DEVELOPING THE WORK OF THEDORSET CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

September 2004 to May 2005

1. Introduction

Two well attended workshops on developing the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) took place in March and May 2004. The workshops included representatives from a wide range of agencies including the County Council, District Council’s, the Health Service and local voluntary agencies.

The purpose of both workshops was:

• To assist the CYPSP to identify key issues where the Partnership could make a difference to improving outcomes for children and young people
• To assist the Partnership to develop plans for addressing these issues

A separate report is available on each workshop.

2. Objectives for Developing Partnership Work in Dorset from September 2004 to April 2005.

This reports sets out plans for achieving a number of key tasks which will set in place firm foundations for taking forward the agenda outlined in Every Child Matters Next Steps and the priority areas identified at the two workshops.   It is ambitious but there is a commitment to sustaining the momentum which has been created.  

The intention is that by April 2005 the following will have been achieved:

• New partnership governance arrangements
• A sound evidence base for future planning. This will involve agencies sharing management information on finance, performance data and workforce issues
• A joint workforce strategy
• A joint strategy on participation of children and young people
• Two different approaches will have been piloted on developing joint commissioning strategies. One will focus on a district approach and the other around the needs of a particular age range

3. Joint Co-ordination and Commissioning

3.1   Key Principles

Appendix 1 contains a diagram which summarises the new planning arrangements. Some of these are temporary and will be reviewed in Spring 2005. The work is being informed by the following principles:

• Ensuring the views of service users are at the centre of all aspects of the work
• Building on what is in place already
• Keeping the focus on making a difference for children, young people and families who live in Dorset
• Making sure plans are based on a joint understanding of the current position, what works and what needs improvement
• Doing what must be done but also being innovative and trying new approaches and ways of working
• Learning from the work of others
• Ensuring there is strategic direction
• Making sure key stakeholders can be involved and building in “thinking time”

Some information on putting the principles into practice can be found in the sections below.

3.2 Ensuring the views of service users are at the centre of all aspects of the work.

The views of children, young people and their parents and carers will inform and influence future plans. The Participation and Involvement Group will be developing a strategy to ensure this happens. The group will also develop proposals for ensuring the Partnership Board and Chief Officers Group can have direct access to the views of children, young people, parents and carers. Finally, the group will be developing systems for ensuring future work on participation and involvement is co-ordinated with a view to joint commissioning this work in the future.

3.3 Building on what is in place already.

There are a number of key planning groups already in existence. For example, the Teenage Pregnancy Partnership Board, the Children’s Fund Management Group and the Children’s NSF Local Implementation Group. These groups will continue to meet. Each group will be linked to one of the 5 Every Child Matters outcome areas:

• Being healthy
• Staying safe
• Enjoying and achieving
• Making a positive contribution
• Economic and social well being

Some initial work has taken place on linking existing groups to these themes. This is included in Appendix 2.

Plans will be developed for reporting on progress being made on the  5 themes. This will include summarising the work of key planning groups.

Local knowledge is very important and the 6 District Community Planning Groups will assist with providing this. Links with these groups will be strengthened.

3.4 Keeping the focus on making a difference for children, young people and families who live in Dorset.

2 priority areas have been selected:

• Services for children and young people with disabilities
• Over 16s

Decisions have already been made on developing an integrated service for children and young people with disabilities. A Pan Dorset Strategic Group has been established.

The workshops identified improving services for young people aged 16 years and over as a priority area. This links to the strategic priority of the County Council on enabling young people to stay living in Dorset should they want to do this.  A group focusing on improving life chances of the Over 16s age range is being established to take this work forward.

3.5 Making sure plans are based on a joint understanding of the current position, what works and what needs improvement.

Effective joint commissioning involves making decisions about future use of resources. These decisions need to be based on a good understanding of what is happening now, what works and what needs changing. Plans for the future can then include realistic expectations about outputs and outcomes.  The Activity and Financial Information and Workforce Planning Groups will assist with this.

3.6 Doing what must be done but also being innovative and trying new approaches and ways of working.

Dorset must address national policies and priorities. The Information Sharing and Assessment Group is an example of this.

