Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed Members of the Board to the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

Apologies were received from Jess Baines-Holmes who was substituted by Victoria Wicks on behalf of North Central London Integrate Care Board.

Apologies were also received from the two Youth Ambassadors who were unable to attend due to exams.

The Board to receive a verbal input from young people.

The Chair welcomed the two Members of Youth Parliament to the meeting.

The young people updated the Board and they explained that part of their manifesto had been focused on knife crime. Following instances of knife crime incidents in the area a request was made for the Police to attend schools to deliver safety advice.

Graig Bradley - Inspector - Safer Schools and Youth Engagement, Metropolitan Police Barnet explained there was a persistent issue with the amount of school visits that could be conducted due to a lack of police officers assigned to the Safer Schools Team. Concerted efforts were being made to recruit the correct officers for the role, however, not having a full complement of staff had resulted in not all schools having been visited.  With regards to Independent Schools, Graig was unsure if they were included in this by the would check and confirm. 

The Board were updated on work being undertaken by members of the Youth Parliament on the cost-of-living crisis and on the campaign for free school meals and consideration of cost and nutrition in meals provided. It was explained that the Mayor of London had committed to providing free school meals for one year to key-stage 2 students, but there was uncertainty whether this would continue. It was suggested to the Youth Parliament Member that they attend the Catering Partnership Board to put forward ideas and suggestions with regards to the nutritional value of the meals provided.

It was further noted that a considerable amount of work was ongoing with the elections team with youth voter registration.

Karen Pearson - Head of Service -0-19 Services presented the report and it was explained that Early Help was a network of services to provide a support to children, young people and their families when needed. The draft Early Help Strategy had been developed by the multi-agency partnership working in the borough. The draft strategy sets out shared visions, values and ambitions for every child, from pre-birth to adulthood and beyond, to be healthy, happy and to thrive.

A consultation exercise on the draft strategy had been launched in the latter part of 2022 and ended in the early 2023 with positive feedback having been received. Having engaged with young people as part of the consultation, it had been notable that they had agreed with the proposed outcomes and comments from Members had also been incorporated into the report. The draft strategy was currently being work on and finalised prior to it being submitted to the Children, Education and Safeguarding Committee on the 2 March 2023 for approval. It was noted that measurable plans would be put in place alongside key performance indicators to ensure that targets are met.

The report was noted.

Victoria Wicks (NHS North Central London ICB) introduced the report and recapped on the journey of the review to date. It was explained that there had been significant citizen engagement carried out and feedback provided from various sources had shaped investment proposals and how the strategy had been formed. With regards to progress made, the following was highlighted:

Improvement to the early transition planning was an area that was identified as needing improvement to allow children and young people to be supported whilst transitioning through to adult’s services. As a result of that feedback, work had been undertaken with young adults to develop and new young adults mental health strategy, which was built upon nationally recognised good practice.

Covid proved to have many negative implications on children and young people and as such, throughout the Pandemic the ICS has invested in CAMHS services. This assisted with the establishment of ‘Crisis Hubs, creating a diversion for children and young people having to access accident and emergency departments.

Eating disorder specialist service and community early intervention and prevention eating disorder services were in place and the Barnet Home Treatment Team was due to be rolled out across NCL based on the findings.

It was explained that there were gaps in service provision but that they were looking to explore early intervention, support for parents and individual support. Mental Health Support Teams were present in schools across the Borough, but clarification would be needed whether this applied to Independent Schools.

Action: That the NCL Community and Mental Health Core Offer Update be submitted to the Mental Health Partnership Board.

Ben Thomas introduced the report and explained that the draft Children and Young People’s Plan 2023 – 2027 was ready to go out for consultation. There had been a lot of input from partners and had already received feedback from young people including the Barnet Youth Board and the BOP, Children in Care Council for their views.

It was further reported that Family Friendly Barnet remains a key vision for the borough where  all children and young people but especially those who are most vulnerable, have access to a good education and to lead safe, happy and healthy lives., Four key drivers had been chosen for adoption to underpin delivery of the Plan based on feedback from young people which included Great Partnerships, Inclusion, Great Outcomes and Children and young people having fun.

It was noted by the Board that young people had stated that they had been pleased to have been involved with the shaping and inputting into the strategy at the very inception and they had been happy to have been listened to and had felt very engaged with the process. It was further reported that a number of comments that had been made had been captured and incorporated into the plan with positive co-production from Children, young people and partners.

Karen Pearson introduced the report and exclaimed that the strategy supports the Barnet Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, Barnet’s Children and Young People’s Plan and Child and Family Early Help Strategy, and the Adult Social Care Reform priorities for unpaid carers.

The Board noted that through engagement with young carers, a key issue identified the impact that caring had on their education. They highlighted an apparent lack of understanding of their additional caring duties by teachers and that this had a significant impact on the mental health of some young carers. It was explained that there seemed to be better understanding of the impact of caring, specifically in the educational setting, in the pastoral forum and it had become apparent that there were various reasons why teachers did not understand the impact of this. It was noted that the strategy was due to be considered by the Health and Wellbeing Board on the 16 March 2023.

The Board were invited to send suggestions for inclusion in the Work Programme at any time to the Chair.

The Chair requested that the work programme be updated to reflect items discussed.

A request was made that ‘Stable Homes Built on Love’ report is brought to the next meeting for consideration following the end of the public consultation process.

The Forward Work Programme was noted.

The list of abbreviations was noted.

The Chair asked for feedback with regards to the time of the meetings. It was suggested that they were mindful that every effort should be made to ensure availability and attendance of the young people and discussed whether a different start time would accommodate additional people joining the meeting.

The Board agreed that they would consult with the young people before making any adjustments.