Agenda item

Clare Smith, Policy, Commissioning and Children's Health, LCC

To receive and discuss the Participation Strategy in particular The Lundy Model - https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/children-and-young-peoples-participation/

Clare Smith, Policy, Commissioning and Children's Health, Lancashire County Council presented the Children and Young People's Participation Strategy to the Board.  The presentation is attached to the minutes.

The Strategy was written by children and young people, colleagues within Children's Services, Lancashire County Council along with partner organisations and was signed off by the Council's Cabinet in February 2023.  A launch event took place for the Strategy in February 2023.  The link to the Strategy can be found here: Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy - Lancashire County Council.  The Board were informed that the Strategy includes lots of tools for Services to evaluate how they are currently conducting participation within their own settings.  The Board noted that all Children's Services in Lancashire are carrying out a self-assessment of how they involve children and young people at the moment.  The findings will help to shape how services work individually share learning and good practice around participation.

The Board were presented with the Lundy Model of Participation which is included in the Strategy and its' four elements which are:

·  Space – how this is created to make children and young people feel welcome and feel that they can participate on an equal footing to the adults in the room. To ensure that spaces are children and young people friendly.

·  Voice – colleagues need to recognise that not all children and young people communicate in the same way.  They may need help to communicate in different ways, either through drawings, using symbols or using different languages. Also need to think about what children and young people may not be saying, it may be what is seen or heard or their behaviour.  May need to help them have an advocate if they need someone to help them with their voice and equally, they can choose to participate or not.

·  Audience - need to help children and young people connect with influential adults that can help support them with what they think is important such as offering practical advice to children and young people, using the relationships and partnerships from Board members roles to help influence change around the things that children and young people think are important and then to inform young people what has changed as a result of their participation.

·  Influence - need to help children and young people understand what difference their views have made, what impact has it had, what is different as a result of what they have shared and what kind of subjects they are interested in.

The Board were asked to discuss in groups how the Lundy model could develop the work of the Corporate Parenting Board.  Following discussions, a selection of some of the points raised were:

·   Think about where meetings are held, whether they are accessible for young people, friendly, different ways of communicating and offering information in a variety of formats.

·  Choice in venue for meetings ie health appointments.

·  Use a Corporate Parenting Board Roadshow model where the meeting takes place in different locations across Lancashire.

·  What skills or career opportunities can be shared with young people.

·  Voice – lets consult with all of Lancashire's young people about what is important to them – how can the Board support LINX (Lancashire's Children in Care Council) and Care Leaver groups do this.

·  Corporate Parenting Board and young people to feed into newsletters for those services that are involved with children and young people in care and care leavers.

·  Name badges (with roles) for those attending Board meetings.

·  A "Who's Who" to be available on tables for each Board meeting.

·  Officers and young people need to mix on the tables.

·  Look at having a QR code.

Further comments on how to develop the Corporate Parenting Board from the Menti activity can be found in the presentation attached to the minutes.

Resolved:  That the Board noted the presentation and that the comments on how to develop the Corporate Parenting Board further to include the Lundy Model will be taken into consideration and acted upon for future meetings.