The Commissioner has invited a group of young people to attend the beginning of the Commission meeting. These young people are leading on the Oakfield Adventure Play developments, part of the Ryde Development Trust and have been funded through YSPEAK. They were among twenty-four young people who took part in the Children’s Fund Legislative Theatre Evaluation Training Programme. The programme is designed to support young people through poetry, arts and theatre to have their voices heard in order to contribute to the development of policy. The four day music and theatre-based course culminated in performances at the Children’s Fund Big Day Out at Brading Roman Villa.
The
young people will show a short film of this work they have undertaken at the
beginning of the Commission meeting.
The Commissioner has given the young people permission to film this part
of the meeting along with a short question and answer session between them and
Commission Members. This will then be
edited into the film to form part of the Children and Young People’s Plan
itself available to be watched through the Web-based version along with the
music, art and poetry created.
The development of the Children and Young People’s Plan is an example of how with support children and young people can contribute to the development of policy at a Commission level. This work of the Commission demonstrates the commitment the Council has, along with its partners, to the involvement, consultation and participation of children and young people in how policy and services are planned, developed, delivered and reviewed.
SUMMARY/PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to
brief the Commission on the requirements and developments of the Isle of Wight
Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP).
The Commission is asked to
consider the key priorities to improve better outcomes for Island children and
young people described within the plan.
The Commission is asked that
after their consideration that they give consent for the completion of the CYPP
following further public consultation during February 2006. The completed CYPP
will go to formal Cabinet in March 2006 for approval.
The key priorities are:
·
Raise educational
achievement.
·
Improve mental health and
well-being (by reducing bullying, alcohol and substance misuse).
·
Increase support and
employability for those aged 14 to 19.
·
Help more of children and
young people to get involved in things to do in their communities.
·
Develop
more support for parents, carers and families.
1.0 CONFIDENTIAL/EXEMPT
ITEMS
1.1 This
report is not confidential.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 Locally the Isle of Wight Council acting as
the responsible Children’s Services Authority (CSA) for the local authority
area (as defined in the 2004 Children Act) has consulted widely with children,
young people, staff and stakeholders on the priorities for Children’s Services
for 2006 to 2009. These priorities have been described in the draft Children
and Young People’s Plan set before the Commission for Children and School
Results. The CYPP and all the resultant services will all be subjected to the
Diversity Impact Assessment and Disability Equality Assessment to ensure all
children and young people
2.2 The
Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) is an important element of the reforms
underpinned by the Children Act 2004.
On the basis of a new statutory duty, and building on the best local planning
practice, the Government intends that all areas should produce a single,
strategic, overarching plan for all services affecting children and young
people by 1st April 2006. This will support more integrated and
effective services to secure the outcomes for children set out in Every Child Matters: Change for Children,
Choice for Parents, the best start for
children: a ten year childcare strategy and the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity
Services and reflected in the Act.
It will also support the reforms for young people
proposed in the Green Paper: Youth
Matters which can be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/youth
2.3 The CYPP is part of the children’s services improvement cycle, set
out in Every Child Matters: Change for
Children. The goal of integrating planning for children's
services will be supported by the increased funding
flexibilities provided by the rollout of Local Area Agreements (LAAs), by
DfES plans to rationalise the number of local authority grants for
children’s services, and by the provision of enhanced and integrated support
and challenge across children's services to local areas through Government
Offices. Against this backdrop, the CYPP will identify children and young people where outcomes need to be
improved and how and when this improvement will be achieved. It will also set
out the timetable for establishing various elements of the children’s trust for
the area.
2.4 The guidance notes that good planning is
not a diversion from effective front line activity. It is an essential requirement, if services are to be developed
to meet the needs of children, young people and families, if resources, assets
and the workforce are to be deployed to best effect, and if all partners are to
focus on achieving the best possible local outcomes.
2.5 The
CYPP and the process of joint planning should support local authorities and
their partners as they work together, with the local authority taking the lead,
to agree clear targets and priorities for all services affecting children and
young people, to identify the actions and activities needed to achieve them,
and ensure delivery. The requirement to
produce a CYPP is new, but requirements for seven statutory plans and 12
non-statutory plans are removed.
