such a short period of time, Jon Stonehouse confirmed that data was available
but had to be analysed.
Board members queried the role of YorOK in the process and Jon Stonehouse
confirmed that they would be asked to give their thoughts on the new proposals. It
was agreed that the YorOK Board would coordinate a consultation forum for members
to discuss the proposals prior to the next meeting. Board members interested in
attending were asked to contact Judy Kent. Final proposals will be presented to the
YorOK Board meeting in January 2015.
3.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Eoin Rush reported that nationally the Children and Young People’s Mental Health
Task Group is looking at CAMHS issues and concerns, and that locally the CCG is
currently re-commissioning specialist CAMHS provision and the CAMHS Executive is
looking to provide a cohesive emotional and mental health offer for the city.
The CAMHS storyboard describes the city’s priorities, including a focus on maximising
resources to have a more preventative impact on young people, so that they are not
fast tracked to specialist services which would be unable to cope with demand. Eoin
Rush described the principles which underpin York’s vision to secure good mental and
emotional health services for all children and young people in the city. This vision is
supported by well-coordinated strategic planning arrangements, an experienced and
confident workforce, services that reflect choice and preference of children and young
people, well-coordinated service provision and systems whereby young people do not
have to tell their story repeatedly.
He described the many innovative interventions available for children and young
people in York but added that gaps existed and that the priorities for the next twelve
months are to:
 harness the commitment from the whole school community to further invest in and
develop ‘in school’ arrangements to support the emotional and mental health
needs of pupils.
 negotiate better integrated pathways for children and young people.
 review the contribution of the CAMHS Looked After Children service in conjunction
with the LA’s New Deal for Foster Carers initiative.
 review the emotional and mental health support arrangements for children and
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ACTION
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young people who may offend.
explore the opportunity for greater collaborative working across York and North
Yorkshire.
investigate the issue of children who self-harm.
The CCG will reflect the aspirations of the partnership in the CAMHS Service
specification, ensuring preventative work is undertaken and that, when needed,
pathways to specialist services are available.
Dr. Sophie Roberts, Limetrees
Dr. Sophie Roberts and Carol Redmond gave a presentation on the services currently
provided by Limetrees, and Carolyn Ford was asked to circulate the slides to Board
members.
CF
Limetrees works with children and young people aged 0 – 18 years. Referrals are
received from GPs and these can be for anxiety, self-harm, psychosis, eating
disorders, bipolar, autism, ADHD and behaviour problems with mental health issues.
There are nine primary mental health workers who meet with and initially assess
young people to establish whether Limetrees is the appropriate service for them.
There were 1633 referrals to primary mental health workers this year which is a 20%
increase on last year, and it is anticipated that this figure will rise still further next year.
Limetrees received nearly 800 referrals last year, 30% of which were for anxiety and
10% for self-harm. As from December 2014 there will be 16 inpatient beds available
at a new unit in Huntington, and the aim is to keep more young people within York
rather than within secure units.
In response to a question about how colleagues could identify a young person who is
self-harming, it was noted that, as self-harming is a way of coping with anxiety, there
may be other signs that might be picked up first, for example a young person
struggling academically. The workforce implications of this for staff were noted. Rosy
Tebbutt drew attention to “Mindfulness” which offers early help with emotional
resilience, and Tricia Head noted that York Mind had spoken to Secondary School
Pastoral Leads about addressing emotional wellbeing in schools.
Eoin Rush added that stakeholders had been consulted on a draft CAMHS
specification, which will go out to tender shortly. He felt it was important to keep the
city’s CAMHS agenda under the CAMHS Executive, so as to have a cohesive CAMHS
offer in the city.
Jon Stonehouse asked that progress against the priorities identified within the CAMHS
Storyboard be reported to the YorOK Board. Paula Richardson asked that Early
Years be represented in the storyboard and priorities, and Eoin Rush agreed to
explore this further.
4.
Phase 2 Troubled Families
Linda Murphy presented her report on the Troubled Families Programme, known
locally as the Family Focus Programme.
