On 14 February 2019, the young people of North Lincolnshire elected their new Young Mayor and Member of Youth Parliament. A busy election campaign resulted in 7,300 ballots cast by the area’s 11 to 18 year olds. The majority of secondary schools and colleges in North Lincolnshire took part which helped to achieve a 52% turnout.

Sixteen year old Levi Bonnett, a student from John Leggott College was elected Young Mayor and Julija Solovjova (age 16) from The St Lawrence Academy was elected Member of Youth Parliament. Fourteen year old Hubert Kucharski from St Bede’s School was elected Deputy Young Mayor and twelve year old Alex Bainbridge from Frederick Gough School became Deputy Member of Youth Parliament.

The newly elected young people have attended induction sessions and met individually with the Leader of the Council and are already making a difference by representing local young people.

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S PARTNERSHIP

WEDNESDAY 24 APRIL 2019

MEETING SUMMARY

Safe Children, Supported Families, Transformed Lives

Youth elections 2019

Young Voice update

Young Voice next steps

#nomoreknives

Children’s Services remain outstanding

New special school for North Lincolnshire

Childhood obesity update

Children’s Board update

Square table event

Children’s Strategy CYP Challenge progress review

Meeting attendance list

KEY HEADLINES

Youth elections 2019

The North Lincolnshire Youth Council (NLYC) continues to be well attended, with around 40 young people attending each meeting. These young people are from a range of schools and colleges, and recently a number of new, younger members have joined. Representatives from The Cygnets, which offers short break respite care for children with disabilities, have also attended recent meetings.

The meetings offer an opportunity for the young people to come together to discuss and debate issues affecting them and offer their views to services and decision makers as part of consultations. They also form new friendships and have the opportunity to develop new skills, such as working collaboratively. Addison Potter, the elected chair of NLYC, recently offered his resignation to allow him to concentrate on his A Levels and other commitments. NLYC members elected Charlie Hobson and Simran Sanghera to co-chair meetings until a new chair is elected at the Annual General Meeting in July 2019.

Over the last few months young people have been involved in a number of activities to promote young voice and represent young people locally, regionally and nationally. This has included:

Guest speakers from the Red Box Project, which raises awareness of period poverty in schools and colleges, attended an NLYC meeting to give an overview of the project. The project is a community-based, not-for-profit initiative, which aims to support young people through their periods by providing red boxes filled with free sanitary products to local schools. NLYC members agreed to raise awareness of the project in their schools and red boxes have now been supplied to a number of local schools.

North Lincolnshire Museum consulted with young people on a future youth culture project which is being developed and several members put their names forward to help as curators and researchers.

Two of the older NLYC members have been trained as Young Voice Ambassadors who will promote NLYC and wider young voice activities. Both young people have been DBS checked to allow them to mentor and support new members and those with additional needs.

NLYC members attended an open day at Scunthorpe Central Mosque where they were made very welcome. The event provided an opportunity to make links with members of the Muslim community and wider faith groups who also attended the open day.

Youth Councillors continue to meet regularly with the Mayor of North Lincolnshire, Councillor John Briggs. The aim of the meetings is to build links and discuss ways that young people can help promote North Lincolnshire. They also aim to encourage young people to return to the area after university or consider higher education at the new university campus to help prevent a future ’brain drain’. In addition, three NLYC members who study law and politics were supported to observe North Lincolnshire Council’s budget setting meeting where they were able to witness how democracy works on a local level.

Members of NLYC attended the Multi Agency Resilience and Safeguarding (MARS) Square Table event which was co-chaired by NLYC member Rosie Parkin. The event considered young people’s issues as part of planning future services for children. Emerging themes from the discussions reflected issues already raised regionally and nationally, such as knife crime and emotional wellbeing and mental health.

