Agenda item

[NOTE:  Councillors K.V. Broom and S.L Davies had earlier declared an interest in this item]

The Committee, in accordance with minute 5 of its meeting on the 5^th March, 2018 along with the Education and Children Scrutiny (who were invited to attend item 4 of the minutes) considered a report that provided an overview of the existing services available for young people with emotional and mental health issues. 

The report also outlined plans to improve the coordination of services and support through a multi-agency forum.

The following questions / issues were raised on the report:-

·         The Committee raised concerns regarding the capacity to deal with the above issues.

The Committee was advised that collaborative working with specialist services and PRU would add capacity to support main stream schools. More efficient ways of working with specialist services had been looked at and also joint resilience project working in conjunction with the Leisure department.

·         Concern was expressed regarding the expectations of teachers to be social workers and advocacies.

The Committee was advised that therapy and education are different and that teachers were encouraged to build on existing skills such as communications and interactions with children. Supporting the wellbeing of teachers was a Welsh Government objective.

·         It was stated that poverty is also a big issue and that this can have a big impact on mental health. This had recently been compounded by the roll out of Universal Credit.

The Committee was advised that not all families were aware of what support was available and that an audit was being undertaken to enable the production of a global directory of services and support.

·         Officers were asked on the timescales between referral to assessment and could a school refer a child directly to Children Services?

It was stated that the Central Referrals Team conduct a triage and that urgent cases were attended to in a matter of days. The Head of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities advised that she would seek further clarification on referrals and time scales.

·         Concern was expressed that many schools were reporting zero incidents of bullying due to the current definition of bullying and that the County wide definition should be revised.

Advised that Welsh Government had consulted the Authority regarding the definition of bullying as part of its revised Anti Bullying Policy due for publication in June.  The Director of Education & Children’s Services advised that all schools have a policy that is relevant to them and that the policy was also inspected. He stated that he would challenge that there was no bullying in schools and stated that he welcomed the Welsh Government review.  It was also stated that a directory of services was included in the Wellbeing Strategy and that the directory could be widened.

·         Concern was expressed regarding the increase in substance misuse and the decrease in the age of children involved in substance misuse.  It was stated that the children were also dealt with using the same procedures used for adults and that this was not appropriate. 

The Committee was advised that substance misuse was a pastoral item at schools and that there was a need to address social issues.  PRU dealt with issues of substance and alcohol misuse and that prevention measures were undertaken through educating learners of the dangers of substance and alcohol misuse and assisting them with finding alternative ways of coping.

·         Officers were asked what had been learnt from Scotland and the improvements that had been made.

The Committee was advised that lessons had been learnt from Scotland and England and that there was now an all Wales advisory group that were looking at the 6 priorities / objectives detailed in Talk to Me 2 National strategy.  Three regional forums had been established to support implementation of the objectives.  Attendance at a recent conference in Cardiff also provided the opportunity of learning from colleagues from Scotland Northern Ireland and England.

·         It was asked why the KiVa Anti-Bullying programme being piloted in Pembrokeshire could not be rolled out in Carmarthenshire.

The Committee was advised that implementing the project in schools was being considered but there were implications to the roll out.

·         It was stated that bullying wasn’t just between children and could be between teacher and child. It was stated that information analysis needs to be undertaken to establish the level of bullying taking place.

The Committee were advised that it wasn’t just about the child and that a restorative approach was undertaken with parents, teachers, service etc.

·         It was stated that it was good to see that the gaps in providing support for young people with Autism had been identified, however £13m would not be adequate to address the problem. It was noted that the service has only been operational for one month and it would be interesting to see the outcomes in due course.

RESOLVED that the report be received.