2.6 The duty to prepare the CYPP is given to
the local authority[1],
alongside its duty under section 10 of the Children Act 2004 to make
arrangements to secure co-operation among a number of partners set out in the
Act and in the statutory guidance on interagency co-operation to improve the
well-being of children: children’s trusts. This duty falls within the remit of the
Director of Children’s Services and the Lead Member for Children’s Services, as
set out in the statutory guidance on their role and responsibilities. Although the responsibility is given
to the local authority, the intention is that the local authority is the
co-ordinating body and that the CYPP is a plan for all local services affecting
children and young people.
2.7 There will only be a single CYPP, not a
local authority plan and a separate plan for partners. The CYPP should be the
single, strategic, overarching plan for all services which affect children and
young people in the area, provided by the local authority and all relevant
partners; the local authority should prepare the CYPP jointly with those
partners. This refers not just to those under the duty to co-operate, such as
local health and certain youth justice bodies, but also others like schools,
colleges, culture, sport and play and recreation organisations, registered
social landlords and the voluntary and community sector (VCS). By involving the Local Safeguarding Children
Board (LSCB), the planning process will reach out to all the agencies with a
role to play in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Chief
Executives will play an important part in bringing partners together.
2.8 The CYPP should cover all local authority
services affecting children and young people:
a.
Early years and extended schools and out-of-school
child care
b.
Education
c.
Lifelong learning
d.
Youth services
e.
Children’s social services
f.
Planning and regeneration
g.
Housing (a district council responsibility in
two-tier areas) and registered social landlords
h.
Play and leisure services
i.
Traffic and transport
It will also cover:
a.
Health and public health services for children and
young people, including child and adolescent mental health and sexual health
b.
Advice and guidance for 14-19 year olds (including
Connexions)
c.
Services to tackle the misuse of drugs and alcohol
d.
Services provided by relevant youth justice
agencies
e.
Voluntary and community services
f.
Education provided other than by the local
authority.
2.9 The CYPP will be prepared by the local
authority with its partners in the children’s trust. Most authorities are expected to be working with partners through
children’s trusts by 2006, and all by 2008. While children's trust governance
arrangements are developing, the local authority will still be expected to
produce the CYPP in conjunction with partners involved in the full range of
children and young people’s services. The Children and Young People’s Trust
current shadow arrangements have provided the mechanism with which to develop
this CYPP.
2.10 Some
other planning requirements do remain.
External scrutiny, including the inspection plan, is described in the
following paragraphs. The plans listed in this paragraph need to be reflected
in the CYPP and their contents useful in carrying out the needs assessment
described in more detail in Section 2.
a.
The local authority will
continue to have an Accessibility Strategy, under the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 (SEN and Disability Act 2001)
b.
It will also have a duty to publish a disability
equality scheme under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005
c.
The local authority will have an SEN policy (as
required under the Special Educational Needs (Provision of Information by Local
Education Authorities) (England) Regulations 2001. Both this and the Accessibility Strategy can be subsumed within
another suitable plan, as long as the duties are met, but should be clearly
signposted, in the interests of availability.
d.
A Children’s Fund plan is required until 2008, and
local partnerships and local authorities have received advice on how to fit
this into the CYPP.
e.
Local authorities will continue to prioritise
capital investment on the basis of asset surveys and locally agreed management
plans. Large-scale procurements, such
as Building Schools for the Future, will still require business cases and other
planning information to be submitted to the Government for approval.
3.0 Inspection
3.1 During March, April and May the Isle of
Wight will be subject to a Joint Area Review (JAR) of services for children and
young people, led by Ofsted and other inspectorates and commissions as part of
the Corporate Performance Assessment. This will include enhanced coverage of
the youth service in areas where it has not been inspected separately. The
inspectorates will look carefully at the quality of the data, analysis and
consultation leading up to the CYPP, or its review, and the effectiveness of
its implementation, as well as at operational planning, budget pooling and
joint commissioning. Inspection will determine whether the involvement of
children and young people, their parents and carers has been effective in
service planning and delivery. Where a local authority is subject to
intervention on grounds of poor performance, the CYPP may be included in any
direction concerning the intervention.
