Agenda item

(a)          Tony Young, Director of Social Services, Irfan Alam, Assistant Director Children’s Services, and Ceri George Improvement Project Manager - Prevention and Partnerships will present the report and be available answer any questions Members may have;

(b)          Questions from Committee members;

(c)          The way forward for this item will be considered at the end of the meeting

Councillor Joyce took the Chair for this item because of the interest declared by Councillor Bridgeman.

The Chairperson welcomed Tony Young (Director of Social Services), Angela Bourge (Operational Manager Resources), Ceri George (Improvement Project Manager – Prevention and Partnerships), and Simon Morris (Lead Officer for the Child and Youth Engagement project) to the meeting and to present the report. Ceri George provided Members with a presentation which outlined the following:

• The 6 service packages;
• The TAF approach;
• The current challenges – maintaining delivery in face of reduced funding and the uncertainty over the future;
• Interpretation of the data obtained;
• Overall performance in 2016-17 and Key achievements; and
• The next steps

Members were invited to comment, seek clarification or raise questions on the information received.  Those discussions are summarised as follows:

• Members queried whether there were any plans, or would it be sensible to merge the Families First (FF) and Family Information Service (FIS) phone lines, but were advised that although some consideration had been given to doing that, it was not something that is planned at the present time.

• Surprise was expressed at the high number of self-referrals to the FF Freephone Service and the low number of referrals from Social Workers.  Officers were pleased with the high number of self-referrals as it was hoped that this service would result in a reduction in the number of calls to the MASH, particularly those that results in no further action.  The FF Freephone Service was equipped to immediately respond to families with information, advice and details of other services.

• Members queried the current position with the recommissioning process.  Some elements will be delivered in house, and others will be commissioned from external providers.  There may well be staff who will come within the scope of TUPE.  Officers advised that it is expected that there will be significant numbers of staff who will come within the scope of TUPE and therefore a significant loss of staff is not expected. 

The Officer Decision Report is to be signed off by the end of the week and will then be circulated to providers.  At the present time the process is ongoing with Education; to develop the School Model and Parenting Co-Ordinators.  Hopefully this will be completed and agreement reached by the end of this calendar year. 

Some additional funding has been received from Welsh Government; this will allow the extension of the Vulnerability Assessment Tool to Primary Schools as well as Secondary Schools, which can be refined to identify and help prioritise families. 

• Members asked why there had been a drop off in the percentage of both 17 – 21 and 22 – 25 years olds accessing Families First in Cardiff and were advised work is being done on joined up provision for 16 – 25 year olds at the present time.  It has been accepted that there has been a gap but they are now looking to identify risky behaviour, such as substance abuse, accommodation and relationship issues.

• Members sought clarification as to where the funding for schools involvement will come from.  Officers advised that a model has been developed based on school clusters, first level Early Help workers will be employed in the clusters and then managed by the Education Directorate.  The schools will be approached for funding in line with the Pupil Development Grant (PDG), or they could staff match.  FF funding would also contribute.  It is hoped that schools will buy in to the model for added value. 

AGREED:  That the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the Way Forward.