Agenda and minutes

Young People from LINX/CLF (Lancashire's Children in Care Council/.Care Leavers Forum)

Young people from Lancashire Children in Care Council (LINX) and Care Leavers Forum (CLF) opened the meeting with an icebreaker.

County Councillor Clarke

To note who is attending and any apologies for absence.

All were welcomed to the meeting and apologies were received from Bev Maymond, Jen Robertshaw, Clare Platt, Moya McKinney and Jen Ryder.

Maureen Huddleston joined the meeting via Teams.

The Board extended huge congratulations to Liam and Jake (young people) who had both gained employment within Lancashire County Council.  The Board wished them all the success in their new employment.

The Board welcomed the following new members:

·  County Councillor Stewart Jones who has replaced County Councillor Howard Hartley, Lancashire County Council.

·  Julie McShane who has replaced Alex Wood as the Residential Provider.

·  Tonya Harrison has replaced Hayley Kinowski, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council.

·  Danielle Winkley has replaced Andy Smith, Quality Assurance, Inspection and Safeguarding, Lancashire County Council.

The Board noted that Katy Hodkinson, Fostering representative had resigned from the Board.

Replacements for this meeting were as follows:

·  Louise Humphreys for Edna Skillen, Department for Work and Pensions.

·  Chris Page for Audrey Swann, Education Improvement, Lancashire County Council.

The Board were informed that April Pollitt, Child and Family Wellbeing Service was leaving the Board to accept a new role within the Council and was wished every success for the future.  Audrey Swann, Education Improvement, Lancashire County Council was retiring in October and has been a member of the Board for a number of years.  The Board wished Audrey a long and happy retirement.

Hannah Sykes, Deputy Designated Nurse for Safeguarding and Children in Care, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board was observing the meeting.

County Councillor Clarke

To note the appointment by the County Council on the 23 May 2024 of County Councillors Stephen Clarke and Loraine Cox as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee, respectively, for 2024/25.

Resolved:  That the Committee noted the appointment by the County Council on 23 May 2024 of County Councillors Clarke and Cox as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee, respectively for 2024/25.

County Councillor Clarke

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

Resolved:  That the minutes were agreed as an accurate record.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

County Councillor Clarke

The Board is asked to review the Constitution, Membership and Terms of Reference.

The Board reviewed the Constitution, Membership and Terms of Reference as set out at Appendix 'A' and it was:

Resolved:  That the Board agreed the Constitution, Membership and Terms of Reference with the addition of "Health Services" to be added at m) (v).

Young People from LINX/CLF (Lancashire's Children in Care Council/Care Leavers Forum)

To receive an update on what the Participation Team have been doing with LINX/CLF since the last Board meeting, including feedback from the Young People's Corporate Parenting Board meeting held on 24 July 2024 and the summer activities.

Young people from Lancashire's Children in Care Council (LINX) and the Care Leavers Forum (CLF) updated the Board on what they had been involved with since the last meeting of the Board in July 2024.

Young People's Corporate Parenting Board meeting  - 24 July 2024

The Board noted that the young people planned and delivered the Corporate Parenting Board youth takeover meeting and thanked those who attended.  There were a mix of activities and discussions for the session with the aim being to get to know new people, provide updates and look at future support for care experienced young people.

Young people felt the meeting went well and people got involved in the discussions and activities. Those in attendance were asked what advice they would give young people who were looking for employment, what happened if they were unsuccessful following an interview and what advice they would give for interview preparation. The feedback gained from the session will be shared on the FYP Instagram page to raise awareness.

Following the meeting young people have started to plan for the Young People's meeting in July 2025 and are looking at mixing up the groups more throughout the session, so people get a chance to network, and have activities for different age ranges and to have background music playing during activities.

At the end of the meeting feedback was gathered and young people informed the Board that overall it was positive, however, young people did ask for more attendance from officers and different aged young people and that attendees commit to being present for the whole meeting.

Summer sessions

Preston Vocational Centre

Over the summer, young people had the opportunity to learn some DIY skills at Preston Vocational Centre, such as woodworking and decorating which will help young people be more independent and be able to help others.

Co-Production Days

Co production days were held, and April Pollitt and Adam Riley talked to young people individually about themselves and their interests, their hobbies and what they had done over summer.  Each participant engaged well in the activities such as junk modelling which encouraged creativity and flexibility of being able to create anything with materials provided.

Views and ideas were also gathered for the Welcome Box project which will be reviewed with forum members and will lead to a name for the process and looking at what additional items the young people have added.

Bin the Name was an interesting tabletop activity as every young person had a different view on names.  The most common themes were changing the name for family time, contact and placement, with "Respite" having a few dislikes.  Young people were asked for different names for family time or contact and they liked the name "getting together" as it can resemble not just meeting family but other important people in their life.

It was noted that the event was a huge success and would take place again next Summer if not before.

Grease

Young people attended the theatre in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Care Leavers Forum (CLF), Gina Power, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council and Caroline Waldron, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board

To receive an update on the Health and Wellbeing of Our Children event (July 2024).

