Agenda item

To receive two referrals from the Chidlren Young People & Education Scrutiny Panel.

Cllr Achilleas Georgiou, Chair of the Children Young People & Education Scrutiny Panel highlighted the following:

1.     Members of the Youth Parliament and the Union had attended the Panel meeting on mental health and their attendance and input was very worthwhile.

2.     On the first referral on mental health, this is an issue because of the lockdown and the pandemic itself over the last year.

3.     The Youth Parliament and the unions came forward with views and this is there suggestion. This is a referral to Cabinet to put together an action plan around mental health. It is requested that the policy and that resources are put into this policy and that Cabinet does this in consultation with the various stakeholders including the Youth Parliament, unions and the Children, Young People & Education Scrutiny Panel.

4.     The second recommendation is outlined in item 4 of the agenda report and is on Exclusions. This area of work started under a workstream. There are seven bullet points listed in terms of going forward. There items for consideration for next years Scrutiny Panel in their programme of work and some items to be bought to Cabinet’s attention.

5.     The overrepresentation of certain communities was highlighted. Exclusion figures have gone down but there are two groupings that are still higher. It was felt that action needs to be taken by the department, this is for the Scrutiny Panel to keep an eye on and this should be bought to Cabinet’s attention.

6.     Cabinet should also consider support to pupils going through exclusions and more support should be given to young people and also to governors.

7.     CAMHS the panel felt the referral process could be quicker and would ask Cabinet to look at this.

8.     The six-week statutory period for Speech and Language service is not being met. This is for the department to work on and should be bought to Cabinets attention.

9.     The final bullet point is around mental health.

10.  Page 14 point 22 and 23 states that there are no risks associated with this report. It was felt that there should be risks here. Officers confirmed that when the report goes to Cabinet risks will be identified and included in this report. Risks are put in around the purpose of the report. The Equality Impact Assessment will also be looked at for the Cabinet report. As the report was just for scrutiny to consider the item there are no risks associated with that.

Comments, queries and questions:

11.  Regarding the further work on overrepresentation, what is the timescale for this and what kind of data?  Cllr Georgiou advised that data at national level is behind, a timing was not set as to when this should come back to Panel.

12.  An observation was made that when mental health came to the Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel to look at the impact of Covid on Enfield and surrounding boroughs. The Head of Service advised that the number of referrals had gone down during Covid. What hard evidence is there that young people are suffering high levels of mental health issues? The threshold is quite high for CAMHS. Councillor Georgiou confirmed that the evidence taken on this was directly from the unions and the young people attending the meeting and spoke on behalf of other young people and other staff members in terms of how they have felt in the last year.

13.  Exclusions, most schools have policies on exclusions, what schools are doing in this regard would be helpful? Councillor Georgiou drew attention to bullet point two- It was recognised that schools have their own policies on exclusions, and a number of schools are academies, but members felt further work on a uniform approach across the Borough would be beneficial, and an improved process for management of pupils between schools. The Panel had recognised that this will be difficult to achieve.

14.  Exclusions- further work needed to support parents and students throughout the process- what is this? Governor training, is this around enhancing Governor training? Councillor Georgiou confirmed that it was felt that the parent pupil support and the governor training could be enhanced and that this support should be looked at.

Following the discussions two votes were taken.

OSC unanimously agreed to refer to Cabinet the following:

·         The Council should produce an action orientated mental health charter and policy and provide the resources to make changes that will support young people and staff on matters such as information, uncertainty and staff wellbeing. In producing this the Council is asked to work with the various stakeholders including the unions and the Youth Parliament and with the involvement of the Children Young People and Education Scrutiny Panel.

OSC unanimously agreed to refer the following to Children, Young People & Education scrutiny Panel to ensure that when setting the work programmes for 2021/22, the Children, Young People and Education Scrutiny Panel is asked to consider continuing with Exclusions as an item in order to fully explore and monitor the areas that need further work listed below, and at the appropriate time, OSC gives consideration to the matter being referred to Cabinet.  It was agreed for referral to Cabinet for them to note and for them to act upon as necessary.

·         That further work currently taking place to fully understand exclusions with regards to overrepresentation in certain communities was brought back to the Panel for a report on the findings and progress of this.

·         It was recognised that schools have their own policies on exclusions, and a number of schools are academies, but members felt further work on a uniform approach across the Borough would be beneficial, and an improved process for management of pupils between schools.

·         Governor training on exclusions was highlighted by members to consider smaller group sessions with case studies. An update on the training following changes to the service would be useful.

·         Further work was needed to consider if the support available for parents and pupils throughout the process was sufficient.

·         Further detail to come back to scrutiny on the CAMHS service, including the possibility/barriers to reducing the waiting time for referrals.  Arrangements the service has for planning for a potential increase in referrals, and how the service is funded.

·         The Panel recognised that difficulty with speech & language is a key trigger for exclusions.  An update should address the challenges for the service not meeting its statutory six-week advice submission and what can be done to change this.

·         The Panel would like to see an action plan for the growth in mental health issues affecting young people that are arising as a result of the pandemic both for the present and post-Covid-19. Members recognised that the events of the last months will have an enormous impact on young people's lives and may result in difficult to manage behaviour at school. The Panel should like to see all the other updated plans for managing behaviour in schools post-Covid-19.

The process for referral is detailed in the agenda report and the progress on this to be reported back to a future meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.