Agenda and minutes

1.1 Apologies for absence were received from:

·  Cllr Sheila Suso-Runge

·  Cllr Lynne Troughton;

·  Cllr Ifraax Samatar.

·  Cllr Anya Sizer;

·  Jo Macleod (Co-optee).

2.1 There were no late items and the business of the meeting was as published.

3.1  The following declarations were received:

·  Cllr Lee Laudat-Scott was a member of the Corporate Parenting Committee.

To review plans for the development of a Super Youth Hub in Hackney.

4.1 The Commission scrutinised plans for the development of Super Youth Hub, which aims to provide integrated health and wellbeing services for young people across City & Hackney.  Funds have been secured to develop a two-year pilot project across a number of neighbourhood areas which will start from April 2024.  This was a brief update item to help the Commission further understand this planned development and how it will interconnect with other work streams and services that support young people in Hackney.  It was also an opportunity for the Commission to input into project development ahead of the commencement of the pilot.

Presentation by officers

4.2 Officers from the CAMHS Alliance presented a summary of the project to members of the Commission, highlighting the following:

·  The Super Youth Hub (SYH) offers an integrated approach to the delivery of health and wellbeing services to young people across City & Hackney.  The SYH was being developed in response to rising demands for young people's health and wellbeing services together with young people's stated concerns in both navigating and accessing such services.  One of the principles of the SYH is therefore to develop capacity and improve accessibility of local health and wellbeing services.

·  Plans for the SYH were informed by an action research project which indicated that young people preferred to access services in settings with which they were familiar and through staff with whom they trusted.  The SYH pilot aims to develop a network of services across two neighbourhood areas and has two key objectives a) to ‘uncomplicate’ the local system of health and wellbeing services and b) improving access by young people to local services.

·  The SYH also incorporated plans to develop a one-stop shop for health and wellbeing for young people which was most likely to be located within Forest Road Youth hub and would include both GP and sexual health services as well as other health services.

·  Plans for the SYH would also include a detailed communications strategy with services, parents and of course young people, the latter being co-designed and produced with young people themselves. There would also be an accompanying programme of outreach to VCS to reach young people in different settings and to promote equity of access.

·  Plans for the SYH are being modelled on the approach taken in Tower Hamlets (Spotlight) which also developed an integrated health and wellbeing service and which has achieved excellent outcomes.

·  The key professionals within the SYH will be public health (substance misuse and sexual health), primary care, mental health, Young Hackney and CVS.

·  Coproduction has been a central tenet of the SYH and young people have been involved at all stages to date (e.g. peer research and Young Advisor role) and would continue (e.g. establishment of a Youth Steering Board, recruitment of HWB influencers to help engage young people).

·  Over £300k has been provided through NHS NEL Outcomes funding which is being used to support 3 new posts (clinical lead, operational manager, system navigator) who will lead in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To scrutinise proposals for reconfiguration of children centre childcare provision (as part of the public consultation).

5.1 On January 22nd a report Cabinet set out a number of proposals for the reconfiguration of childcare provided across 11 children centres in Hackney and to agree a public consultation.  This consultation would run from 31st January 2024 to 24th April 2024.  The Children & Young People Scrutiny Commission agreed to participate in this public consultation process and invited officers to the meeting to present these proposals and to respond to member questions.  The Commission also invited a number of parent group representatives to the meeting to present their initial response to the proposals together with union representatives to present the perspectives of potentially affected staff groups.

5.2 The Chair noted that at the time of this meeting, the consultation had just begun, and the impact and implications of the proposals for children, parents and staff will take some time to filter down within the community.  In this context, the chair also reminded parents that their participation in this scrutiny process did not in any way limit their further engagement with the public consultation process, and urged them to continue to engage and be involved in any planned events supporting the public consultation process.

5.3 After this meeting, the Commission would review all verbal evidence together with all the written material received and make a formal submission to the public children centre consultation via the Cabinet lead for this area.  This response would be made public in the next available agenda.

Presentation by Officers

5.4 The Director of Education welcomed scrutiny of the childcare proposals affecting childcare provision at local children’s centres.  The DoE emphasised that Hackney had a long history of good early years provision, of which children’s centres were an important part.  The financial challenges facing the council had however required officers to reframe the local early years offer and specific proposals have been put forward in respect of 4 children’s centres.  The evidence base for these proposals has been provided by the work of the Affordable Childcare Commission and the Ernst & Young Review of childcare provision at local children’s centres.  The proposals set out an adjusted local offer to best meet local needs and to ensure the longer term sustainability of local children’s centres.

5.5 The Head of Early Years also highlighted the following issues in relation to the proposals:

·  It should be noted that Hackney was one of only 3 LA’s across London which continued to offer subsidised childcare.

·  The extension of the free childcare provision from April 2024 through to September 2025 offered an opportunity to reduce subsidised childcare provision and to ensure that early years’ services are delivered efficiently.

·  Fewer children were being born in Hackney which meant that there were less children in the childcare system.  Also the number of 2 year olds entitled to free childcare had reduced from over 2,000 in 2017/18 to just over 1,000.  The housing crisis meant that there were also increasing numbers of families choosing to move or being re-homed out of the borough.

·  DfE had provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the Commission’s response and recommendations to local commissioners of sexual and reproductive health care services for children and young people in Hackney.

6.1 The Commission assessed the draft Sexual & Reproductive Health Strategy together with plans to discontinue the CHYPS Plus Service (dedicated sexual and reproductive health services for young people) at a meeting earlier this municipal year. The Commission has produced a response together with a number of recommendations which members are asked to note. 

6.2 The Commission’s response has been formally submitted to the Cabinet member for health, adult social care, voluntary sector and culture for a response, and when this is received it will be published in a future agenda.

Noted: Formal response to Sexual & Reproductive Health Strategy

To note and agree the Commission’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year 2023/24.

7.1  Members noted the work programme for the remainder of the 2023/24 municipal year:

·  The next meeting would be on the 11th March and would focus on school absence and emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), and school attainment.  The Commission would be conducting a number of focus groups ahead of the meeting to support the scrutiny process.

·  Two items confirmed for the May 22nd meeting: Disabled Children Service and SEND Area Action Plan.

·  Members would need to confirm items for the planned meeting in June 2024 - which was most likely to be a joint scrutiny session with Living in Hackney covering housing support for care leavers, and either an update on Safer Schools Policing or the Youth Justice Plan.

Noted: The work programme for the remainder of the year (2023/24) was noted and agreed

To note the minutes of the last meeting from 15^th January 2024 and note any actions.

8.1  The minutes of the 15th January were noted and agreed.

Agreed: Minutes of the 15th January 2024  

8.2  Members were asked to note responses to questions from a previous meeting (18th December 2023) on Children's Social Care.  There were no matters arising from these questions and were noted.

Noted: Children and Families response to questions from the Commission on Children's Social Care Annual Report

Next Meeting

9.1  The next meeting of the Commission will be held on 19th February 2024.

9.2  There was no other business and the meeting concluded at 9.35pm.