NLYC members continue to represent the young people of North Lincolnshire on the Clinical Commissioning Group’s Patient and Community Assurance Group (PCAG) and EMBRACE group to offer opinions on health services. The Young Mayor and Member of Youth Parliament also attend the Humberside Police Independent Advisory Group (IAG).

Preparations are underway for the Primary Great Debate on 5 June 2019 at the Baths Hall in Scunthorpe. So far, 12 primary schools have signed up to bring children along to debate the issues that were raised in last years Make Your Mark Annual Youth Ballot. Pupils will also have the opportunity to take part in workshops discussing mental health provision in schools, tackling knife crime and the reasons for homelessness. These workshops will be facilitated by Samaritans, Humberside Police and Housing Advice Officers. Youth Councillors will be attending and helping with the organisation of the event.

Continued overleaf...

Young Voice update

The Disability Champions Group meets regularly and is developing a workshop

aimed at Year 6 children to raise awareness of disability. Members of the group

present a young voice update at SEND Partnership meetings and they have worked

with council staff to produce videos to be added to the SEND Local Offer website.

They are also making links with young people attending St Hugh’s Special School

and the Cygnets Short Break Centre to ensure their voice is fed into NLYC.

North Lincolnshire’s Deputy Young Mayor, Faith Singh, delivered a reading at the Holocaust Memorial Event to

explain the tradition of laying stones. Faith’s clarity and timing was praised by councillors, guests and officials.

Rosie Parkin attended a demonstration on the Education and Healthcare (EHC) Hub development and gave her

feedback. She felt that the hub is a good way forward as it makes the process clearer and simpler and keeps all of

the information in one place.

NLYC members attended the regional convention at Leeds Civic Hall where they listened to

talks by Members of Parliament and took part in workshops. NLYC member, Rosie Parkin,

helps to design and facilitate these events with other young people from across the region in

her role as Steering Group Representative. The British Youth Council Star Awards ceremony,

which recognises the hard work of young people and young voice workers, also took place at

the event. North Lincolnshire was nominated in several categories and was awarded with

certificates to acknowledge the work being done in this area.

Eleven young people attended a regional Induction Day in Huddersfield for newly elected young people and wider

youth councillors. The young people also visited the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre which is on

Huddersfield University’s Campus. They found the exhibition very moving and are hoping to organise a return trip

for a larger group of NLYC members.

Transport remains an issue for young people living within the Yorkshire and Humber area and two youth

councillors travelled to Sheffield to attend a transport conference. Transport service providers and operators

attended the conference and were keen to seek the views of young people. It is hoped that the next transport

conference in October 2019 will be held in North Lincolnshire. This will provide an opportunity to showcase

Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire to those who have previously never visited. It will also demonstrate how the

transport infrastructure in North Lincolnshire is imperative to the steel industry and development of business in

the area.

Work on encouraging good emotional health and wellbeing amongst young people continues and

13 young people attended a two-day Mental Health First Aid Youth accredited course. Young people

have also attended the NHS Stairways meeting in Leeds to discuss mental health, been involved in

developing a banner pen around exam stress and helped to develop a Life Central film about helping

friends with mental health and anxiety. An easy read version of The Positive Steps Towards Emotional

Wellbeing leaflet is being created and it will also be translated into five different languages. The

Positive Steps Group has also helped to develop a Rainbow Café for young people.

Young people delivered a Be Unique Positive Body Image workshop to practitioners at the Mental

Health Champions Conference. The message of the workshop was to appreciate what you have and

was well received by those attending.

Continued overleaf...

Young Voice update continued

Youth Councillors will continue to be busy over the next few months planning projects, working on campaigns, delivering workshops and attending events. Their work will include:

Delivering workshops at the Staying Safe Conference.

Hosting the Primary Great Debate event.

Reviewing and updating the Be Smart social media and online safety project.

Attending the young voice weekend residential event at Dearne Valley.

Hosting the regional Transport Conference in October 2019.

Promoting Young Voice by visiting schools to raise awareness.

