Agenda item

To consider the Executive response provided to the following Scrutiny Task Group reports from the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee:

6.1      Transitional Safeguarding in Brent

This report presents the final report and recommendations from the Task Group established by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to review Transitional Safeguarding arrangements in Brent, along with the proposed Executive response.

6.2      GP Access in Brent

This report presents the final report and recommendations from the Task Group established by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to review GP Access in Brent, along with the proposed Executive response.

Cabinet NOTED the comments made by Councillor Ketan Sheth (as Chair of the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and Transitional Safeguarding Task Group) in introducing the report and recommendations made by the Task Group established by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to review the development of Transitional Safeguarding in Brent.

Highlighting the timely nature of the review, given the evolution of practice nationally and the development of associated transitional safeguarding arrangements in Brent, Councillor Ketan Sheth outlined the process undertaken by the Task Group in gathering evidence as part of their review.  This had involved three themed evidence sessions engaging with a wide range of stakeholders focussed around understanding transitional safeguarding and its evolution nationally; the transitional safeguarding development work undertaken in Brent; the experience of young people and families who may require transitional support and how the development of transitional safeguarding would be taken forward.  Thanks were expressed to all those who had contributed towards and supported the review process, including Dez Holmes for the expertise and detailed understanding provided in relation to the practice of transitional safeguarding.  Cabinet were advised that key findings identified through the review had included:

·                The need to address the potential for some young people to fall through the gap between children’s and adults’ services if thresholds for support were not aligned or they fell out of contact with services.  The Task Group felt that developing a council-wide approach to transitional safeguarding which sought to provide effective and fluid support to this cohort of young people would not only support their safety and wellbeing but may also reduce the need for specialist and statutory services and criminal justice involvement.

·                The need to ensure services were responsive to the specific needs of individual young people.  The Task Group felt this could be addressed through the adoption of a participative, user-led approach when developing transitional safeguarding practice, respecting young people’s needs and enabling them to co-produce solutions rather than being treated as a passive recipient of support.

·                The need to recognise that risks faced by young people were often inter-connected and included a range of risk factors, such as financial difficulties, housing problems, and not being in education, training or employment.  The Task Group therefore identified the need for some young people to be provided with multi-agency support at a more intensive level in order to navigate the complexities of housing, education, training and employment (ETE), finances and further agency support.

As a result of the key findings, the Task Group had identified the need, as part of the ongoing development of transitional safeguarding, for strong, collaborative leadership.   Local commissioners and service providers had also been encouraged to develop their knowledge and understanding of transitional safeguarding issues within the local area, share their expertise and support other professionals to develop their practice in conjunction with elected members given their experience of working across services, organisations and sectors, as well as their unique knowledge of the communities they represented.

In commending the Task Group report and recommendations to Cabinet, Councillor Ketan Sheth advised that he had been encouraged by the Executive response and commitment towards implementing the recommendations in order to provide leadership and develop expanded partnership working, meaningful engagement with communities and an active knowledge and skills exchange.

In welcoming the work undertaken by the Task Group Cabinet RESOLVED to note the report and recommendations made by the Transitional Safeguarding Scrutiny Task Group (as approved by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on 22 February 2022) and to approve the Executive Response provided in relation to each recommendation, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.

6.2    GP Access in Brent

Cabinet NOTED the comments made by Councillor Daly (as Chair of the GP Access in Brent Task Group) in introducing the report and recommendations made by the Task Group established by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to review the accessibility of General Practice (GP) in Brent following the end of the first lockdown in March 2021.

Councillor Daly also highlighted the timely nature of the review given the current pressures on general practice as a result of the pandemic and various changes this had brought about.  In recognising that people had different views and experiences of general practice, Cabinet were advised of the balanced way in which the Task Group had sought to capture these as part of their review process involving not only a range of themed evidence gathering sessions but also an extensive survey of patient experience in accessing GP services.  Whilst supportive of the efforts made to ensure GP services remained available during the pandemic the Task Group had felt, whilst recognising the challenging circumstances, there were additional measures that could be taken across Brent’s health economy to further improve accessibility to high quality and appropriate health care for all, with a particular focus highlighted in relation to addressing the barriers experienced by:

·                patients on persistent low income, with a disability, some older patients, patients whose first language was not English, some children and young people, refuges and asylum seekers and those who struggled to access digital technology.

