Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Prynn

To note who is attending and any apologies for absence.

All attendees were welcomed to the meeting. Apologies were noted from County Councillor Lorraine Beavers, Diane Booth and Sam Gorton.

Bob Stott

To introduce Tony Morrissey, Deputy Director of Children's Services to the Board.

It was noted that the lead Director responsibility for the Board would be passing from Bob Stott to Tony Morrissey. Bob thanked the Board for the experience of being the lead Director for two years and Tony said he was looking forward to continuing the excellent work that had already been done.

County Councillor Prynn

To agree for accuracy the notes of the meeting and receive any matters arising.

The notes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record. There were no matters arising.

County Councillor Prynn and other Elected Members

To note feedback from work undertaken by the Chair of the Board and our Elected Members as part of their role on the CPB, including Member visits carried out since the last meeting.

The County Councillors present highlighted a number of areas of their recent work.

Councillor Henig reported on a visit to a prison in Lancashire and a very good scheme in place where a father in prison is videoed reading a book for their children. The video is then sent, along with the book, to the children so they can follow it while their father reads it.

Councillor Henig also advised that the report of the Lancashire Fairness Commission had now been completed, and suggested that the young people present might be interested to read it.

She also reported that the Lancashire Book of the year award shortlist had now been announced. This was a book award chosen entirely by young people, and the winner would be announced at a ceremony in June. She had also attended a drama event at the Grand Theatre in Lancaster organised by "Northern beat", which presented dramas for young people around the theme "Pride and prejudices".

Several Councillors spoke about their involvement in the election campaign.

Councillor Prynn advised that she had reported her CSE concerns to the LSCB and police. She had not yet received a response from the Police, and will be following that up to make sure the concerns have been received.

Councillor Prynn had also had direct approaches from young people on two issues – the use of restraint and issue on leaving care. She had requested the Young Inspectors to look into the first and will be looking into the second issue further to see what support mechanisms could be put in place. It was felt that the approaches made were a positive sign that young people would approach councillors when they had a problem.

The Education Scrutiny Committee had met and considered the relatively poor performance of Children Looked After at school, particularly at GCSE.  Councillor Prynn attended the committee meeting to put forward her concerns and explain why attainment may be low.  She stressed how everyone must have high expectations of our children looked after and do everything possible to raise their attainment.  CC Prynn suggested a number of recommendations.  These were accepted by the Committee and have now been passed to relevant officers.

Councillor Prynn said that she had been considering ways to enhance the work of the Board and to help it gain better recognition. She suggested that a new logo for the Board might help, along with possibly a new "mission statement" to explain what it did. Councillor Prynn asked Hannah Peake and LINX to give this some thought.  Cllr Prynn also mentioned that she would contact Democratic Services and Governance Officers to check the legalities of any possible changes.

Amongst other activities, Councillor Prynn stated that she was in the process of organising a meeting with a representative of UCLAN (University of Central Lancashire) about working with Children Looked After and has attended a conference at which people from Cambridge University talked about a programme they are running to get more Children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Young People and Barnardos

To receive feedback on the work our young people have been doing including:

·  What LINX have been doing

·  ITV Fixers Project – Tackling Negative Stereotypes

·  PROUD 2015 Feedback

·  Young Inspectors Update

·  Feedback on the Corporate Parenting Board Performance Report

·  Taking it to the Next Level Film on Health Assessments

·  Lancashire Participation Network Annual Report

LINX updated the board on their recent activities. A number of presentations were shown, attached to these notes, on tackling negative stereotypes of children looked after, an update on the work of the young inspectors and the PROUD awards.

Young Inspector visits have taken place in the following residential homes and independent fostering agencies:

-  Crestmoor (in house residential home)

-  Park View (Agency Residential home in East Lancashire belonging to Hexagon Care)

-  Frances House (agency residential home in East Lancashire)

-  Blue Potts (agency residential home in North Lancashire belonging to Partners in Care)

-  Fostering Solutions (Independent Fostering Agency)

Two short films were also shown, one opn stereotyping children in care, the other aimed at helping helath services make sure they are meeting the needs of children in care.  It was acknowledged that a considerable about of activities had been undertaken and LINX were thanked for their work.

LINX also provided feedback on the Perfomance report. The comments were noted and would be taken up by the relevant officers for further action.

Hannah Peake

To note the evaluation from PROUD.

The Board considered the recent PROUD event. It was confirmed that the event had been a success, with nominations from a wide range of sources.  For the future, it was noted that the Board would need to access funding to support any future PROUD events.  If funding was accessed then consideration would be given to a different event being held for younger children, to make sure that there was an appropriate way of celebrating the achievements of 3-5 year olds.

In addition, it was identified that there were no nominations from the health sector, and that some work could take place to target that area in future.

Jonathan Hewitt

To receive feedback from a meeting held on 14 January 2015 on how the schools' curriculum model in Personal Health and Social Education focusses on CSE and that staff have access to the relevant training.

The Board noted the update on the CSE/Curriculum meeting held in January 2015. It was confirmed that currently around a quarter of secondary schools had participated in the breakfast briefings. It was confirmed that further updates would be presented in future.

Audrey Swann

To meet the new Headteacher for Vulnerable and Children Looked After and hear what is currently happening and plans for the future.

The new headteacher for Vulnerable and Looked After Children, Audrey Swann, was introduced to the Board and gave a brief outline of the work of the Virtual School.

Diane Booth, Brendan Lee, Stasia Osiowy, Barbara Bath, Ajay Sethi

To note the new Phase 1 of the Transformation of LCC and meet the new Heads of Service and understand their responsibilities.

Ajay Sethi, the new Head of Service for Traded Services in the Start Well service area was introduced to the Board, and briefly outlined his responsibilities.

Diane Booth

To note the new site.

It was reported that the new Care Leavers website was now live www.lancashire.gov.uk/youthzone, and that a demonstration would be given at the next meeting

County Councillor Prynn

To receive any other business.

A new project,  "Care to be Different", aimed at providing intensive support to Care Leavers, was underway, and LINX expressed an interest in being involved in further discussions about this.

The Chair handed out a number of "Celebrate Youth" awards to the LINX representatives present.

County Councillor Prynn

Thursday, 18 June 2015, at 6.00pm in the Duke of Lancaster Room (formerly Cabinet Room 'C'), County Hall, Preston, PR1 8RJ.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Board would be at 6pm on Thursday 18 June 2015 in Cabinet Room C (the Duke of Lancaster Room), County Hall.