Continuing work on the #nomoreknives campaign (see below).

Developing a Plastic Pledge initiative to reduce the use of plastics and highlight the importance of recycling.

For more information on the work of the North Lincolnshire Youth Council contact young.voice@northlincs.gov.uk.

Young Voice next steps

#nomoreknives

The #nomoreknives campaign is the UK Youth Parliament national campaign for 2019 and North Lincolnshire Youth Council has been proactive in starting to raise awareness around tackling the perceptions around knife crime. Putting a stop to knife crime is a national priority, with the Government introducing knife crime prevention orders and investing in early intervention projects. Humberside Police attended the Youth Council meeting in March 2019 to explain the campaign and schools programme to youth councillors, officers from outreach youth services and a number of parents. As a result of this, four young people were supported to attend a practitioner’s convention at Forest Pines Hotel. The young people found the event very interesting and helpful. Following the event it was announced that the Youth Select Committee will begin an enquiry into the current knife crime epidemic. The Youth Select Committee is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons. There are eleven committee members aged from 15 to 17 and these include Members of the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Councillors and representatives from each of the devolved nations. The announcement came following a UK-wide ballot of 1.1 million young people aged 11 to 18 which showed that knife crime is young people’s biggest concern. And more than 100,000 people signed a Government petition demanding a debate on knife crime, which demonstrates that the issue is of real concern to all ages. The committee will look at a range of issues, including:

Is the Government strategy doing enough to effectively combat knife crime?

Are there trends in the statistics of who is perpetrating and who are the victims of knife crime?

How is knife crime affecting public services?

The Youth Select Committee has called for evidence and issued a survey for young people to complete which closes on Friday 7 June 2019. NLYC members will be encouraged to participate and a link to the survey will be circulated to schools and colleges. Oral evidence is expected to be given in July, followed by a full report later in the year.

Strengthened practice at the ‘front door’

Since the last Ofsted inspection in 2017, where North Lincolnshire was judged good in help and protection and outstanding overall, the local authority has strengthened practice further at the front door. At Ofsted’s focus visit in March 2019, inspectors looked at a range of evidence, including case discussions with social workers and practice supervisors, and an observation of a multi-agency strategy discussion. They also looked at children’s case records and local authority performance management and quality assurance information.

The inspectors’ findings included:

There is additional management capacity which facilitates clear, consistently robust and timely decision making Thresholds are well understood, and children and families receive support in accordance with their needs at the

earliest opportunity Performance is managed effectively and a clearly quality assurance framework enables a focus on the quality of

the work rather than a focus solely on process and timescales There is an emphasis on supporting families to find solutions to their own problems A purposeful strategy to engage with partners has strengthened relationships, as well as their confidence to

manage situations at a lower level, thus preventing the need for statutory interventions Effective information sharing including consultation with families enables proportionate decisions to be made

and families are signposted to the most appropriate service A stable workforce has supported continuity and consistency of practice

Members of the Children and Young People’s Partnership congratulated all those involved on the excellent outcome and positive feedback received from the inspectors.

New special school for North Lincolnshire

A new special school is set to be opened in North Lincolnshire by September 2020. This follows a review of special school places in North Lincolnshire, which found that more places are needed - especially for young people with more complex needs. North Lincolnshire currently has two special schools - St Luke’s Primary School and St Hugh’s Communication and Interaction Specialist College. Both schools are at capacity, so more space is needed. An application for Government funding was submitted to build a specialist sixth form to free up space at St Hugh’s and provide better support for young people over 16 years old at specialist provision. North Lincolnshire was one of only five areas chosen to receive funding for a new school. The school will focus on preparing young people for adulthood and transition into work. It is hoped that young people attending the new school will receive a five day offer, rather than the 25 hours currently received by those with complex needs. The school will have 60 places and class sizes will be between five and ten pupils to ensure that appropriate support can be given. The new school will cater for young people with complex needs up to the age of 25 and will address the need for specialist help that cannot be provided by other colleges. However, it is hoped that the school will have links with John Leggott College and North Lindsey College. Work will also be done to engage local employers to provide opportunities for the young people when they leave the school. A provisional site has been identified opposite John Leggott College in Scunthorpe. The school will be supported and run by an academy trust that specialises in this type of provision. An event was held in April 2019 to engage with academy trusts, which was well attended. Further engagement will take place before academy trusts are invited to submit tenders. Young people will be involved in the design of the building and it is hoped that the school will be built and ready to open in September 2020.