Phase 1
 The criteria for selection included families with children involved in youth crime or
anti-social behaviour, children who are regularly truanting or not in school or where
there is an adult out of work.
 York has identified 100% of families (315), and as at October 2014 has “turned
around” 89.5% (243 families). Thirty-nine adults had found employment. For
each family that has been “turned around” the LA will receive up to £4,000.
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ACTION
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The programme provides a whole family approach, with each family having a
dedicated worker who assesses them, produces a plan, provides a tailored
package of support to meet their needs and agrees an exit plan, including details
of how further support can be sought if needed.
The programme has been evaluated nationally, and locally by Dr. Aniela Wenham,
University of York, who will feedback on key messages about they key worker role.
York’s health practitioner role has been held up as a national model of good
practice.
The use of sanctions, such as the risk of eviction and fines for non-school
attendance, has helped turn some families around, enabling them take on their
parenting responsibilities and support their own children.
AW
Linda Murphy described the lessons learnt from Phase 1, including what had worked
well and what is needed to support the successful implementation of Phase 2.
Phase 2
The national programme has been extended for a further five years in order to reach
an additional 400,000 families. York has qualified as an early starter in the second
phase, commencing January 2015, and will be asked to identify 1000 families. Linda
Murphy will meet with other local authorities already within phase 2 to learn any
lessons. The main features of phase 2 are:
 The criteria for participation will be much wider including parents and children
involved in crime or anti-social behaviour, children who have not been attending
school regularly, children who need help, adults out of work or at risk of financial
exclusion and young people at risk of worklessness, families affected by domestic
abuse, violence and abuse and parents and children with a range of early help
needs and health problems.
 The extension of the programme in Phase 2 to include children aged 0 – 5 years
and ingrained mental health issues is a challenge that will stretch provision.
 The Family Focus Team will include a health professional with a heath visiting
background, and will have the opportunity to work more closely with children’s
centres. As from April 2015, the team will also include a secondee from Job
Centre Plus.
 Each family will have an outcomes plan, which will detail the significant
improvements required. If an adult moves into “continuous employment”, the local
authority will receive a bonus payment.
 Families will require a confident lead worker, and all agencies will need to take a
role in this.
Jon Stonehouse noted that the Police have asked to work more closely with the LA in
order to better integrate data required for the Troubled Families programme.
In response to a question, it was confirmed that the Family Focus Team would not
expand but that through an integrated approach a range of other professionals would
be expected to be lead practitioners and “turn families around”.
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Judy Kent thanked Linda Murphy for her presentation.
It was agreed that
endorsement of the programme would be sought at the Health & Wellbeing Board,
Children Safeguarding Board and Adult Safeguarding Board, and that a further update
on progress would be provided at the January 2015 YorOK Board meeting.
Board members were made aware of the “Together for Mental Health” initiative from
the Police.
11.50 Linda Murphy and Martine Eddom left the meeting
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ACTION
5.
Trust Update
Judy Kent reported that the “No wrong door” conference had been well attended and
received.
Early Help Outcomes Report
A draft of the Early Help Outcomes Report had been circulated with the papers for the
meeting and partners were invited to send comments to Judy Kent.
All
YorOK Annual Report to Health and Wellbeing Board
A draft YorOK Annual Report for the Health and Wellbeing Board had been circulated
with the papers for the meeting and partners were again invited to send comments to
Judy Kent. The report will be tabled at the Health & Wellbeing Board meeting on 3
December 2014.
6.
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YorOK Performance Monitoring
There were no significant areas of concern raised by Board members.
7.
Forward Plan and Dates for Future Meetings
Board members were asked to forward items for the forward plan to Judy Kent. Jon
Stonehouse asked for a CAMHS Executive update in six months time.
Future Meeting Dates:
Monday 12 January 2015
Monday 2 March 2015
Monday 11 May 2015
Monday 6 July 2015
Monday 14 September 2015
Monday 9 November 2015
There being no other business, the meeting finished at 11.55am.
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