·                some parents with young children along with children and young people themselves, especially in relation to mental health support and rapid access to primary care for infants and young children with childhood illness.

Thanks were expressed to the wide range of stakeholders who had been engaged and contributed towards the review with it recognised that the findings and recommendations produced as a result would require action and implementation across a wide range of partner agencies including the Brent Integrated Care Partnership (ICP), North West London Clinical Commissioning Group (NWL CCG), North West London Integrated Care System (NWL ICS) as well as the Council and local Primary Care Networks (PCNs).

In welcoming and commending the work undertaken by the Task Group, Cabinet noted the commitment and support expressed through the Health and Wellbeing Board for the review and to ensure the necessary Action Plans for implementation of the various recommendations across partner agencies were developed working towards a standard vision for GP access across Brent.  Cabinet, supported by Councillor Ketan Sheth as Chair of the community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, also took the opportunity to thank Councillor Daly for her role in leading the review as chair of the Task Group.  Having considered the findings from the review it was RESOLVED to note the report and recommendations made by the GP Access Scrutiny Task Group (as approved by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on 22 February 2022) and to approve the Executive Response provided in relation to each recommendation, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.

6.1    Transitional Safeguarding in Brent

Prior to consideration of the main report, Councillor Muhammed Butt (Leader of the Council) welcomed and invited Councillor Ketan Sheth (as Chair of the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and Transitional Safeguarding Task Group) to introduce the report and recommendations made by the Task Group established by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to review the development of Transitional Safeguarding in Brent.

Highlighting the timely nature of the review, given the evolution of practice nationally and the development of associated transitional safeguarding arrangements in Brent, Councillor Ketan Sheth began his introduction by outlining the process undertaken by the Task Group in gathering evidence as part of their review.  This had involved three themed evidence sessions engaging with a wide range of stakeholders focussed around understanding transitional safeguarding and its evolution nationally; the transitional safeguarding development work undertaken in Brent; the experience of young people and families who may require transitional support and how the development of transitional safeguarding would be taken forward.  Thanks were expressed to all those who had contributed towards and supported the review process, including Dez Holmes for the expertise and detailed understanding provided in relation to the practice of transitional safeguarding.  Cabinet were advised that key findings identified through the review had included:

·                The need to address the potential for some young people to fall through the gap between children’s and adults’ services if thresholds for support were not aligned or they fell out of contact with services.  The Task Group felt that developing a council-wide approach to transitional safeguarding which sought to provide effective and fluid support to this cohort of young people would not only support their safety and wellbeing but may also reduce the need for specialist and statutory services and criminal justice involvement.

·                The need to ensure services were responsive to the specific needs of individual young people.  The Task Group felt this could be addressed through the adoption of a participative, user-led approach when developing transitional safeguarding practice, respecting young people’s needs and enabling them to co-produce solutions rather than being treated as a passive recipient of support.

·                The need to recognise that risks faced by young people were often inter-connected and included a range of risk factors, such as financial difficulties, housing problems, and not being in education, training or employment.  The Task Group therefore identified the need for some young people to be provided with multi-agency support at a more intensive level in order to navigate the complexities of housing, education, training and employment (ETE), finances and further agency support.

As a result of these findings, the Task Group had identified the need, as part of the ongoing development of transitional safeguarding, for strong, collaborative leadership.  Local commissioners and service providers had also been encouraged to develop their knowledge and understanding of transitional safeguarding issues within the local area, share their expertise and support other professionals to develop their practice in conjunction with elected members given their experience of working across services, organisations and sectors, as well as their unique knowledge of the communities they represented.

