Agenda and minutes

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting. No declarations were made.

No public questions were received during the meeting.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2013.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2013 be accepted as a correct record.

At its meeting held on 13^th November 2013 the Board considered the draft Annual reports of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board 2012/13 and the Local Safeguarding Adult’s Board 2012/13. The Board requested that Members refer the reports to their respective organisations to consider how the key issues and recommendations fit into their organisation’s work and to report responses received back to this Board.

 A copy of the papers considered by this Board on 13^th November 2013 are attached to facilitate discussions on the feedback received.

At its meeting on 13 November 2013, the Board agreed that the Annual Reports of the Local Safeguarding Adults and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board be referred to organisations represented on the Board with a recommendation that they consider the implications for their respective organisations and how the key issues and recommendations fit into their work, and that the responses received be considered at this meeting of the Board.

The Annual Reports, which were received and endorsed by the Board at the last meeting, were attached to the agenda for information. Members were asked to note that an amended version of the covering report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Michael Howard (Independent Chair of the Local Safeguarding Adults Board and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board) provided an update for the Board since the last meeting. He addressed the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) report first and highlighted the following points:

·        There has been an increased emphasis from Ofsted regarding what an annual report should be. It is an analytical challenge on what has been done well, where poor performance has been challenged and what future work needs to be undertaken.

·        The LSCB has approached the Young Carers Forum to address the need to increase contact with young people.

·        The performance sub-group of the LSCB has been delving deeper into statistics to assess what is going well and what is not going so well.

·        There has been a good turn-out at LSCB meetings, and break-out sessions have been held to look at issues directly affecting young people.

·        The LSCB will continue to evolve to ensure they are as effective as possible.

The Board welcomed the update and discussed the following issues:

·        The reflections within the report on transition areas and issues that need to be taken into account being incorporated into the Report.

·        Potential opportunities to further prevent the incidences of children and young people running away from home.

·        The potential increased risk to the safeguarding of children and young people due to the increase in the number of referrals during 2012/13 and the capacity of the department to manage those referrals. 

·        The role of the Health and Wellbeing Board in managing risk and as a challenger on issues such as neglect and domestic violence.

·        The wider ranging impact of implicational capacity and an increase on demand in services on all partners.

·        The potential connections and synchronisation between the LSCB and the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), especially in terms of business planning.

·        It was agreed that the issue of connecting and aligning business planning across partner organisations will be taken for discussion to the One Swindon Board.

·        It was agreed that the issue of sharing risk registers across partner organisations will be looked at by the LSCB as part of its business planning session.

·        The number of people on protection plans increasing as compared to the national average decreasing, and the details surrounding why.

·        It was agreed that information on the percentage of young people who had completed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

With the agreement of the Board, the Chair moved this item forward on the Agenda. Members were asked to note that the name of this item had changed from ‘Integrated Transformation Fund Update’ to ‘Better Care Fund Plan’. A report had also been circulated to members prior to the meeting for their consideration.

The Board considered this report, presented by Sue Wald, Head of Commissioning – Children and Adults, setting out the draft Better Care Fund Plan 2014 – 16 which starts in 2015 and will be a National Health Services Act 2006 Section 75 Agreement with a pooled fund.

In 2014/15 the money will come to the Local Authority as part of a Section 256 Agreement. The allocation for Swindon is nearly £3.4m in 2014/15 rising to nearly £12.7m in 2015/16 with conditions attached as highlighted in paragraphs 3.6 and 3.7 of the report. A draft Plan has to be submitted by 14 February 2014 with a final submission date of 31 March 2014. The draft Plan is attached to the report as Appendix 2.

The Board welcomed the report and discussed the following issues:

·        Clarification was sought on how outcomes are going to be measured, what happens if they are not achieved and any effect this would have on funding.

·        It was agreed that links to the related documentation on the Clinical Commissioning Group website would be included in the final report to be presented to the Board at its next meeting.

·        The intentions of the Better Care Fund and what issues it is trying to address, and actions that can be taken to concentrate effort in an integrated way.

·        The achievability of the choice for the local indicator, required as part of the conditions.

·        It was agreed that the completed draft Plan would be circulated for comments to Board members as well as to members of the Children’s Commissioning Board prior to the deadline of 14 February 2014.

Resolved – (1) To provide to the report author any proposed amendments or alterations to the draft Better Care Fund Plan 2014 – 16.

(2) To receive the final Better Care Fund Plan at the next meeting of the Board being held on 12 March 2014.

(3) To authorise the appropriate officers to undertake work on any agreed action points highlighted during discussion.

The Board considered this report, presented by Janet Janeway - Public Health Senior Programme Manager, which set out the findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) on domestic violence and abuse, the impact on children and young people, and raising awareness of the needs of children and young people who are exposed to domestic violence and abuse.

The Board welcomed the report and discussed the following issues:

·        The financial implications of the recommendations within the JSNA and the various stages of its implementation.

·        Clarification was welcomed on who would be implementing the findings and how actions could be followed up by the Board.

·        The role the Board can play in identifying needs and if subsequent recommendations will resolve that need.

·        It was agreed that a governance report would be brought to the next meeting of the Board in March to look at issues of ownership and accountability, and to assess who could be given responsibility for implementing the actions as identified by the JSNA.

·        The possibility of the structure of the JSNA papers being amended to consider recommendations and action plans so they can feed in to business planning and help to prioritise issues in future.

·        The issue of bullying and where it fits into this JSNA.

Resolved – (1) To agree the recommendations from the Domestic Violence and Abuse: the impact on children and young people JSNA bulletin.

(2) To support the development of an action plan for implementation of the recommendations, subject to a subsequent report being brought to the next meeting of the Board on 12 March 2014 to identify who will be responsible for implementing those recommendations.

(3) To authorise the appropriate officers to undertake work on any agreed action points highlighted during discussion.