Agenda item

The Brent Children’s Trust (BCT) provides the Brent Health and Wellbeing Board with an update paper every six months, with the previous report having been presented at the October 2017 meeting. This paper provides a broad summary of the BCT work programme and actions of the JCG from November 2017 to March 2018.

Gail Tolley (Strategic Director of Children and Young People, Brent Council) introduced the report and commended Wendy Proctor (Strategic Partnerships Officer, Brent Council) for her support to the Brent Children’s Trust (BCT). The paper provided the Board with a broad summary of BCT’s work programme and actions of the Joint Commissioning Group (JCG) from November 2017 to March 2018. Ms Tolley made a reference to the recent Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) and highlighted that inspectors had complimented the work of the BCT. Ms Tolley noted that the report contained a recommendation asking the Health and Wellbeing Board to champion the protection of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This had been a result of a request made by the Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as it was anticipated that funding from National Health Service England (NHSE) for CAMHS transformation would cease in 2019/20. While some of the redeveloped services were no longer reliant on transformation funding there was concern that other services would be vulnerable to the reduction of funding.  This statement was supported by Sheikh Auladin (Chief Operating Officer, Brent CCG) who said that the Local Authority and NHSE were experiencing similar pressures on their budgets which meant that they had to explore how they could improve the way they worked together. This could provide opportunities for more effective joint commissioning and service transformation. A Member of the Board commented that it could be possible to look at the way funding had been allocated as the service for children had been oversubscribed, while the demand for adults had been at the expected level.        

Dr Ethie Kong (Chair and Co-Clinical Director, Brent CCG) commented that the Board had to examine the Sustainable Transformation Plan (STP) and ensure that it reflected that CAMHS had been prioritised across North West London and that stakeholders were willing to address the current challenges related to funding. However, this should not be done at the expense of Adult Mental Health Services as the two should complement each other.

The Board noted that it was necessary to secure the support of senior officers to build a joint approach and lobby the system to get investment back into the community via primary care services to replace the existing model which was not sustainable. It was pointed out that similar discussions had been going on for approximately two years without having a conversation about making an investment to prevent the demand for CAMHS.

In terms of future steps, Carolyn Downs (Chief Executive, Brent Council) stated that Brent could work collaboratively with the London Boroughs of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea to submit an application for funding through the West London Alliance. In addition, Councillor Muhammed Butt (Leader, Brent Council), Councillor Margaret McLennan (Deputy Leader, Brent Council) and Ms Tolley would bring the issue to the attention of London Councils Leaders’ Committee, London Councils Finance Forum and the West London Alliance respectively. 

RESOLVED that:

(i)     The contents of the Brent Children’s Trust Update November 2017 to March 2018 report, be noted;

(ii)    The Health and Wellbeing Board’s support for the protection of CAMHS service funding from 2019/20 be placed on record;

(iii)  The issue of CAMHS service funding be brought to the attention of the London Councils Leaders’ Committee by Councillor Muhammed Butt;

(iv)  The issue of CAMHS service funding be brought to the attention of the London Councils Finance Forum by Councillor Margaret McLennan; and

(v)    The issue of CAMHS service funding be brought to the attention of the West London Alliance by Gail Tolley.