Shropshire Council website

This is the website of Shropshire Council

Contact information

E-mail

customer.service@shropshire.gov.uk

Telephone

0345 678 9000

Postal Address

Shropshire Council
Shirehall
Abbey Foregate
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY2 6ND

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Shrewsbury/Oswestry Room, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ND. View directions

Contact: Julie Fildes  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

55.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Peggy Mullock and Les Winwood.  Councillors Paul Milner and William Parr substituted for them. 

56.

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

 

Minutes:

None were declared.

57.

Public Question Time

To receive any questions or petitions from the public of which members of the public have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is 11.30am on Friday 7th February 2020.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

58.

Member Question Time

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is 5.00pm, Thursday 6th February 2020.

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

59.

Call In: Youth Support pdf icon PDF 519 KB

A decision of Cabinet made 22 January 2020 with regard to Youth Support has been called in.

 

The Performance Management Scrutiny Committee is asked to consider the decision taken.  The details of the call in are attached along with the report considered by Cabinet. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members of the Committee had the following papers before them:

 

Youth Support Report to Cabinet 21 January

Reasons for call in of decision by the Group Leader on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group. 

Members had also been circulated with representations from a member of the public, a Shropshire Councillor, Parish and Town Councils

 

All the above documents are available on the webpage for the meeting. 

 

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group referred to the reasons for the call in as set out in the papers before members of the Committee. 

 

The Chair then asked the Director of Children’s Services to address the Committee.

 

The Director set out the context within which a Member Task and Finish Group had been set up to review delivery of Youth Support, under the auspices of the Communities Overview Committee.  The purpose of the Group had been to explore good practice and identify the need across Shropshire, and explore a way forward. 

 

The Group had heard from a number of professionals and expert witnesses and developed a set of recommendations which were in line with the national direction of travel and a national review which had looked at provision of a response to increase in youth crime, exploitation and demands placed on children’s social care, families and carers.  The recommendations were designed to provide a response to more vulnerable children and young people, through provision of detached outreach workers who could go to where the exploiters were operating.   

 

This would not result in removal of support from rural areas which had been raised as a concern but was about getting to and addressing the needs of young people vulnerable to criminals, meeting local needs appropriately, and sourcing resources from a wider base. 

 

The Early Help Change Programme Manager referred to the national recommendations designed to address the rise in issues such as violence, exploitation, crime and cyber bullying through both open access and targeted provision.  These issues all existed in Shropshire and a lack of co-ordination around provision of services had been identified.  The Task and Finish Group had concluded that a dual approach through open access and targeted provision would be the best solution. 

 

In response to questions from the Chair and Committee, officers explained that it had been found that

 

·         There were good youth clubs throughout the county catering for young people and also vulnerable young people who were well supported in these settings

·         However, many vulnerable young people did not attend youth clubs for a number of reasons

·         A targeted outreach worker would be able to go appropriate areas and at the right times of the day

·         The South of the county was particularly reliant on volunteers with limited funded provision in these areas

·         Links with schools needed to be strengthened and intelligence shared with the police to protect children most at risk of exploitation

·         County lines existed in most rural areas

·         There was not a one size fits all solution – and the council needed to understand  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

 

Print this page

Back to top