To receive a report from the Head of Service Vulnerable Adolescents.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services introduced the report which had been circulated with the agenda. The Corporate Director hoped that the report outlined the range of initiatives taking place across the Borough to address serious youth violence. The Committee were also informed that the term, serious youth violence, whilst being clumsy, was national policy terminology. The report also outlined the partnership work the Council undertook with a range of providers.

The Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care added further their hope that the report outlined the breadth of work ongoing, as well as the corporate, strategic, and operational grip in place to prevent and reduce violence and knife crime.

The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator proceeded to speak to the report, touching on the different approaches taken by the service towards violence reduction. A recent Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) had looked at the potential cost of violence for Trafford. In 2022/23 this cost stood at around £71million. The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator role, uniquely, sat within the Public Health team at Trafford, with a focus on a preventative model to look at violence reduction.

The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator also highlighted the many systems which could impact upon the risk and protective factors for violence. The Committee were also informed that the ‘Greater Than Violence’ strategy referred to in the report was written and awaiting final sign off. The Trafford approach was to take a two-pillar approach of prevention and response.

 The Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care provided an overview of data in the report. This included data on the level of serious violence in Trafford perpetuated by young people and data on the number of young people who were victims of violent crime. The Youth Justice Service had recently seen an increase in the young people arrested and charged for violent offences, which was a concern despite numbers still being low. The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator stressed the importance to exercise caution when looking at data due to differences across the Borough.

The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator added that the JSNA had identified young people coming into the youth justice system at a younger age, and as such, the service had begun providing workshops in primary schools, which had ben evaluated to be effective by Greater Manchester Police.

The Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care highlighted the detailing in the report of the number of Boards and Forums working on youth crime. These had a strong approach to information sharing. Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, Kate Green had visited the Complex Safeguarding Hub recently, and was impressed by the level of information the service had in each locality. Collaborative work was also taking place with Manchester City Council colleagues.

The Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care finally spoke of the redesign of children’s services in Trafford in 2021, and how this had brought together teams under the vulnerable adolescent’s service, which had increased understanding in the area. The Director spoke to the case examples included within the report.

The Director summarised by saying that the Council was now more aware of the issues for children and young people, and a desire, alongside police colleagues, to jointly prevent further incidents and to work collaboratively.

The Chair asked the young people still present whether they felt safe when out in the community. Blerta Shira responded that as a woman, after dark she did not always feel safe, finding that it was on the responsibilities and morals of others to ensure everyone could feel safe. The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator responded that it was a priority as part of the violence reduction service to create safe spaces for young people and that the feedback would be taken away.

The Executive Member for Children and Young People also attended the event with Kate Green and felt that many young people reported feeling unsafe along the Metrolink lines. The Executive Member also shared a success story which was shared at the event.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services referred the Committee to page 31 in the document pack, which the Corporate Director hoped gave an indication of the commitment to sustain and maintain the Council’s youth provision, which included the detached youth work team, Street Talk.

The Chair asked Members if they had any questions for officers.

Councillor Parker highlighted that the report noted that exclusion from school was one of the most significant factors for young people being vulnerable to exploitation. As such, Councillor Parker asked if Trafford was utilising all services of support before exclusions took place. Councillor Parker asked further how the Council was guaranteeing that schools were trauma informed.

The Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance responded that the education service had an exclusion officer, who worked closely with schools and the young person to ensure that exclusion was a last resort and could be prevented. The Director did inform Members however, that the fundamental issue was that the decision lay with the Headteacher. The service was monitoring schools which proved to be hotspots for exclusion to ensure that all avenues were being explored. Members were reassured that in comparison to other areas, exclusions remained low.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services also responded that this fed into their role, with the DMT performance clinic monitoring the data as well. Regarding schools being trauma informed, the Corporate Director informed Members that a Bridge Conference led by the Virtual School recently took place which was about being attachment aware and trauma informed. The Committee were also told of an attachment aware programme being piloted called ‘Belong’, which was also being piloted by Liverpool and Middlesborough local authorities.

Councillor Procter asked how the Council was going to evaluate the turnaround programme and monitor its success. The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care responded that the programme had governance arrangements nationally and this was reported on a quarterly basis, ensuring that the Council was using the grant as best as possible. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services added that this meant the Council would not be marking its own homework, rather, being subject to a national evaluation.

Councillor Paul referred to a recent attack on a young boy in a park and wanted to know what the Council was doing to tackle Hindu phobia. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services agreed to take this case offline. The Corporate Director did add that they hoped the principled approach across the services’ work provided some assurances in terms of any form of discrimination. The Director for Education Standards, Quality and Performance would take this back to the Council’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) which contains faith representatives from all faiths.

Councillor Ennis was encouraged by the data led approach in Trafford and asked whether the Council felt their strategy had joint up with all relevant partner agencies or if there were any gaps in information sharing. Councillor Ennis added further what was driving the increase in exclusions in SEND young people.

The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator responded that when the JSNA began, all specified authorities were engaged from the beginning, with communication taking place back and forth throughout.  A serious violence group had also been formed, comprising of those specified authorities to ensure that the work continued. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services added that joint work information sharing was also supported through the co-location of different services, such as the complex safeguarding team being located at a police station.

The Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance responded that it was difficult to tell what was driving the rise in exclusions for SEND young people. The Director added that some cases were due to children having an unmet need. Schools’ ability was also mentioned, predominantly in the secondary sector, with the primary sector generally managed well. The Director felt that there was a combination of issues at play. The Director finished by reassuring Members that it was something the service was keeping an eye on within the SEND Ambition plan.

Councillor Hirst referred to her past as a foster carer and her engagement with the service in its different guises. Councillor Hirst felt that in the past the prevention service had been focused on parental involvement, and whether, as part of the prevention service now, if the service were still working with parents.

The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care responded that engagement from the youth justice service very much took a family first approach. Furthermore, a Parent Support Commission Service was to be procured, with an ambition of the Director’s being to have parents delivering support for other parents going through situations they may have experienced in the past.

Councillor Hirst was glad to hear this and highlighted the number of bespoke services available now, in comparison to the past. Councillor Hirst asked how the Council shared the information to professionals, parents, young people, and carers so that they were aware of the offers available.

The Violence Reduction Co-ordinator responded that this happened in different ways. This included face to face engagement, a professional’s guide for children and young people which had been designed to be a quick flip through document which could be distributed, as well as the development of an online resource called a padlet, and an online notice board to direct people to different sites. The Corporate Director of Children’s Services added that having a strategy looking at serious youth violence and what the data was telling the service, would be helped by the range of different services available.

            RESOLVED:

1)    That the contents of the report be noted.

2)    That the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and collaborative understanding of youth violence in Trafford, be noted.