Gina Power, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council, Caroline Waldron, Children in our Care and Care Leavers, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board and Young People from the Care Leavers Forum provided an update on the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaires (SDQs).

The Board noted that the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaires (SDQs) is required by each Local Authority and is used to assess children's mental health and wellbeing and can be completed by children and young people themselves or by their parents/carers or by their teachers.

The Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ) is required to be completed once a year as a minimum and that is used to inform Government and Local Authorities about what is the overall state of children and young people emotional health and well-being.  Best practice is that the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ) should be part of the child's annual health assessment.  The requirement is for the parent/carer to complete one independently and if a young person is aged 11 or above the expectation is that they would be encouraged or supported to complete their own.  The Board noted that teachers are not asked routinely to fill in questionnaire as it is part of the Personal Education Plan (PEP) process, however it is often used when there is a need to understand further if a child has any issues.

The responsibility of issuing the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaires (SDQs) is that of the Local Authority who the young person is in the care of.

In terms of the review of the process of the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaires (SDQs), the following took place:

·  Review of practice if what others do

·  Review of available data

·  Developed new practice and guidance

·  Launched with young people

Young people were part of the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaires (SDQs) Event and helped to plan and deliver at the beginning of each session.  They did a hands up activity asking the audience their own Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaires (SDQs) from formal and informal questions.  Young people asked about mental health in terms of resources and signposting and were disappointed with the results.  It was hoped that this feedback was taken on board during the session and that further resources and support can be put in place to be able to improve services for children and young people.

Resolved:  That the Board noted the update.

Rachel Blundell, Policy, Commissioning and Children's Health, Lancashire County Council

To receive an overview on what is currently happening with regards to supported accommodation.

Rachel Blundell and Sarah Jones, Policy, Commissioning and Children's Health, Lancashire County Council provided the Board with an overview of what was currently happening with regards to supported accommodation.

The Board received a presentation which outlined the following:

·  Supported Accommodation Sector – Recent Changes

·  Our Commissioning Priorities

·  What have Young People Told Us?

·  How did we Respond?

·  Current Supported Accommodation Services

·  Core Commissioned Services – Locations

·  Core Supported Accommodation Services – Proximity to In-House Children's Homes

·  What are we doing Differently under Core Contacts from November 2024?

·  Benefits of our Core Commissioned Services

·  How will we Monitor Core Commissioned Services?

·  Key Short-Term Actions/Objectives

The Board noted the most recent changes which are:

·  Regulation became mandatory on 28 October 2023 for supported accommodation services that are provided to Children Looked After/Care Leavers aged 16/17.

·  Introduced a set of National Standards and an Ofsted-led inspection regime.

·  Improved outcomes for young people

Ø  Independent scrutiny of support and accommodation standards

Ø  Stronger oversight of leadership and management

·  Inspections will begin in September 2024.

The above are a real positive and welcomed, however there are some challenges ahead, eg sufficiency and potential cost implications.

In terms of Lancashire County Council's commissioning priorities, these were outlined as follows:

·  Wide range of different services to meet different needs/preference.

·  In locations where young people want to live.

·  Good standards of accommodation.

·  Affordable for young people.

·  Support providers who hold the same value as the Authority does.

·  Deliver value for money for the Authority.

The Board noted that the accommodation element of supported accommodation services are covered through housing benefit.  For those young people who are not in employment and do not have an income through employment, the accommodation element is always met through housing benefit entitlement.  However there can be an implication for young people who are employed, depending on their earning. This can be a disincentive to go into employment because the rent/service charges for supported accommodation services can be quite high depending on the type of service.  To address this issue, in Lancashire an approach is made to the relevant District Council for Discretionary Housing Payments.

Following consultation with young people, the feedback was as follows:

·  Young people were generally positive about the safety of their home and the support that they receive.

·  Through an online survey, young people said they wanted improvements to the following areas:

Ø  Better Wi-Fi

Ø  More personalisation of their own space

Ø  Clearer policies on visitors and curfews

Ø  Improved information for new residents

Ø  More regular 'house meetings'

The Service then responded as follows:

·  The service specifications were amended to reflect young people’s feedback.  Additional areas were strengthened based on discussions held with Providers and through analysis of other commissioned services.

·  There are now clearer expectations on;

Ø  Referrals into the Advocacy Service

Ø  Supporting young people to access participation groups

Ø  Improving usage of Mind of my Own (digital participation app)

The Board were informed of Lancashire's supported accommodated services as of November 2024, which were:

·  22  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Sharon Drew/Jane Hylton, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council

To receive an overview from the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum Managers Event (July 2024) and the Care Experienced Conference (August 2024).

Andreas Feldhaar, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council provided an overview from the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum Managers Event that took place in July 2024 and the Care Experienced Conference in August 2024.

The Board noted the key updates and inspirational practice that was shared at the July event.

