Minutes of Meeting held in the Council Chamber, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Friday, 26 January 2007 at 10.30 a.m.
Present:
Highland Council Members
Mrs M C Davidson (Chairman), Mr A Anderson, Mr A M Millar, Mr L Fraser
NHS Highland Members
Ms P Courcha, Dr D Alston, Mrs J Baird
Children’s Champions
Mr W Fernie, Mrs R Finlayson, Mrs G McCreath
Highland Council Officers
Ms H Dempster, Director of Social Work, Mr B Robertson, Director of Education, Culture and Sport, Mr S Illiffe, Principal Educational Psychologist, Mr J Allison, Principal Administrator, Corporate Services, Miss V Rushton, Administrative Assistant, Corporate Services
NHS Highland Officers
Mr A Ward, Women and Children’s Services Manager
Highland Council/NHS
Mr B Alexander, Head of Service (Children, Young People and Families)
In attendance:
Mr C Munro, Highland Children’s Forum, Mrs A Brady, Highland Pre School Services, Ms A Hallmann, Who Cares? Scotland, Mr T Boyd, Authority Reporter, Mr A McMahon, Children’s Rights Officer, Ms A Darlington, NCH, Ms C MacLean, CHIP+
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mrs O J Macdonald, Mrs S Slimon, Mrs A Bethune, Mr G Farmer, and Ms Sally Amor.
The Chairman informed Members that Miss J Fraser had submitted a letter of resignation to the Joint Committee. Members conveyed their appreciation to the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, who was moving to a new post with Aberdeenshire Council, for his support for Children and Young People.
2. Minutes of Meeting of the Joint Committee held on 24 November
2007
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Joint Committee held on 24 November 2006 were circulated and NOTED.
Arising from the Minutes, also NOTED that a letter had been sent to Mr Peacock MSP on his resignation as Minister for Education and Young People conveying the Committee’s appreciation for his support for Children and Young People.
3. Revenue Budget – Monitoring 2006/07
Report No. CYP1-07 by Bill Alexander, Head of Service (Children, Young People and Families) was circulated providing monitoring information to 31 December 2006 on those areas of expenditure delegated to the Joint Committee.
Previous monitoring statements had indicated significant budget pressures resulting from the costs of out of authority placements and Early Education. Measures agreed at the Joint Committee in October in relation to Early Education were expected to suffice.
However, it was highlighted that many local authorities were in a similar situation in relation to over expenditure on out of authority placements. The numbers of out of authority placements, along with the associated costs for Highland, were summarised. It was anticipated that the total overspend would be £1.45m by the end of the financial year. A total of £1.2m had been identified within the Joint Committee budget to help manage the overspend and details of the virement were given. The remaining shortfall was to be considered by the Council’s Budget Working Group.
The requirements of the organisations offering the specialist care needed, combined with increases in fees, and the increase in the number of young people requiring out of authority placements, all contributed to the rising costs.
During discussion, it was emphasised that these were short term measures to address budget pressures but a longer term solution was required. A letter should be submitted to COSLA highlighting the issue and indicating the significant demand-led costs involved and the recurring pressures for many authorities.
NOTED
i. the report;
ii. that the Council’s Budget Working Group was to consider the estimated
budget deficit of £250k that would remain after implementing the agreed
activities and virements and AGREED to:
a. the virements as proposed in the report to help address the
anticipated deficit; and
b. write to COSLA detailing financial information and outlining the
problems relating to Out of Authority Placements and the costs
involved, supported by evidence from other local authorities.
4. Inspection of Integrated Children’s Services
Report No. CYP 2-07 by Bill Alexander, Head of Service (Children, Young People and Families) was circulated and updated Members on national developments regarding the inspection of integrated children’s services and highlighting the recently published guide to self-evaluation. It proposed that Chief Officers begin to plan to use a common approach across children services in Highland, building on the evolving child protection process. This process would build upon the developing Quality Improvement Framework which had previously been reported to the Joint Committee.
Within Highland, the Child Protection Committee had established a Quality Assurance Group which has been developing the principles of a frame-work for self-evaluation on a small number of test cases. It was expected to further develop this and commence auditing child protection activities, which would inform child protection processes. The Scottish Executive was likely to commence integrated inspections late 2007/early 2008 and although any local authority could be inspected, it would be prudent for Highland to have already commenced this activity.
AGREED Chief Officers begin to plan to use the self-evaluation guidance and associated tools across children’s services in Highland.
5. Administration of Medicines
Report No CYP 3-07 by Stephen Iliffe, Senior Manager, Additional Support Needs was circulated describing the work of a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency Steering Group and made recommendations regarding policy and procedures for NHS Highland and the Highland Council. A similar report was accepted by the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of the Highland Council on 9 November 2006.
Guidance had been published by the Scottish Executive Health Department in the interim and the multi-agency Steering Group sought for the guidance document to be formally adopted as policy by both the NHS and Highland Council. Discussions had taken place with teacher unions in relation to their contracts and conditions of service, and that of school support staff, and considered in terms of a general duty of care. Advice had also been sought on various matters of law and had been considered at the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers before being formally agreed by the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.
AGREED to:-
(i) adopt the Scottish Executive Health Department guidance document as
policy within NHS Highland and the Highland Council;
(ii) support, where necessary, the development of additional processes and
documentation within NHS Highland and the Highland Council; and
(iii) support the current work plan, revised and up-dated as necessary, for
the multi-disciplinary, multi-agency Steering Group.
6. Getting It Right For Every Child – Update
Report No CYP 4-07 by Marj Stewart, Integrated Assessment Framework Co-ordinator was circulated updating Members on progress during November and December on the development and implementation of “Getting It Right for Every Child” in Inverness and Highland. Prior to the meeting a Seminar had been held to inform those involved of the progress so far with GIRFEC. Information had been given on the single plan and the phasing and timescales for implementation. A draft Bill was now in place and Highland was expected to contribute to the consultation process with a further seminar on 6 March 2007 to contribute to and coordinate the response to the draft Bill.
Arising from discussion at the Seminar, Members welcomed the phasing programme and commented that while some fine-tuning was required, flexibility of the arrangements would be key. Comment was made that improved communication and training structures were required between all groups involved, especially between public and voluntary sector organisations. It was also felt important that as well as ensuring staff were informed, service users should also be informed to understand the benefits of the new system. The view was also emphasised that certain voluntary organisation would take on a much higher profile role.
NOTED the points arising from the Seminar held earlier on the day of the meeting and the progress made to date towards the introduction of GIRFEC, and
AGREED that detailed communication and training structures between all groups involved were required, especially between public and voluntary sector organisations.
7. Date of Next Meeting
NOTED the next meeting of the Joint Committee would be held on Friday, 16 March 2007 at 10.30 a.m. in the Council Chamber, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness which will be followed by lunch at Inverness Royal Academy.
The meeting ended at 3:35p.m.