Agenda item

Purpose: to provide a formal response to the working group recommendations relating to children and young people’s emotional and mental health support, highlighting the significant changes in the operational landscape and identifying where recommendations cannot currently be delivered due to resource constraints or responsibilities resting with other system partners.

Resolved that: Executive

·         Acknowledge the operational changes affecting the delivery of mental health and early intervention emotional well-being services in West Berkshire.

·         Agree the responses that are set out at paragraph 5.16 of this report.

·         Agree that several recommendations fall outside the remit or current resource capacity of West Berkshire Council Children’s Services and should be referred to the appropriate system partners (specifically the ICB, Leisure, schools, and commissioned providers.

·         Endorse the position that further delivery against these recommendations will require:

o   Additional resource from the ICB; and/or

o   Cross system agreement through the Family First Partnership and Best Start/Family Hubs programme.

·         Refer the report to the Health and Wellbeing Board to assist with informing their ongoing work.

This decision is not subject to call in as:

·      the item has been considered by a Scrutiny Committee, or Scrutiny Task Group, or has been the subject of a review undertaken by another body within the preceding six months.

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

Councillor Heather Codling introduced and proposed a report (Agenda Item 13), which provided a formal response to the working group recommendations relating to children and young people’s emotional and mental health support, highlighted the significant changes in the operational landscape and identified where recommendations could not currently be delivered due to resource constraints or responsibilities resting with other system partners.

Councillor Codling apologised that the report had not come to Executive sooner and noted that the position had changed significantly since the task group began its work, particularly because the Integrated Care Board had withdrawn £100,000 of funding for the Emotional Health Academy and the mental health support team was now solely ICB commissioned. Councillor Codling noted that this would mean that some of the original recommendations could not be delivered as drafted.

Councillor Codling further proposed an additional recommendation to refer the report to the Health and Wellbeing Board in order to inform its work on adult and children’s mental health

Councillor Martha Vickers commented that the task group had been very disappointed by the delay and that, without Councillor Codling’s explanation, the written report appeared negative. Councillor Vickers commented that the task group had expected a genuinely collaborative response, including input from the ICB and Public Health, rather than a response mainly from Children’s Services. Councillor Vickers felt that referral of the report to the Health and Wellbeing Board would be positive and noted that she would be following its progress.

Councillor Dominic Boeck suggested that the recommendations of the task group appeared to have been passed around between committees and queried when the matter would be addressed properly, arguing that talking about partnership working without resources was meaningless when children’s wellbeing was not improving on its own.

Councillor Ross Mackinnon commented that there appeared to be a theme of producing wish lists and then relying on partners and voluntary organisations to fund them which he suggested was not good enough for an issue as fundamental as children’s mental health. In response Councillor Patrick Clark queried where Councillor Mackinnon would suggest that additional funding would come from. Councillor Mackinnon suggested a meeting with Councillors Codling and Clark to discuss the matter further.

As Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board, Councillor Nigel Foot confirmed that adult and children’s mental health was one of its three major priorities and provided an assurance that the matter would remain under scrutiny. Councillor Foot seconded the recommendations within the report.

RESOLVED that: Executive

·       Acknowledge the operational changes affecting the delivery of mental health and early intervention emotional well-being services in West Berkshire.

·       Agree the responses that are set out at paragraph 5.16 of this report.

·       Agree that several recommendations fall outside the remit or current resource capacity of West Berkshire Council Children’s Services and should be referred to the appropriate system partners (specifically the ICB, Leisure, schools, and commissioned providers.

·       Endorse the position that further delivery against these recommendations will require:

o   Additional resource from the ICB; and/or

o   Cross system agreement through the Family First Partnership and Best Start/Family Hubs programme.

·       Refer the report to the Health and Wellbeing Board to assist with informing their ongoing work.