Corporate Parenting and Housing Authorities

The Board noted that legislation has changed slightly and now explicitly states that Housing Authorities are a corporate parent and sets out the duties that Housing Authorities have towards care levers. 

Joint Housing Protocol for Care Leavers (intentionality)

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housing and Communities has written a letter which strengthens Corporate Parenting and promotes all Local Authorities to have a joint housing program for care leavers, which Lancashire already has.  The goal is to remove intentionality as a reason to be homeless as a care leaver up to the age of 25, which is something that Lancashire will be working towards and a further update on this will be brought to a future Board meeting.

Care Leaver Hubs

In terms of Care Leaver Hubs, there is a lot of discussion nationally regarding this, around a bespoke building or room that is specific for Care Leavers where they can drop in, which has different facilities such as kitchens, washing machines etc and this is something that Lancashire are also working towards.  Currently there are two in Lancashire (Burnley and Lancaster) and in Central a building has been identified and some changes are required to the building before it is suitable.

Staying Close

The Board noted that with regards to Staying Close for a young person that is in a foster home, they can continue under the Staying Put arrangements to continue living with those foster carers if everyone agrees to that, however, those young people who live in a residential home, the Government have introduced the idea of promoting a Staying Close arrangement which has been piloted and will be developed further.

Family Links and Support Networks

In terms of Family links and support networks there has been a lot of discussion around young people building and maintaining family links (Lancashire have the Lifelong Links work).

The Board noted that it was good to see that areas of national discussion are things that Lancashire are already doing.

Relational Working

The Peer Learning Programme 2023/24 was funded by the Health Foundation, and Lancashire County Council is one of 12 Local Authorities taking part and each run their own project.  The aim of the programme is to build better professional relationships, collaborate more closely with colleagues to support young people better and the learning from the sessions contributes to continued practice development through the Development managers and the intention is to continue with local sessions.  The Board noted that Lancashire had also been recognised at the National meeting with regards to good practice.

Young People's Benchmarking Forum - In their Own Words

This is the second year that the young people from the Forum have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Amanda Barbour, Fostering, Adoption Lancashire Blackpool and Residential Services, Lancashire County Council

To receive an update from Residential Services.

This item was withdrawn.

Andreas Feldhaar, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council

To receive an update on the current position of the Care Leavers Covenant.

Andreas Feldhaar, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council provided an update on the current position of the Care Leavers Covenant since the last update to the Board:

·  Guaranteed interviews for jobs with Lancashire County Council

Ø  Where essential criteria are met

Ø  Ongoing work from Lancashire County Council's People Service

·  Get Ready and Join Us – bespoke application and interview support and employment opportunities with Lancashire County Council

Ø  Online self-referral portal linked to our Local Offer

Ø  Web content and self-referral template developed

Ø  Data Protection Impact Assessment to be completed

Ø  E-form to be developed

Ø  Launch date: Care Leavers' Week

·  Care Leavers supported into employment with Lancashire County Council April to August 2024

Ø  2 full time (Adult Social Care and Residential Children Homes)

Ø  3 part time (Adult Social Care, Residential Children Homes and Transport)

Ø  7 work placements (Adult Social Care, Residential Children Homes, IT, Libraries and Facilities Management)

·  Employee Support Group

Ø  Employee Support Group Network

Ø  Executive Leadership commitment to be sought

·  Lancashire's Skills and Employment Hub

Ø  Employers guide completed

Ø  Work ongoing to add Care Leaver Friendly Employer to Lancashire's Skills Pledge

Resolved:  That the Board noted the update and welcomed further updates at future meetings.

Jane Hylton, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council

To receive an outline of what is happening throughout Care Leavers Week, 21-25 October 2025.

Andreas Feldhaar, Permanence Service, Lancashire County Council provided the Board with an outline of what is happening throughout Care Leavers Week which is 21-25 October 2024.

The Board were reminded that Care Leavers Week is about refocusing the mind about young people in care and care leavers and a reflection on being mindful of the ongoing challenges that young people face daily and how to support the challenges and make a difference.

The theme for Care Leavers Week is Sawubona which  means "I See You" and is a Zulu greeting.  The word embodies philosophy of deep human connection, respect and recognition.

During the week there will be Dinner with Dialogue, where young people from the Care Leavers Forum will meet with Directors of the Council.  There will also be outdoor activities throughout the week.

There will also be an event at Crossgate Church Preston, where young people will create an art collage which challenges the negative stereotypes of care experience, and this will be created by young people and partners.

Partners and different teams within Children's Services will be asked to think about something that they could do for care experienced young people and to celebrate their young people's achievements and to share these at the event.

Resolved:  That the Board noted the update.

County Councillor Clarke

To receive any other business.

There was not any other business received.

County Councillor Clarke

Wednesday, 20 November 2024, at 6.00pm in Savoy Suite 2, The Exchange, County Hall, Preston, PR1 8RJ.

Wednesday, 20 November 2024 at 6.00pm in Savoy Suite 1, The Exchange, County Hall, Preston, PR1 8RJ.