Childhood obesity update

Work to reduce childhood obesity rates in North Lincolnshire continues in order to minimise impacts on children and young people and ensure that they enjoy good health and emotional wellbeing. Being overweight or obese can affect children and young people in a number of ways, including:

Emotional and behavioural problems caused by stigmatisation, bullying and low self-esteem. School absence. Health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breathing difficulties, bone and joint problems

and pre-diabetes. Risk of being overweight in adulthood which can cause ill-health and premature mortality.

In recent school surveys, at least one in four children and young people said they worried a lot about their body image. Those who perceived themselves to be very overweight worried most and had much lower levels of emotional wellbeing. The surveys also show that children and young people recognise the link between engagement in physical activity and higher self-esteem, yet less than 15% of those surveyed complete the recommended 60 minutes of activity per day. Studies show that physically literate children and young people are more likely to be active. Physical literacy has five elements - enjoyment, confidence, competence, understanding and knowledge. The more elements present, the more active a child or young person is likely to be. However, enjoyment is the biggest driver for activity levels. It is recognised that physically literate children and young people are happier, more resilient and more trusting of other children and young people. Physical literacy declines with age and there are inequalities that need to be tackled as the trend is for girls and those from poorer families to be less likely to enjoy being active. Organisations in North Lincolnshire have been working together to develop a whole system approach to tackling childhood obesity in North Lincolnshire, using a model developed by Leeds Beckett University. As part of this, an understanding of the local picture has been gained and local stakeholders identified. Causes of obesity in North Lincolnshire have also been mapped and possible areas for intervention highlighted. All organisations involved understand that childhood obesity is a complex problem and have agreed to target opportunities where the greatest change can be made. Areas for action have been split into five themes:

Physical activity behaviour Prioritised causes - sedentary lifestyles, sedentary jobs, physical exercise in schools and use of screens. 2. Active travel

Prioritised causes - active travel and active travel to school. 3. Physical activity environment Prioritised causes - use of green space and attitudes towards green space. 4. Awareness of good health

Prioritised causes - awareness of child weight, understanding of health consequences, awareness of free health activities and differing health messages on diet.

5. Food consumption Prioritised causes - role of alcohol, food on school route, cooking skills and high sugar high fat (HSHF) food is

delicious and cheap. A number of initiatives are already in place to encourage children and young people to be more active, including:

The Let’s Get Stepping challenge, where primary schools are competing against each other to achieve the highest steps count using the pedometers provided.

Sugar Tax funding being used to provide play and fitness equipment in local schools. Proposed investigation of the food and physical activity environment in partnership with young people and Hull

University. It is acknowledged that reducing levels of childhood obesity will not be easy, but relevant organisations are signed up and ready to start tackling the issue together.

Integration of health and social care for children

Work is underway to establish a North Lincolnshire Children’s Board model which will have a general oversight of all children and young people in the area, including the most vulnerable. It will focus on integration and will be the singular vehicle for planning and commissioning health, social care and linked services for children, young people and their families to improve their outcomes.