4.0 Publication
4.1 The CYPP must be published. The regulations require the local authority
to place it on their website, send a copy to those with whom arrangements have
been made under the duty to co-operate and put a copy in public libraries and
other local outlets. The local
authority and partners, for example PCTs, but also others, will give the CYPP,
or a summary, wider circulation as part of the programme of reform and cultural
change across all services in an area. It will be made available in children’s
centres and other pre-school provision as a way of communicating with parents
of very young children. The plan is written in language suitable for children
and young people. The plan and the
summary or both will also be made available in different community languages or
formats such as large print and Braille to ensure accessibility.
4.2 The Isle of Wight has taken the
innovative step of developing the CYPP as a dynamic web-based infrastructure.
This facilitates consultation, allows the CYPP to be adapted in the light of
experience, audit and external inspection and enables up-to-date publications
for particular audiences as well as electronic information exchanges. The CYPP
will be available on www.iwight.com as
will an online survey of the CYPP.
5.0 CONCLUSION
5.1 After a series of consultation events and
opportunities the Island has identified five key priorities for children and young
people. These are:
·
Raise educational
achievement.
·
Improve mental health and
well-being (by reducing bullying, alcohol and substance misuse).
·
Increase support and
employability for those aged 14 to 19.
·
Help more of children and
young people to get involved in things to do in their communities.
·
Develop
more support for parents, carers and families.
The CYPP describes how
these priorities will be met in line with the Isle of Wight Council’s Aim High Change
Management Plan and the Island’s Local Area Agreement.
6.0 STRATEGIC
CONTEXT
6.1 The
CYPP has been drawn from the Aim High Change Management Plan and the Local Area
Agreement and forms the action plan with which to deliver the outcomes for children
and young people within both. The CYPP covers all areas of the Aim High Change
Management Plan and the Local Area Agreement not just those areas that relate
specifically to children and young people. The CYPP recognises all services
have a role to play in helping support the delivery of better outcomes for
children and young people. The CYPP can be considered as the business plan for
the developing Isle of Wight Children and Young People’s Trust.
7.0 CONSULTATION
7.1 The statutory guidance on inter-agency
co-operation to improve the well-being of children (December 2004) stated that
one of the five essential building blocks was a “Child-centred outcome led
vision informed by the view of local children, young people and their
families”. The Isle of Wight Children’s Services Authority (CSA) and
partners are committed to the involvement of children and young people in the
development and implementation of the Children’s and Young People’s Trust and
the Children and Young People’s Plan.
7.2 A Children’s Trust Planning for Real®
exercise at the Big Day Out 2004 with 148 children and young people identified
that services provided by the proposed Children’s Trust should address
bullying, more places to play both indoor and outdoor, more help available to
stop smoking, more help for people who use drugs and improved transport.
Further consultation took place at the Big Day Out 2005 to inform the
development of the Children and Young People’s Plan and to feed back to
children and young people what has changed based on previous consultations.
7.3
A recent meta analysis of consultations covering the views of 8,000
children and young people for the Local Area Agreement identified the following
outcomes they prioritised: better transport, support to improve mental
health, stopping bullying, places to hang out and things to do, reducing
alcohol, smoking and drug misuse, stopping crime and violence, support for
healthier eating, a greener environment, more recycling and more support in education
and in getting a job. These outcomes were endorsed by the Isle of Wight Youth
Council on10th August 2005 and have been incorporated into the CYPP.
7.4 The online survey will be emailed to all
users including within NHS, all partners of the Children and Young People’s
Trust current shadow Boards and all schools and GP Surgeries. Two Talkback
electronic interactive display Boards will tour the Island during February 2006
stopping at Children’s Centres, Supermarkets, Leisure Facilities, Job Centre Plus
and Post Offices to gain further views of local people. The results of the
consultation will be incorporated into the final version of the CYPP.
8.0 FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS
8.1 The development of the Children and Young
People’s Plan is part of the children’s services improvement cycle, set out in Every
Child Matters: Change for Children. The goal of integrating planning for
children's services will be supported by the increased funding
flexibilities provided by the Isle of Wight Local Area Agreement (LAA) due to
begin April 2006. The Department for Education and Skills will rationalise the
number of local authority grants for children’s services and provide enhanced
and integrated support and challenge across children's services to local areas
through Government Office for the South East.