In commending the Task Group report and recommendations to Cabinet, Councillor Ketan Sheth ended by stating that he had been encouraged by the Executive response which had been provided (as circulated with the agenda) and commitment towards implementing the recommendations in order to provide leadership and develop expanded partnership working, meaningful engagement with communities and an active knowledge and skills exchange.

Having noted the introductory comments from Councillor Ketan Sheth, Councillor McLennan (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources, Children’s Safeguarding, Early Help and Social Care) then introduced the report presenting the Executive Response to the report and recommendations from the Transitional Safeguarding Task Group.  In welcoming the work undertaken by the Task Group, Cabinet were pleased to note the Task Group’s recognition of the work undertaken to develop transitional safeguarding arrangements in Brent, given the importance of the approach in terms of meeting the increasingly complex risk and needs of the most vulnerable young people and adults within the borough.  Whilst aware of the potential financial implications, it was also felt the report and recommendations would provide a strong foundation towards developing and embedding an inclusive and joined up multi agency transitional approach towards safeguarding across Brent, with the proposed establishment of a Transitional Safeguarding Working Group also welcomed in order to oversee the development of this approach on a council wide basis.

Having expressed their support for the work undertaken by the Task Group, Cabinet RESOLVED to note the report and recommendations made by the Transitional Safeguarding Scrutiny Task Group (as approved by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on 22 February 2022) and to approve the Executive Response provided in relation to each recommendation, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.

6.2    General Practice (GP) Access in Brent

Councillor Muhammed Butt (Leader of the Council) then welcomed and invited Councillor Daly (as Chair of the GP Access in Brent Task Group) to introduce the report and recommendations made by the Task Group established by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to review the accessibility of General Practice (GP) in Brent following the end of the first lockdown in March 2021.

Councillor Daly also began by highlighting the timely nature of the review given the current pressures on general practice as a result of the pandemic and various changes this had brought about.  In recognising that people had different views and experiences of general practice, Cabinet were advised of the balanced way in which the Task Group had sought to capture these as part of their review process involving not only a range of themed evidence gathering sessions but also an extensive survey of patient experience in accessing GP services.  Whilst recognising the challenging circumstances and supportive of the efforts made to ensure GP services remained available during the pandemic, the Task Group had identified additional measures they felt could be introduced across Brent’s health economy to further improve accessibility to high quality and appropriate health care for all, with a particular focus highlighted in relation to addressing the barriers experienced by:

·                patients on persistent low income, with a disability, some older patients, patients whose first language was not English, some children and young people, refuges and asylum seekers and those who struggled to access digital technology;

·                some parents with young children along with children and young people themselves, especially in relation to mental health support and rapid access to primary care for infants and young children with childhood illness.

Thanks were expressed to the wide range of stakeholders who had been engaged and contributed towards the review, with it recognised that the findings and recommendations produced as a result would require action and implementation across a wide range of partner agencies including the Brent Integrated Care Partnership (ICP), North West London Clinical Commissioning Group (NWL CCG), North West London Integrated Care System (NWL ICS) as well as the Council and local Primary Care Networks (PCNs).

Having noted the introductory comments from Councillor Daly, Councillor Nerva (Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture & Leisure) then introduced the report presenting the Executive Response to the GP Access Task Group report and recommendations.

In welcoming and commending the work undertaken by the Task Group, Cabinet noted the commitment and support expressed through the Health and Wellbeing Board towards the outcome of the review and to ensure the necessary Action Plans for implementation of the various recommendations across partner agencies were developed, working towards addressing the health inequalities identified and a standard vision for GP access across Brent.  Cabinet, supported by Councillor Ketan Sheth as Chair of the community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, also took the opportunity to thank Councillor Daly for her role in leading the review as chair of the Task Group.

Having considered the findings from the review and noted the commitment towards taking the recommendations forward, Cabinet RESOLVED to note the report and recommendations made by the GP Access Scrutiny Task Group (as approved by the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on 22 February 2022) and to approve the Executive Response provided in relation to each recommendation, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.