Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel held on 21 June 2022 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The Executive Director of Children’s Services will provide the Panel with an introduction to its new scrutiny topic.  The Panel is asked to consider which areas it wishes to focus on as part of examining the current arrangements and support available for young people transitioning to adulthood. 

R Brown, Director of Education and Partnerships, was in attendance at the meeting accompanied by E Cowley, Head of Inclusion and SEND, G Earl, Head of Prevention and P Jemson, Head of Children Looked After and Corporate Parenting. 

The Officers provided the Panel with a broad overview of several areas within Children’s Services that supported young people during the transition to adulthood, namely:-

·        Children with disabilities

·        Care Leavers and young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET).

·        SEND needs

The Head of Prevention provided Members with information as to how young people are supported in their transition to adulthood in terms of education, employment and training.

It was explained that within the Early Help Service (or Stronger Families), there was a dedicated team, consisting of six staff – three Family Practitioners and three Support Workers - specifically supporting young people aged 16 and 17 who were not in education employment or training (often shortened to NEET).  In accordance with the Learning and Skills Act 2008, local authorities had a duty to ‘encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training.’

In order to fulfil its statutory duties, the team at Middlesbrough Council supported all young people aged 16 and 17 in Middlesbrough who were due to leave school or college to ensure they had a suitable offer of learning by the end of September.  This was known as the September Guarantee.

The September Guarantee could be a place at a collage, a job with suitable training leading to a qualification, or an apprenticeship.  Information was checked on a weekly basis by the team, in conjunction with the Performance Team, to identify which young people had received an offer of education, employment and training and to contact those who had not received an offer.

In response to a query from a Panel Member, it was confirmed that the Team supported all 16 and 17 year olds living in Middlesbrough and this figure was several thousand young people.

The September Guarantee rate for Middlesbrough in 2021 was 96.2% and was above the England rate of 95.5% and the North East rate of 95.7%.

The NEET Team then tracked the destinations of young people to offer careers guidance and a placing service to support young people into suitable opportunities.  The Team ensured that all young people had taken up their offers and started in their agreed placements.  For those young people who did not commence their placement offers, one to one work was undertaken on an individual basis and a named worked was assigned to each young person.  The named worker would support the young person and help them decide what they wanted to do and to obtain a suitable placement.  The Team worked with a range of learning providers including schools and colleges, Middlesbrough Council’s Community Learning Service and apprenticeship providers.

In 2021/22, 5.6% of 16 and 17 year olds in Middlesbrough were NEET (not in education, employment or training).  This was slightly higher than the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/10

The Chair will provide a verbal update in relation to business conducted at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meetings held on 22 June and 19 July 2022.

The Chair provided the Panel with a verbal update in relation to the business conducted by the Overview and Scrutiny Board at its meetings on 22 June and 19 July 2022, namely:-

22 June 2022

·        Final Report of the Culture & Communities Scrutiny Panel – Enforcement in Middlesbrough and its impact on crime and anti-social behaviour.

·        School Exclusions – Feedback from school visits.

·        Strategic Plan 2021-24 – Progress at Year End 2021/22.

·        Revenue & Capital Budget – Year end outturn position 221/22.

·        Scrutiny Chairs Updates.

19 July 2022

·        Executive forward work programme.

·        Executive Member update – Deputy Mayor & Execute Member for Children’s Services (Councillor Smiles).

·        Chief Executive’s Update.

·        Final Report of the Children & Young People’s Learning Scrutiny Panel – Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND).

·        Scrutiny Work Programme Report 2022-23.

·        Scrutiny Chairs Updates.

·        Next OSB meeting – Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 10.00am

NOTED

The next meeting of the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to take place on Monday, 19 September 2022 at 10.30am, Mandela Room, Town Hall.