There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel held on 14 November 2022 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

To consider passing a Resolution Pursuant to Section 100A (4) Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 excluding the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that if present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information falling within paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

ORDERED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that, if present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Voice and Influence Manager will be in attendance at the meeting to host a discussion around the first hand experiences of care experienced young people in preparing for adulthood.

K Peacock, Voice and Influence Manager, and L Hunter, Communications and Engagement Officer, were in attendance at the meeting to provide the Panel with further information in relation to its current scrutiny topic.  The officers were in attendance to provide information regarding the work of Middlesbrough’s Participation Team and were accompanied by four care experienced young people, two of whom currently held apprenticeship positions, and two school-aged young people.

The Panel heard that Middlesbrough’s Participation Team facilitated open, safe and inclusive spaces for young people to meet up and express their views regarding the changes they would like to see to improve their own experiences and those of their peers.  The Team supported young people to share their views with key decision-makers and professionals, all of whom would act on what had been expressed to positively change services to meet young peoples’ needs.

The Participation Team ran several groups that met on a fortnightly basis, and supported them to design and deliver engagement events to capture the wider voice of young people in Middlesbrough:-

·        ‘We Matter’ (Middlesbrough Children in Care Council) – for 10-16 year olds.

·        ‘Care Leavers Forum’ – for 16-25 year olds.

·        ‘My Voice Matters’ – for young people with additional needs.

·        ‘Youth Council’ – for all young people in Middlesbrough.

The ‘My Voice Matters’ group was currently designing the next Youth Voice Conference 2023 and the ‘Youth Council’ planned to engage with young people within schools to work on issues identified in their manifesto.

The Officers outlined the current activity taking place with young people, as follows:-

·        The Participation Team – had developed a work plan incorporating all of the work it was undertaking with all of the groups.  In January 2023, the Team would begin working with all the young people to co-produce the ‘Participation Strategy’.

·        ‘We Matter’ – developing its 2023 work plan.  This would include regular meetings, holding four engagement events, meeting with the Executive Director of Children’s Services, the Director of Children’s Care and other key decision-makers.  Also meeting directly with Corporate Parents as part of the Corporate Parenting Board and the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel.

·        ‘Care Leaver’s Forum’ – developing its 2023 work plan.  This would include meeting regularly, supporting the celebration event in April 2023 and developing the Local Offer for care leavers.

·        ‘My Voice Matters’ – developing its 2023 work plan, including meeting regularly and identifying key areas it wished to focus on, and meeting key decision-makers.

·        ‘Youth Council’ – developing its 2023 work plan, including meeting regularly, working on its Manifesto and designing a ‘Big Takeover’ event.

It was hoped that the impact of all the ongoing activity would be that:-

·        More young people in Middlesbrough were offered opportunities to have a voice, to be heard and encourage real potential for services to positively change to meet their needs.

·        Young people say being part of these groups made them feel valued and listened to.

·        Key decision-makers were able to hear directly from young  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/32

The Chair provided a verbal update in relation to the business conducted at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 13 December 2022, namely:-

·        Executive Forward Work Programme

·        Executive Member Update – Councillor Polano, Executive Member for Regeneration – provided an update on current and ongoing work within his portfolio.

·        Revenue and Capital Budget – Projected Outturn Position as at Quarter two 2022/23.

·        Corporate Performance Update – Quarter two 2022/23.

·        Scrutiny Chairs’ Updates

Next OSB meeting – Thursday, 12^th January 2023 at 10am.

The next meeting of the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 17 January 2023 at 10.00am, Mandela Room, Town Hall.