Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families presenting information linked to the Board’s Scrutiny Inquiry and agreed thematic approach based around the five Children and Young People Plan Outcomes.

The Director of Children and Families submitted a report that presented information linked to the Board’s Scrutiny Inquiry and agreed thematic approach based around the five Children and Young People’s Plan Outcomes.

The following information was appended to the report:

-  Children and young people are active citizens who feel they have a voice and influence - Indicator report

-  Children and young people have fun growing up - Indicator report

The following were in attendance:

-  Councillor Lisa Mulherin, Executive Member for Children and Families

-  Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Learning, Skills and Employment

-  Sal Tariq, Deputy Director for Children and Families

-  Chris Hudson, Performance Programme Manager, Children and Families

-  Hannah Lamplugh, Voice, Influence and Change (VIC) Lead, Children and Families

-  Rebecca Gilmour, Deputy Service Manager, Leeds Youth Offending Service

-  Vicki Marsden, Play Strategy Officer, Children and Families

The Voice, Influence and Change Lead provided Members with a video and presentation highlighting the model for participation used by the team, some of the historical and local context, and a number of successful youth voice projects that had taken place since 2011.

Members discussed a number of matters, including:

·  Members expressed concerns around the barriers to participation faced by children in the outer areas of Leeds, in regards to the cost and connectivity of public transport. Members were informed that as transport was named the top issue in last year’s ‘Make Your Mark’ ballot by the young people of Leeds, the Leeds Youth Council (LYC) have been working with BUS18 to develop an under 19s ‘MyDay’ bus ticket which has recently been launched for unlimited travel across the city. The LYC have also made a series of other recommendations to BUS18 and are awaiting a response.

·  Members recognised the difficulty in measuring emotional outcomes, but valued the use of MyHealthMySchool (MHMS) survey and felt more could be done to encourage schools to take part.

·  Members queried the lack of involvement of religious youth groups in voice and influence projects as set out in the presentation, and were informed that the list of youth groups included in the presentation was not exclusive and changed regularly depending on various projects. Members were also informed of the ‘Let’s Tackle It’ event in 2017, which focused on racial and religious discrimination and involved a range of young people and guest speakers from different faiths and religions.

·  Members questioned whether there was any voice and influence activity taking place with pre-school children across the city, as it was unclear from the report. Members were informed that a summary document could be circulated, containing more information about voice and influence projects within the early years setting.

·  Members expressed concerns regarding the decrease in ratings of ‘happiness’ in recent years, for which there seemed to be some disparity between measures. Members also cited recent national data which showed a considerable difference between genders in ratings of  ‘happiness’, and requested that gender be included in future surveys and reports as a variable to establish the prevalence in Leeds.

·  Particular reference was made to the Future in Mind Strategy and the MindMate website, which were co-produced with young people.  It was noted that not all schools have MindMate lessons and Champions, but should be encouraged to do so.

·  Members expressed concerns around the lack of space available for play activities in the inner city compared to outer areas, and felt that there was a lack of consideration for such facilities through planning processes. The Chair suggested that the Board should look in further detail at the extent of young people’s voice and influence beyond Children’s Services, particularly in relation to planning and city development.

·  Members sought further information on the methods used to ensure that children looked after do not enter the criminal justice system, and were informed of work taking place with children’s homes to ensure that the Police are not called when issues can be managed internally by staff, which is already having a great impact. Additionally, Members heard that there was now a stronger focus on helping bereaved young people who are at risk of entering the criminal justice system.

·  To gain a greater understanding of the various voice and influence projects taking place across the city, the Chair suggested that Board Members undertake visits to some of the youth groups that the VIC team currently engage with.

RESOLVED –

a)  That the contents of the report and appendices be noted.

b)  That an additional Scrutiny Board meeting be scheduled later in the year to accommodate further consideration of the following key issues raised during today’s meeting:

·  The extent of young people’s voice and influence beyond  Children’s Services with particular focus on the development of child friendly spaces through planning and city development processes;

·  The extent to which young people’s voice and influence is helping to identify and address the local transport needs of young people.

·  The extent to which the My Health My School survey data is being used to identify and address lower ratings of ‘happiness’.

c)  That visits to youth groups across the city be arranged for Board Members in the coming months.

(Councillor Gruen, Councillor Renshaw and Co-opted Members C Hopkins and T Britten, left the meeting during discussion of this item)