Proposed Children and Families (Wales) Measure
Consultation Response
CF10 - Caerphilly County Borough Council, Directorate of Social Services
Consultation Questions
1. Is there a need for
a proposed Measure to deliver the stated objectives:
-Contributing to the eradication of child poverty;
-Making provision in relation to child minding and day care for children;
-Establishing integrated
family support teams to provide services to families where there are children who need to be, or who are, looked after, and this is related to needs on the part of their adult carers (such as dependence on drugs and alcohol); and
-Making
provision for play opportunities for children?
The proposed Measure creates the opportunity to bring together a number of strategies, partnerships and plans that have been devised to promote the Welsh Assembly Government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty and safeguard vulnerable children & young people. These strategies and plans include Cymorth, Flying Start, the Children & Young People’s Plan, Health Social Care and Well being Strategy, Community Safety Partnership, Communities First and the Community Safety Partnership.
By bringing these various strategies and partnerships under the umbrella of the proposed Measure, it is to be hoped that this will promote a cohesive, collaborative and consistent approach to meeting the needs of children, young people and their families.
However an expectation to increase service delivery and respond to child poverty must be supported by appropriate funding.
2. How will the proposed Measure change what organisations do currently and what impact would any such changes have?
It would be hoped that the Measure would create a common framework against which all Authorities should develop services whilst still being able to tailor services to local need. This may also open up further opportunities for Authorities and Organisations to engage in collaborative partnerships, taking forward the agenda set out in Beyond Boundaries. This has a particular significance with the forthcoming restructuring of Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts, whose boundaries may encompass a number of Local Authorities.
In relation to the potential changes to organisations’ functions the Measure recognises that the Local Authority’s strategy to address Child Poverty should be encompassed within the Children and Young People’s Plan, rather than requiring a further, separate strategy to be developed.
The Measure will require Local Authorities to conduct a Play Sufficiency Assessment. The foundation for completing this piece of work exists within the Children and Young People’s Partnership arrangement, and its duty to promote Core Aim 4, of Rights to Action. (Core Aim 4 - Access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities.)
Whilst the Measure places the statutory duty on the Local Authority it also acknowledges the duties of other public bodies to be involved, this includes the NHS. CYP Partnerships will therefore have to develop joint programmes of intervention that will require the movement of some resources. Similarly if the Local Authority will require funding to support the Measure other Public bodies could express similar concerns.
The proposals relating to Childminding and Day care within the draft Measure offer no significant impact or changes to the operations of organisations, as the proposals simply consolidates regulatory responsibilities, whilst strengthening elements of enforcement practices within the Children Act 1989, the Childcare Act 2006 and the Care Standards Act 2000.
The section of the proposed Measure relating to the Integrated Family Support Service may have the most significant impact on organisations, as well as making profound changes to the operation of those organisations. The Integrated Family Support Services (IFSS) also offers significant opportunities to Local Authority and partner organisations in terms of strengthening collaborative working arrangements, improving partnerships between adult and children’s service providers and making the connections between the various strategies and plans that have been established by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The principle that Welsh Authorities should provide and promote Family Support services have been well established within Rights to Action, and accompanying strategies such as Cymorth and Flying Start. This Local Authority acknowledges that a key tenet behind the objectives set out in the Measure is to reduce expenditure on tier four Acute Services, by targeting resources at tier two / three Family Support Services.
The proposed IFS Service will require Local Authorities and Health Authorities to re-focus approximately £0.5million of resources towards this intensive family support service. This may require substantial re-shaping of resources, should the proposed Measure not be accompanied by additional funding sources to support the creation of Integrated Family Support Services.
3. Are the sections of the proposed Measure appropriate in terms of achieving the stated objectives?
Contribute to the eradication of child poverty
Yes
Make provision in relation to child minding and day care for children
Yes
Establish integrated family support teams, in relation to boards, teams and annual reports
Over the last year, there have been a number of consultations and Conferences held to consider the various components of the proposed Measure. A consistent message from those consultations has been the need to utilise existing Children and Young People’s Partnership (CYPP) arrangements as a strategic hub for driving forward the proposals within the Measure. This Local Authority believes the Measure should make greater reference to the CYPP Plan and Partnership
Secure sufficient play opportunities for children
Yes
Ensure participation of children in local authority decision making
Yes
4. What are the potential barriers to implementing the provisions of the proposed Measure (if any) and does the proposed Measure take account of them?
Workforce - Is there a suitably large pool of experienced, highly skilled practitioners to establish the IFSS Teams? The current difficulties experienced by Social Care and Health services to recruit more experienced practitioners may prove to be a barrier when Local Authorities begin to set up the IFSS Teams. This will be exacerbated if, following the Pioneer stage, the remaining Local Authorities seek to recruit at the same time. The proposed Measure does not take account of the potential opportunity to increase the skills and knowledge of the workforce during the Pioneer process for those Health Authorities and Local Authorities who are not Pioneers.
Financial - The Measure recognises that investing in targeted Family Support Services will make savings at tier three and four, over the longer term. However, in the short to medium term, Local Authorities may have to maintain existing service requirements whilst embedding the enhanced preventative services. The Measure does not appear to include any recognition of the short to medium term financial pressure this will place on Authorities.
The role of the Children and Young People’s Partnership / Plan needs to be further reinforced within the proposed Measure.
Concern that Health colleagues may be distracted by their own re-organisation.
5. What are the financial implications of the proposed Measure for organisations, if any?
The Explanatory note sets out some limited information on the potential financial impacts of implementing the proposed measure. We would agree that the potential long term benefits of investing in intensive, preventative family support services should reduce the need for more costly, long term acute services. However, there is no suggestion within the Measure that additional funds will be made available to Authorities beyond the three years that the pioneer services will be in operation.
Therefore, Authorities not included in the pioneer programme could be required to find resources to establish the new preventative services, whilst continuing to maintain existing acute service provision to children and young people. The Explanatory note conservatively estimates the financial implications at £0.5 million. These transitional pressures on resources could be long term, until the investment in the intensive, preventative services deliver real term savings at tier three and four.
Caerphilly County Borough Council