It is proposed that the Board would initially be chaired by the Director of Children and Community Resilience, North Lincolnshire Council, and be vice chaired by the Chief Operating Officer, North Lincolnshire CCG, which is in line with their statutory roles. In the first instance, other core members include strategic leaders with responsibilities for children from NLC and the CCG; strategic representatives from key children’s health providers (NLAG and RDASH); schools and college representation, Healthwatch and young people and families’ representatives. The specific areas of focus for the Children’s Board are fluid and developing, so representatives from other agencies and organisations will be invited to attend and contribute as required to drive forward the commissioning intent.

Children, young people and families are central to these developments and there will be a strong focus on meaningful collaboration and engagement, including through the CYP Partnership, as a key stakeholder meeting with a focus on young people’s ‘voice’, along with other established groups and forums.

A Children’s Board development session will take place in June 2019 at which partners will consider the strategic context, the memorandum of understanding and the commissioning priorities and intents.

Square table event

A square table consultation event for young people took place on 28 March 2019. The event aimed to establish a deeper understanding of young people’s issues and priorities and find out how they would like to be involved in local arrangements, including opportunities for co-production.

Consultation with young people is essential to ensure that the local approach to children’s resilience and safeguarding arrangements is young person friendly, respects their rights and provides protection where it is needed. The event was jointly chaired by Mick Gibbs, Director of Children and Community Resilience, and Rosie Parkin, member of North Lincolnshire Youth Council. The emerging themes from discussions held were:

Community issues - people have a differing sense of community and perceptions of the Police and other agencies are shaped by what people hear from others. There is a need to dispel myths.

Knife crime - services need to come together locally to address any issues.

Emotional wellbeing and mental health - this is not about age, but about experiences and how you react to things that you’ve been through. Young people understand how building resilience can benefit emotional wellbeing and see the importance of self development and taking responsibility for themselves.

Positive activities - these can contribute to emotional wellbeing and also link to physical activity.

Transitioning to adulthood/schools/skills - who is responsible for teaching young people life skills?

Communication and Engagement - the media is very influential, peer to peer messages are more effective.

Children’s Challenge - young people feel that there should be less talk and more action.

Consideration will now be given to how the emerging themes from the event can be addressed by relevant organisations and through partnership and governance arrangements. The outcomes will be taken into account when setting the strategic direction for services and support in relation to young people across North Lincolnshire.

A more detailed write up of the outcomes of the event will be disseminated through key partnerships.

The next Children and Young People’s Partnership meeting takes place on Monday 22 July 2019, 3.30pm till 5.30pm, at Church Square House, Scunthorpe. If you have any agenda items for consideration at

future meetings, please contact julie.jones@northlincs.gov.uk

Safe Children, Supported Families, Transformed Lives

Meeting attendance list

The CYP Partnership meeting was held on Wednesday 24 April 2019, 3.30pm to 5.30pm at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre and was attended by:

Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Learning and Leisure, North Lincolnshire Council

North Lincolnshire Young Mayor

North Lincolnshire Member of Youth Parliament

Member of North Lincolnshire Youth Council

Participation Officer, North Lincolnshire Council

Public Health Consultant, North Lincolnshire Council

Director, Healthwatch (also representing North Lindsey College)

Head of Access and Inclusion, North Lincolnshire Council

Chair, Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire

Strategic Board Development Co-ordinator, North Lincolnshire Council

Service Manager - Referral Management, North Lincolnshire Council

Deputy Assistant Director, Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust

Senior Partnership Officer, North Lincolnshire Council

The Children’s Strategy 2020 sets out the challenges from children and young people to partners in order to improve outcomes for children and young people in North Lincolnshire. The challenge has three overarching outcomes and six challenges;

Children enjoy good health and emotional wellbeing

Improve children’s resilience

Increase the number of children having a healthy weight

Reduce the impact of smoking on children

Children and young people feel safe and are safe

Enable children to be safer online

Children recognise and achieve their potential

Closing attainment gaps

Improve young people’s readiness for work

Progress against the challenges is collated quarterly. The latest update has been completed and the next progress update will be in July 2019.

Children’s Strategy CYP Challenge progress review