8.2 The capacity and
resources with which to deliver improved outcomes for children and young people
as described in the CYPP will be inspected during the forthcoming Joint Area
Review.
9.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
9.1 Section 10 of the Children’s Act 2004
places a duty on all CSAs to make arrangements to promote co-operation between
certain named partners (the ‘relevant partners’), and other locally determined
partners to improve the well-being of children as defined by the five positive
outcomes set out in the Act:-
Physical and mental health
and emotional well-being
Protection from harm and
neglect
Education, training and
recreation
The contribution made to
society
Social and economic
well-being
The ‘relevant partners’
must in turn co-operate with the CSA at every level when making arrangements
under Section 10. The relevant partners
are:-
The police authority and
Chief Police Officer for the area
The local probation board
The Youth Offending Team
The Primary Care Trust and
Strategic Health Authority
The Connexions Partnership
The Learning & Skills
Council (local and national)
9.2 The guidance also makes clear that other
agencies engaged in work with, or on behalf of, children, young people and their
families should also be involved in these arrangements including:
Schools
Voluntary and community
sector
Providers of health
services (including GPs)
Private sector providers,
where appropriate
9.3
The arrangements must cover all children up to the age of 18 and may
cover provision made for young people up to the age of 25.
9.4 Section 17 of the Children Act 2004
provides for regulations to require local authorities to prepare and publish a
CYPP, setting out their strategy for services for children and relevant young
persons.
9.5 The term ‘relevant young people’ is
defined in section 10(9) of the Act to mean those of 18 and 19, those over 19
receiving services, including leaving care and those over 19 and under 25 with
learning difficulties.
9.6 Sections 18(2)(d) and 19(1)(a) of the
Children Act 2004 bring the preparation of the CYPP within the remit of the
Director of Children’s Services and Lead Member for Children’s Services.
9.7 Section 23(3)(b) provides that the CYPP
will be taken into account in a Joint Area Review as part of the inspection
arrangements for children’s services.
9.8 Section 50 (2)(c) provides for the
inclusion of the CYPP in any direction where the Department is intervening as a
result of poor performance.
Schedule 5 repeals legislation for the:
Behaviour
Support Plan
Children’s
Services Plan
Class
Sizes Plan
Early
Years Development and Childcare Plan
Education
Development Plan
Local
Authority Adoption Services Plan
School
Organisation Plan
These
repeals came into force on 1 March 2005.
9.9
The Children and Young People’s Plan
(England) Regulations provide for CSAs to prepare and publish a CYPP and for
The
content of the CYPP;
The
first plan to be published by 1 April 2006 and the publication of succeeding
plans;
The
way in which the plan must be published;
Consultation;
Review
and
Exemption for authorities categorised as excellent
under CPA.
10.0 OPTIONS
10.1 The establishment of the Isle of Wight CYPP that
reflects local partnerships and priorities will set the agenda for integrated
children’s services and meet the requirements of Section 10 of the Children Act
2004 of having a CYPP in place by 1st April 2006.
11.0 EVALUATION/RISK
MANAGEMENT
11.1 The evaluation and
management of risk is as described in the Isle of Wight Council’s Aim High Change Management Plan and the
Island’s Local Area Agreement.
|
12.0 RECOMMENDATIONS The key priorities within the CYPP and the CYPP itself are recommended to the Commission. These key priorities are:
·
Develop more support for parents, carers
and families. |
13.0 BACKGROUND PAPERS
A position statement on the development of the Isle of
Wight Children and Young People’s Trust.
Report of the Cabinet Holder - Councillor Patrick
Joyce Cabinet Member for Children 13th September 2005
14.0 APPENDICES
Appendix A: The draft Isle of Wight Children and Young
People’s Plan 2006 to 2009.
15.0 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
None
Contact Point: Simon Dear
The Isle of Wight Children’s Trust Development Advisor
Children's Services
County Hall
Newport, Isle of Wight
PO30 1LA
Tel: (01983) 823410
Mobile: 07779 999 839