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Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Sarah Craddock 

Items
No. Item

1.

Membership

To report that Councillor Gotz Mohindra and Councillor Aicha Less have replaced Councillor Robert Rigby and Councillor Tim Roca respectively.

Minutes:

 

1.1       It was noted that Councillor Gotz Mohindra and Councillor Aicha Less have replaced Councillor Robert Rigby and Councillor Tim Roca.

 

1.2       The Chairman welcomed Councillor Danny Chalkley (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People), Councillor Paul Church (Deputy Cabinet Member for Children and Young People) and Councillor David Harvey (Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure) to the meeting.

 

1.3       The Chairman also welcomed Raffaello Pantucci, Director, from the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies and Alex Atherton, Headteacher at Quintin Kynaston (QK) to the meeting who would take part in the discussion on ‘Prevent Delivery’. (Item 7)

 

 

2.

Declaration of Interest

To receive declarations of interest by Members and Officers of any personal or prejudicial interests.

Minutes:

2.1       Councillor Adnan Mohammed declared that he had been part of the Community Cohesion Commission which was a cross party Commission.

 

2.2       No further declarations of interests in respect of items to be discussed were made, other than those noted in the circulated schedule as set out below in paragraph 2.2.

 

2.3       Table of Member’s interests tabled at the Committee Meeting was as follows:

 

Councillor/Member of the Children, Sports and Leisure P&S Committee

 

Organisation

Nature of Interest

Iain Bott

 

Paddington Academy

 

One Westminster

 

Governor

 

Non-Voting Member of the Board

 

Gotz Mohindra

St Marylebone Almshouses

Trustee

 

Adnan Mohammed

 

St Marys School

Governor

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 179 KB

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2016.

Minutes:

3.1       RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2016 be approved for signature by the Chairman as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

 

4.

Trackers and Work Programme pdf icon PDF 247 KB

a)    To note the progress in implementing the Committee’s Recommendation and Action Trackers.

 

b)    To provide comment and input into the Work Programme for 2016/17.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

4.         ACTION AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKERS AND COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME

 

4.1       ACTION AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKERS

 

4.1.1   RESOLVED: That the Action and Recommendation Trackers be noted.

 

 4.2      COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME

 

4.2.1    RESOLVED: The Committee Work Programme for 2016/17 be noted.

 

5.

Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure pdf icon PDF 266 KB

Councillor David Harvey (Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

5.         QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION: CABINET MEMBER FOR SPORTS AND LEISURE

 

5.1       The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member who responded to questions on the procurement of the new sports and leisure facilities contract commencing on the 1 July 2016 which included: the improvements to facilities and new equipment across the centres,the reinstatement of exercise classes at the Seymour and Queen Mother Sports Centres, the possibility of locating street gyms in central Westminster, staff morale and staff retention and the opportunities for sport to play an significant role in improved public health.

 

6.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People pdf icon PDF 346 KB

Councillor Danny Chalkley (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

Minutes:

6.         QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION: CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

 

6.1       The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member who responded to question on the following topics:

  • the establishment and the sustainability of the Young Westminster Foundation (YWF) which would allow businesses and individuals to play a part in providing services for young people in the borough.
  • the re-shaping of the early help service, including children’s centres, to achieve service improvements and efficiency savings.
  • the further six months funding received from the DfE to continue the successful FGM safeguarding multi-agency project.
  • the possibility of tracking childhood obesity in Westminster.

 

7.

Overview Of Prevent Delivery pdf icon PDF 228 KB

To examine the work that is undertaken to deliver the Prevent Strategy locally with a particular focus on how this is done to safeguard Westminster’s children, young people and families.

Minutes:

7.1       The Committee received a report outlining the work that was carried out by Westminster’s Prevent Team and how the Prevent Strategy was delivered locally with a particular focus on how this was carried out to safeguard Westminster’s children, young people and families.  The Committee noted that the team was Home Office funded.