It is also important to try new approaches and respond to local need and the Over 16s Group is one example. The group focusing on Models for the Future is another. This group has two main areas of responsibility:

• To co-ordinate work on piloting a District approach to developing a joint commissioning strategy for children’s services
• To explore models for developing an inclusive Partnership Board which will own and monitor the vision for children’s services in Dorset and give a steer on strategic priorities

3.7 Learning from the work of others.

The work in Dorset will be informed by examples of good practice and lessons learned by other authorities. This will include seeking examples on approaches to joint commissioning and to developing partnership boards. This has happened already and the establishment of the Finance and Activity and Workforce Planning groups has been influenced by developments taking place in the Children’s Trust Pathfinders in Knowsley and South Tyneside.

3.8 Ensuring there is strategic direction.

The Chief Officer Group will meet more frequently than it the past. This group will receive reports on the priority areas of work. The group will also co-ordinate future developments on all children’s services issues. All agencies have been asked to bring information on future service developments and plans to the Chief Officer Group before formal decisions are made.

A time limited group has been established on developing the Dorset approach to joint commissioning. This group will replace the existing children’s services planning group.   The group will report regularly to the Chief Officer Group. The sub-groups on Participation and Involvement, Activity and Financial Information, Workforce Planning and Models for the Future will report to the Joint Commissioning and Co-ordinating Group.

3.9 Making sure key stakeholders can be involved and building in “thinking time”.

The workshops were successful in bringing a wide variety of stakeholders together and as a means of gaining consensus and moving things forward. Further workshops will take place in November 2004, March 2005 and May 2005.

4. Taking the Work Forward

Draft terms of reference and outline work programmes are being developed for the priority groups identified in Appendix 1. The new planning groups will begin meeting in September or October. Another multi-agency workshop will take place in November 2004. This will provide groups with an opportunity to share plans and receive feedback. Groups will meet in December, January and February. A workshop will be held in March to evaluate the progress made and identify plans for the future. In April 2005 the Chief Officer Group will consider the report from the March workshop and agree proposals for future planning arrangements and priority areas of work. These will be communicated at a stakeholder workshop in May 2005.

Appendix 2

EXISTING MULTI-AGENCY CHILDREN’S SERVICES PLANNING GROUPS

There are a number of multi-agency groups which meet to plan services for children, young people and their families. Over the next few months a comprehensive list of groups will be compiled and an audit undertaken for each group including main purpose, membership, current priorities and future plans.

The Chief Officer Group (COG) has agreed that all existing planning groups will be linked to one of the 5 Every Child Matters outcome areas:

• Being healthy
• Staying safe
• Enjoying and achieving
• Making a positive contribution
• Economic and social well being

In the future COG will receive quarterly reports on progress with achieving these outcomes. This will include short reports from existing planning groups linked to the outcome areas. Reports will be presented to COG in November 2004, February 2005 and May 2005. Information on the format for these reports and the schedule for reporting will be circulated at a later date.

Initial work has taken place on linking some existing planning groups to the 5 outcome areas. This is outlined below. Further work is planned. This includes:

Compiling a full list of multi-agency planning groups

Asking chairs of each group to:

• Confirm primary outcome areas . (It is recognised that groups are likely to focus on more than one area but they need to select one for their primary link for reporting purposes)
• Confirm objectives and link these to Every Child Matters outcome areas
• Amend terms of reference in the light of the Children Bill,  Every Child Matters Next Steps and the plans for developing the work of the Dorset Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership

Being healthy

• Health of Children Looked After by Local Authority
• Children’s Local Operational Group West
• Substance Misuse Commissioning Group and Substance Misuse Network Group
• CAMHS Steering Group and Dorset Operational Group
• Parenting Co-ordination Group

Staying safe

• Youth Offending Team Chief Officer’s Steering Group
• Area Child Protection Committee and ACPC Co-ordinating Group
• Assessment Framework and ACPC Procedures Sub-Group

Enjoying and achieving

• Children’s Fund Management Group
• Identification, Referral and Tracking Systems Group (Is this the same as information sharing and assessment group?
• Dorset Youth Partnership

Making a positive contribution

• Special Educational Needs Strategy Group
• Connexions Management Group
• Information and Advice Centres Partnership

Economic and social well being

• Children’s Centres planning groups
• Extended Schools
• Chesil Partnership
• Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership
• Community Care/Supported Housing Group
• Reducing Teenage Pregnancy Partnership Board

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