Children and Young People: Strategic Partnership
This page lists reports from recent meetings of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership where the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) has been represented.
Gloucester County Council appoints its political representatives to the Strategic Partnership
Following the local elections in May 2010 , the County Council has appointed the Councillor Paul McLain as Lead Member for Children and Young People.
(Editor’s note) As a councillor Paul will serve as Chair of the Children and Young Peoples's Strategic Partnership to ensure political accountability to the County Council as an elected body, and as such can be lobbied by constituents, Gloucestershire electors generally, and local organisations.
Councillor Paul McLain 51 Collum End Rise
Telephone: 01242 230232 |
Recent Meetings of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership and related bodies:
Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Executive Group
Meeting of the 9th July 2010
This was the first meeting of the Executive Group to work to a ‘slimmed down’ agenda in order to allow the partnership to develop its broader role of strategic leadership during a time of change. The group discussed some of the key issues confronting us in delivering children’s services when the national picture is changing so rapidly. Key points were
- Having just become a statutory partnership under guidance from the previous government, it is now clear that this new status will disappear. It is not clear yet what importance the new government will ascribe to local CYP partnerships. Will we be seen as ‘backroom costs’ that can be saved as an ‘efficiency saving’
- Whatever role children’s trusts have in future we need to ct as a ‘voice for the children and young people’s sector’, and leading the agenda about integrated working and multi agency action for children and young people.
- Public sector agencies will become less powerful in the future. The local authority and the PCT will reduce in size and strategic role, and over time will cease to be service providers themselves – commissioning out more and more activity.
- There will be far less central government direction and guidance. The overriding message from the department for Communities and Local Government is ‘localism, localism, localism’ – organisations will be expected to be accountable to their communities and service users with far less money available.
- There was also a discussion about the role of the partnership in relation to one of the new government’s key policies – the introduction of the right of all schools to become Academies. Money to schools will go directly to schools, bypassing the local authority – which has the potential to severely restrict the ability of the LA to take on any central functions. The government apparently intends that LA’s will retain responsibility for excluded children through pupil referral, but with a maintained schools sector reducing in size, there were real fears about how the most vulnerable and difficult children will be supported.
For more information – bobl@glosassembly.org.uk
Relevant Resources
Visit www.glosfamiliesdirectory.org.uk
Advice & Guidance for Families
Family Information Service
Parent Partnership Service (alternative website)
Choice Advice Service
Glosfamilies Directory
The directory is Gloucestershire’s online guide to services, organisations and activities created for use by children, young people and their families and professionals. Please make sure parents and young people can access this valuable resource via your website.
Organisations can also make an entry on the directory’s website. Go to the home page and click on ‘new entry’. The directory will act more and more as the source of information about services in the county for Commissioners. If you operate at locality rather than county wide level, take the time and put information into the directory about the services you provide!!!! You know it makes sense
http://www.gloscypdirectory.org.uk
Also inform your service users
Family Information Service (FIS) provides free, impartial information and guidance on childcare and early years’ education within Gloucestershire. FIS can also offer general information on a wide range of services for children and young people aged 0-19 years and their families.
Freephone: 0800 542 02 02
Direct line: 01452 427 362
Text: 07769 965 118
E-Mail: familyinfo@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Web: http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/fis
2009-12 Children & Young People’s Plan
This strategic plan identifies what organisations are collectively going to do over the next three years, and how they are going to do it. It focuses on eight priority areas for the county, where better joint working, and changing the way we work, will really make a difference for the county's children and young people.
After the plan 09-12 was updated earlier this year, there has been a series of summaries published of the main points in the Children and Young People’s Plan. To access these go to CLICK HERE
They are a useful quick summary of the action cards and you can use them to quickly compare how your organisations activities contribute towards achieving the plan
To access a leaflet specifically tailored to the VCS about the plan go to http://www.gloshub.org.uk/docs/sg_cypsp/CYP%20PlanVCSECTOR%20final2.pdf
To access the whole plan in detail go to http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=22325
Children and Young people’s needs Analysis –
(The CYPSP’s ongoing work to ensure data on need is up to date and able to underpin the partnership’s planning)
Go to the County Council's Needs Analysis site.
Each year, a needs analysis is carried out to ensure that the current priorities remain relevant and to identify any new emerging needs for children and young people and their families and carers.
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The approach this year, as last year, was to divide the analysis under the five ECM outcome headings:
● Be healthy
● Stay safe
● Enjoy and achieve
● Make a positive contribution
● Achieve economic wellbeing.
Voluntary and Community Organisations have important information about the needs of Children and Young People and families. You might have an evaluation report about your work or data that you have collected about the people who use your services. You might have developed a new approach to old problems and the needs analysis needs to know about this.
If you feel you can contribute any information to feed into this process please contact Moira Pratt on 01452 425329 or moira.pratt@gloucestershire.gov.uk
'Healthy Gloucestershire Strategy' can be viewed at: http://www.gloshcwp.nhs.uk/healthylivin236282.html