Agenda item

The Board considered the Family Services Update as set out in the agenda.

Youth Justice Board Update

The Youth Justice Service Manager, LB Barnet, Cesar Tan, provided an update on Youth Offending:

·         In terms of First Time Entrants (FTEs) Barnet had outperformed London and nationally. 

·         The young people in custody rate had decreased from 0.27 > 0.05 from April 2017/18 to June 2020/21. 

·         A second Youth Offending Service (YOS) Residential Programme had been completed and one of the 2019 cohort had become a mentor. 

·         A Criminal Behaviour and Knife Crime Prevention Order Protocol had been developed in response to changes in law to promote joint working and engagement in support for young people who carry knives.

·         Eight new Community Panel Volunteers had completed 12-week training on Referral Order Panel Meetings and Restorative Justice Conferences.

·         Reparation partnerships had been developed with Barnet Libraries, Town Centre Regeneration Teams, Flower Bank and Finchley Central Ink Project.

·         A second Whiteboard Project has been completed focusing on Restorative Justice and Reparation.

·         Parents and young people have been attending Barnet’s statutory Youth Offending Team Management Board meetings sharing lived experience to support service development. 

The Board agreed that there should be a dip sample of two youth offending cases to understand if interventions had successfully prevented custody. 

Action: Cezar Tan

Adolescents and Young Adults at Risk of Exploitation and Violence

The Partnerships and Engagement Lead, Children’s Social Care, LB Barnet, Chris Kelly, provided an update on child exploitation, serious youth and adult violence.  He reported that there had been a reduction in child sexual exploitation concerns, but an increase in gang-related activity (e.g. county lines).  Exploitative relationships were also an area of focus for the team.  It was reported that there had been two serious offences in public open spaces and the team was reviewing the community engagement approach in the light of those incidents.  The Board noted that there was a high proportion on ethnic minority involvement in these incidents. 

The Chair of the Adults Safeguarding Board, Fiona Bateman, noted that the Violence and Vulnerability Action Plan covered high-risk adults and children.  She added that an area of focus should be children abusing parents which had been increasing in prevalence and was a complex area involving the Community Safety Team, Police, Adult Social Care, and the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub. Matt Leng advised the Board that identifying data sources could be challenging but agreed that a report would be brought to the next meeting on this issue.

Action: Tina McElligot/Radlamah Canakiah

Fiona Bateman suggested that a joint ‘Lunch and Learn’ workshop on the increase in child parent abuse should take place which should be open to all Board Members. 

The Chief Executive, Mencap Barnet, Ray Booth, questioned whether risk factors include disability.  Mr Tan advised that special educational needs were considered as part of work with young people.

Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls

The Board was informed that domestic abuse rates per 1,000 population up to the end of May 2021 were the second lowest in London. It was noted that there had been an increase in the Sanction Detection Rate from 13.3% in 2019 to 14.9% in 2020.  The Chair noted that in the 12 months to June 2021 there was a SDR of 11.2% down from 15.5% a year prior which was a concern.  Chief Inspector Baildon advised that he didn’t have the data breakdown available but undertook to review this and report back to the Board.

Action: Chief Inspector Baildon

It was noted that the roll-out of Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA) training would be completed by June 2022. 

The Board noted that Family Services Update as set out in the report and as detailed above.