Agenda item

Purpose: To provide an overview of the Early Intervention and Family Help & Achievement Model and its impact on meeting the needs of families earlier and decreasing the need for costly long-term statutory involvement with children and their families.

Rebecca Wilshire (Service Director – Children’s Social Care) and Karen Atalla (Service Manager - Children and Family Services) introduced the report on Early Intervention and Family Help (Agenda Item 8).

During the debate, the following points were made:

·       Members asked if the Council worked with Time2Talk and other voluntary sector organisations. Officers confirmed that there were several voluntary sector organisations that the Council worked with, and it was stressed that a whole community response was required. Links, collaboration and relationships developed with statutory and voluntary partners allowed issues to be identified sooner. The Council already partnered with 16 different agencies, including mental health organisations, to deliver early help, but there was a desire to expand the footprint.

·       Articles were cited highlighting differences in deprivation and levels of support received by those living in rural and urban areas. Members asked if the Council could be overlooking rural deprivation issues and late intervention problems because they were more difficult to spot. Officers indicated that there had been changes in approach since 2016 and again post-Covid. Officers had a good understanding of what West Berkshire’s rural areas looked like and this was not considered to be a significant issue locally.  However, further work was needed to consider how services could better engage with rural communities, particularly in relation to family hubs and early help.

·       Concerns were expressed about reductions in the number of health professionals visiting young families, particularly in rural areas affected by deprivation. It was suggested that this could be a topic for a future scrutiny review. Officers highlighted that there had been a recent push to identify young carers in rural areas by working with parish councils. Efforts were also being made to ensure that they were able to access activities to the same extent as those living in urban areas, which relied on volunteer support. However, a mobile facility was being explored. Members suggested that parish councils could be engaged to help source volunteers.

·       The importance of the first 1001 days was highlighted, and officers were asked if there were enough hubs in the right locations, and if midwives and health visitors were involved. It was confirmed that they were involved and there was a good partnership, with a focus on the first 1001 days. Options were being considered to increase the number of hubs, including remote/ satellite facilities. Also, consideration was being given to how families could be better informed about what services could be accessed through the hubs and to bring them in from ‘day one’.

·       It was highlighted that money invested in early intervention had clear impacts, improved lives, and in doing so could free up funds for other work. It was noted that work was ongoing to explore pan-Berkshire prevention initiatives that would help to reduce costs within Children and Family Services.

·       Members asked if the Council was meeting its statutory obligations with regards to youth services. Officers explained that they were looking at how they could work more closely with Berkshire Youth, and they offered to bring a report on this to a future meeting.

·       A question was asked about funding sources and ringfencing. It was confirmed that several posts were funded through the Strengthening Families Programme, which was due to end in March 2025. WBC was looking at how this work could be supported. It was hoped that there central government might make announcements about future funding shortly.

·       Members expressed a desire to see cuts to youth services budgets reversed.

·       Members asked if enough pre-school workers were being trained as SENCOs and ELSAs, and whether GPs were taking their observations seriously and making appropriate referrals. Officers recognised that there was still more work needed across the partnership to ensure that pathways were clear, and delays avoided. West Berkshire had very high quality early years provision, but officers were aware of pressures resulting from increased expectations of take up, so efforts were ongoing to build capacity while ensuring that quality remained high. It was confirmed that the Council worked with early years providers around early identification and support for families and the young people they cared for. The focus of Family Hubs was on the 0-5 age and pre 0-5 age ranges, through targeted and open access work in partnership with health colleagues. In addition to the four physical hubs, work was ongoing across the district. The focus was on identifying families who needed support, whatever that looked like and whoever may provide it.

Councillor Chris Read declared an interest by virtue of the fact that his wife was a pre-school practitioner.

·       It was noted that the Scrutiny Commission had an item on Wraparound Care as a long-term item on its work programme.

Actions:

·       Officers to provide additional information on support for rural communities.

·       Timetable a future scrutiny review of youth services.

·       Timetable a review of Wraparound Care.

RESOLVED to note the report.