Walsall Children & Young People’s Trust

Walsall Childrens Trust

Children Area PartnershipStock take

June 2010

Content of Presentation• Methodology• Strengths• Key Issues• Key Questions• Finally Recommendations which feed into the

key objectives for today’s session

Methodology• Desk top analysis of paperwork including plans,

minutes, terms of reference, membership, reports• A review session with the CAP Chair and Vice Chairs

group• Interviews with members of CAP development group• Focus groups interviews with a sample of CAP chairs

and other key stakeholders, including health partners.• Interview with the Director of Walsall Partnership,

responsible for neighbourhood management.

Strengths of CAPs• Pioneering and ahead of time • Strong strategic commitment• Excellent operational support • CAPs promote the ambitions of neighbourhood

management to tackle local issues together• Some CAPs have been a catalyst for integrated

working and are beginning to make a difference to the lives of children and families

Strengths of CAPs• CAPs bring resource to the table through the partners

involved• Data profiles have been a welcome introduction and

enable local issues to be understood better• Joint priorities have been set by the community and

agencies for their local area • There is compelling evidence that outcomes for

children and families have improved as a result of activities run by the CAPs, although this is not captured systematically.

Issues for CAPs

1. Membership and leadership

Patchy attendance Health partner engagement Voluntary and community sector role and

representation Role and designation of the CAP chair Nature of the CAP chairs meeting

Key questions• What can be done to address the membership

issues?• How can all agencies be encouraged to play their

part?• How should children’s centres, extended services,

integrated youth service and others work with CAPs in order to accelerate integrated working?

• What do CAPs require in terms of the chair and vice chair role?

• What format should the meetings for CAP chairs and vice chairs take?

Issues for CAPs2. Relationship to Local Strategic Partnership

and Neighbourhood Management

Perceived threat from new Neighbourhood Management Areas (Area Partnerships)

Potential change of CAP boundaries and groupings

Opportunity to align CAPs and jointly plan to complement the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and Children’s Plan (CYPP)

Key questions• How can CAPs be aligned with the three Area

Footprints and the six Area Partnerships?• What role should the Area Managers play in the

CAPS?• What CAP involvement should there be in the

Partner Meetings?• How will this locality working be communicated to

all partners?

Issues for CAPs3. Planning and commissioning Gathering data for locality profiles has been difficult and time

consuming. It needs to join up with Area Partnership data The potential for CAPs to contribute to a neighbourhood

Total Plan has not been explored The perception of commissioning is that it is a bidding

process- some CAPs don’t have capacity and feel disadvantaged

Children’s Trust Board

Governance Structure

Executive Group

Children’s Trust Board

Schools are represented here

Stakeholder Engagement

(inc. The voice of children and young people through School

Councils, etc)

Commissioning(including Next Practice Network – the schools’ commissioning forum)

Local Safeguarding Children’s Board

Head teacher representatives are members of this Board

Children’s Integrated Workforce

Development(inc. workforce reform in

Schools)

CYPP Delivery & Performance

(inc.ECM priorities and resources)

Children’s Area Partnerships (CAP’s) – supporting delivery of the Children & Young People’s Plan through partnership working within Neighbourhood Management Areas (NMA’s). Each CAP includes

school representatives

Walsall Strategic Partnership

Executive sub-groups

Cabinet/Council

Recommendations• Walsall’s Director of Partnerships Membership

and the AD for Partnership in Children’s Service should work together to develop a coherent locality arrangement which complements rather than competes- an agreed partnership strategy

• Terms of reference and membership need to be amended in the light of these arrangements and the role of CAP chairs clarified further.

• The meetings for chairs and vice chairs need to be revised to take on a think tank approach.

Recommendations• Clear lines of reporting and accountability to the new

statutory Children’s Trust Board and to the existing Local Strategic Partnership should be drawn up and communicated to all

• CAPs need to be aligned with the three footprints and 6 Area Partnerships

• Area Coordinators should be aligned with CAPs• There needs to be CAP engagement with Partner meetings.

• Resource from workforce development should be used to provide an infrastructure of operational support for the Area

Partnerships/CAP working.

Recommendations• Produce joint CAP/Area Partnership data profiles• Use the data and the views of the community to define joint

priorities and actions• Devise the CYPP for 2011 using this starting point.• Align commissioning to this planning process and commit to

commissioning CAPS and Area Partnerships to deliver programmes in the localities

• Build impact measures into the planning process using

locality data and feedback.

Recommendations

• Take a radical look at the number of partnership groups and meetings and look for duplication (refer back to CTB and Strategic Partnership arrangements).

• Where possible take a 0-19 approach to themes and activities to avoid artificial age boundaries and silo approach to the needs of children and young people

• Be aware of culture change and the need for clarity and regular communication.