Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Tony Jones replaced County Councillor Susie Charles for this meeting,

Apologies were received from County Councillors Munsif Dad, Graham Gooch and Dorothy Lord; Elaine Shinks, Children's Partnership Board - Hyndburn, Rossendale and Ribble Valley; and Catherine Swift, Children's Partnership Board - Burnley and Pendle.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: The minutes from the meeting held on the 18 January 2017 were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the chair.

The Chair welcomed Sakhti Karunanithi, the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing to the meeting. The Committee was provided with a presentation regarding childhood obesity.

The definition of child excess weight and obesity. Children with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to the 95^th centile of the British 1990 growth reference BMI distribution had been classified as obese. Children with a BMI greater than or equal to the 85^th centile of the British 1990 growth reference BMI distribution had been classified as overweight including obese (excess weight).

The situation in Lancashire was that the National Child Measurement Programme data (2014/15) showed in Lancashire that in the under 12s

Age Group the prevalence in reception age children was 9% and 18% in year 6 (England figures 9% and 19% respectively).

In 2008/09 the obesity prevalence in Lancashire for reception age children was 9.0%. This cohort was now the year 6 population (2014/15) with an obesity prevalence that had doubled to 18%.

Hyndburn (11%) and Lancaster (11%) both had significantly higher rates of obesity in reception age children, compared to England.

Burnley (22%) had a significantly higher rate of obesity in year 6 children compared to England, while Chorley (17%), South Ribble (15%), Ribble Valley (14%) and Fylde (13%) were significantly lower.

The population based childhood obesity prevention strategy had been set up within Government. It included population wide policies and initiatives to do with food, environment, and, physical activity.

There were also community based interventions such as:

·  Engagement

·  Governance

·  Early Years

·  Schools

·  Other child care settings

A plan of action had been set up. There was a soft drinks levy payable on drinks with added sugar. The amount of tax payable depended on the volume and overall sugar content of soft drinks which companies either produced or imported. There was a lot of focus put on hidden sugar in food and drink and there was commitment to take out sugar in products. There was an incentive to promote businesses to be healthier and also make school food healthier.

The Health and Wellbeing Strategy had been developed by Lancashire's Health and Wellbeing Board and its vision was that every citizen in Lancashire would enjoy a long and healthy life. Part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) was to create healthy environments in health and care settings to improve diets and support action to reverse trends in childhood obesity. A Unicef baby friendly mark had been achieved by Lancashire's children centres and health settings. There was now a Healthy Weight and Active Lifestyles service available in Lancashire. There were also various community initiatives around childhood obesity and there were campaigns as well such as Be Food Smart which was about making people aware of how much sugar and fat was in our food.

LCC welcomed opportunities to work with early years and schools on childhood obesity, and also work with businesses and dentists. Another opportunity on tackling childhood obesity was through 'Health as a Social Movement'. This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair welcomed Brendan Lee, Head of Service Special Educational Needs and Disability, to the meeting.

The Committee was informed that the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 directly impacted on work undertaken within the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) service and subsequently officers had to have due regard for the remits of this legislation. The MCA had far reaching implications for the SEND service in relation to decisions that young people using their service were making with regard to their education and care. The MCA interacted with other key pieces of legislation such as the Children Act 1989 and SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years.

Within SEND, good progress had been made in a number of areas of the Work Plan (September 2016). Pathways had been developed in relation to how the Children with Disabilities Team (CwD) and Integrated Assessment and Monitoring Team (IA&M) work with children and young people to undertake capacity assessments and, where appropriate, consider what was in their best interests. These were currently being consulted on by a number of practitioners with various areas of expertise. The cohort of young people to whom the MCA was applicable had been identified and the procedure for prioritising these young people was being developed and would be implemented in due course. Training was being commissioned from April 2017. Learning from case law and casework within Lancashire was ongoing and would inform the development of procedures and practice guidance. In the last 12 months the CwD Team had made seven applications to the Court of Protection under the MCA with no criticism received from the work undertaken in these cases. The SEND Service had successfully built good links with Lancashire's Mental Capacity Act MCA Co-Ordinator in the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Team who was providing advice and guidance where requested and had strengthened links with Legal Services to offer on-going support. In addition the MCA Working Group incorporated professionals with a range of backgrounds and knowledge.

Questions and comments in relation to the report were as follows:

·  The SEND team had to consider if the children had the mental capacity to make their own decisions and understand the consequences of their actions before the team looked at deprivation of liberty.

·  Regarding the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), concerns were expressed over deprivation of liberty for children. The primary goal of the SEND team was to protect the children. The MCA was about protecting liberty. It was very challenging for foster services and care services. There was a huge piece of legislation in regards to the MCA and deprivation of liberty with many complexities attached to it.

·  Members felt there was scope for a briefing on the MCA and deprivation of liberty for all County Councillors. The SEND DoLs Sub-Group had felt that that this was a difficult and complex area of work and asked how far LCC could go as a local authority ensuring all the procedures were in place and children were protected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee was presented with the work plan which included current sub-group reviews.

In consultation with the Chair it was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee on 12^th April be cancelled. The next meeting of the Committee would be on 14^thJune at 2:00pm.

The Chair would send an email to Members of the Committee inviting them to respond and give feedback on specific issues, specifically around working groups, training and membership of the Committee.

Resolved: The Committee noted and commented on the report.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of urgent business declared.

The next meeting of the Committee will take place on 12 April 2017 at 4:30pm, Cabinet Room 'C', County Hall, Preston

Next meeting of the Committee to take place on the 14 June 2017 at 2:00pm, Cabinet Room C, County Hall, Preston.