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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
No disclosures of interest were received.
No declarations were made.
Panel agreed the Minutes of the meeting on 25 February 2025 as an accurate record of the meeting.
Letter to Cabinet Member following the meeting on 25 February 2025 and the response were noted. Chair commented that he was still not sure how individual Looked After Children educational performance is measured. Informed further explanation will be provided under item 8 on the agenda.
No questions were received.
Delia Roberts, CAMHS lead nurse and Erin Smith, Head of Nursing, Mental Health Division attended from the Health Board to present an update to the Panel on progress since the last update in January 2024. Discussion Points: · Presentation highlighted: - Single Point of Access and the possibility of a joined up mental health front door between the Health Board, Local Authorities and Third sector - Current waiting times - which is currently 14 days for assessment, with the highest wait for psychological therapies at 4 – 6 months - Appointment of 2 complex nurses, which is a new initiative to improve outcomes for care experienced young people - Development of an in-reach service at Hillside secure children’s facility - The process for transition from CAMHS to Adult Mental Health Services, emphasising there is a higher threshold for Adult Mental Health Services than CAMHS. - Other areas of development including extending the offer of psychoeducation to parents and carers. · Panel asked questions about Single Point of Access and screening through triage; primary schools referring directly to the Single Point of Access; CAMHS in-reach expanding to FE colleges; prescribing and monitoring medication; length of wait between CAMHS and Adult Mental Health Services (Panel very concerned about this issue); parent’s involvement in young person’s decision whether to continue treatment at 18; links between neurodiversity and CAMHS.
Robert Smith, Cabinet Member for Education and Learning together with relevant officers attended to brief the Panel on the Virtual School and how it supports looked after children in Swansea. Discussion Points: · Report states Welsh Government provided one-off funding to local authorities to develop a pilot virtual school. Swansea developed a digital solution. Not all features could be realized, but an automated electronic personal education plan was developed. The contract for this was not renewed but the Education Directorate is now supporting a virtual school module in the new IT system, Teacher Centre, which will be fully implemented by January 2026. The Authority is awaiting further updates regarding the adoption of a fully funded virtual school model across every local authority in Wales. · Report states the virtual school IT module is just part of the service the Directorate provides to support the achievement of looked after children in education, and are currently recruiting Early Intervention Officers, and one will have a specific focus in working with looked after children. · Panel emphasised the importance of attendance in school for looked after children. Officers hope the Teacher Centre IT Programme will provide data on attendance of looked after children and enable tracking of those young people whose attendance is falling below certain levels. · Panel asked questions about communication with other local authorities in Wales so we can learn from each other, if we compare outcomes of different virtual school models with other countries in the UK; if it is a disadvantage for children in Wales that all local authorities are not using the same virtual school model; supporting looked after children who go out of county for their education; if the workforce for the virtual school in Swansea needs to be expanded. Actions: • Confirmation to be provided on if we compare outcomes with other countries in the UK who have different virtual school models.
Helen Williams, Principal Officer Adolescent and Young People Services and Amy Barrett, Team Leader attended to update the Panel on this issue and answer questions. Discussion Points: · Report considers support services in place for young people aged 16-25 within Bays and Youth Justice Services, reflects on some of the significant issues that impact young people and highlights some of the key opportunities young people have for involvement in participation. · There is a recognition that there is a lot of ongoing positive and proactive work across Child and Family Services when working with young people who are 16+, however it could benefit from reviewing services to ensure it continue to offer the right support at the right time. · Panel asked about whether the Service works with young people to help them get into work and heard that it does. · Panel queried how successful the Service has been in increasing the number of supported living providers and was pleased to hear that 16 have now signed up to the framework.
Panel considered the work plan and noted items for the next meeting.
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