 

7.2       The Committee welcomed Raffaello Pantucci from the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies who discussed with the Committee what his organisation was already doing to tackle radicalisation.  He gave a general understanding of the journey to radicalisation and what issues should be considered to prevent people from falling into it.  The Committee noted that there was no single pathway or narrative that people followed to becoming radicalised and that the role of the internet and social media (smart phones) was always a fascinating and dynamic topic to explore to see what process it played in radicalisation.  This was particularly interesting to look at regarding young people where smart phones allowed them immediate access to a virtual community.  Raffaello explained that the programmes that appeared to work to prevent radicalisation either engaged at a very micro level and/or tended to involve ‘charismatic’ figures. 

 

7.3       The Committee next welcomed Alex Atheron, Headteacher of Quintin Kynaston (QK) who advised that his experience working with the Prevent Team had been very good.  He discussed with the Committee what QK was doing to prevent radicalisation of its school pupils and that schools needed to develop their own response to the new statutory duty.  He advised that training staff was crucial so that they felt empowered to challenge inappropriate comments and that time and spaces were set aside to have these types of conversations.  He emphasised that this might be new territory for schools and teachers but it did not shift the ownership or responsibility of these safeguarding issues.

 

7.4       Some of the key issues that emerged from the Committee’s discussion were:

 

  • the community engagement and community projects commissioned to support and empower Westminster’s communities.
  • the importance of being responsive to the community by having difficult conversations on topics such as gang crime and sexual exploitation.
  • the delivery and importance of staff training within schools.
  • the power of the internet, social media and the new virtual community.
  • the importance of the Prevent Parenting Programme, community engagement visits and e-safety parenting classes.
  • the importance of engaging with youth centres as well as schools.
  • how ‘charismatic’ people played a much more significant part in radicalising a person compared to actual religion.
  • the understanding of the referral system.
  • the importance of balancing the wellbeing of the child along with the school’s need for good examination results.

 

7.5       The Chairman thanked everyone who had given up their time to attend the            meeting and contribute to the discussion.

 

7.6       RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People for consideration:

 

1.    The Committee recognised the work of the Prevent Team in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Overview of Focus and Practice and Partners in Practice pdf icon PDF 154 KB

To review the Practice Programme and funding opportunities for the continuation of the programme.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

8.1       The Committee received a report updating them on the progress of Focus on Practice, the programme within family services funded by the Department of Education Innovation in Social Care programme, and the proposals for the future work as Partners in Practice with the DfE.

 

8.2       The Committee welcomed Claire Chamblerlain, Interim Tri-Borough Director of Children Services and Julie Rooke, Focus on Practice Project Manager, to the meeting who discussed with the Committee that that Family Services had recognised that practitioners could be constrained by bureaucratic processes and therefore the Focus on Practice programme had been launched in October 2014.  The Committee noted that its core objective was for Social Workers and other practitioners to use their professional expertise to help create positive change for families and better outcomes for children and young people.

 

8.3       The Committee heard that in order for practitioners to engage and develop relationships with families, a comprehensive skills development programme incorporating systemic practice (a 15 day accredited foundation course in systemic family therapy undertaken by all practitioners and managers), signs of safety approaches, motivational Interviewing and parenting programmes, had been developed.

 

8.4       The Committee then discussed the importance of practitioners building up a strong relationship with a family, how practitioners could make an immediate impact on a family, the high level of staff retention of practitioners in Tri Borough and the number and demographics of young alysum seekers (mainly 15,16 and 17 year olds) coming to London.

 

8.5       The Chairman thanked everyone who had given up their time to attend the            meeting and contribute to the discussion.

 

8.6       RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People for consideration:

 

1.    The Committee welcomed the Focus on Practice and Partners in Practice ambitious programme.

 

2.    The Committee welcomed the 15 day accredited foundation course in systemic family therapy.

 

3.    The Committee welcomed the impact of the programme on the positive morale of staff.

 

4.    The Committee supported the bid for the funding for the Partners in Practice Service which would create Westminster an exemplar service for the development of practitioners. 

 

9.

Reports of any Urgent Safeguarding Issues

Verbal Update (if any)

Minutes:

9.1       The Chairman advised that there was nothing to report.

 

10.

Any Other Business the Chairman Considers Urgent

Minutes:

10.       TERMINATION OF MEETING

 

10 .1    The meeting ended at 8.55pm