Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

None were declared.

To receive and, if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2024.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 23^rd January 2024 be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

No questions from the public were received.

To receive presentations from young people who study at Trafford College.

Students from Trafford College were invited to the meeting to share presentations. Blerta Shira, one of the young people from Trafford College thanked the Committee for the invitation and outlined that the presentations included some of the services young people would want any incoming Council to focus on.

Lamine Sillah-Camara presented first, outlining his desire for improved Mental Health Services for Young People in the Borough. This included improved work on preventative measures, establishment of peer-to-peer support, and fostering a sense of belonging for young people. Lamine added further that education and awareness programmes were essential for early identification. He added that this could be established through a mobile app, which resonated with modern young people. Lamine also felt a comprehensive support network and addressing of the gap in Mental Health support, would improve accessibility for Young People to the range of mental health services available.

[Note: Councillor Paul entered the meeting at 18:37]

The Chair thanked Lamine for his presentation and informed him that the Committee recently did a Task and Finish group on Mental Health services, adding that support from young people like Lamine would have been invaluable.

Roshan Singh presented on how young people could benefit from improved environmental decision making in Trafford. Roshan informed the Committee that young people do not have access to enough communal spots to meet and communicate in, which would support students in college to come back after lunch with a refreshed mindset. He highlighted areas such as the Trafford Centre but felt that there should be more local spaces. For example, Roshan mentioned Gorse Hill park, which was near to Trafford College Stretford Campus, however, he felt that this was more oriented toward children, and felt the park could be better advertised. He linked increased accessibility to greenspaces to Lamine’s presentation on mental health. Roshan concluded by referring to the imperativeness to preserve greenspace and encouraging biodiversity, which in turn would lead to further social opportunities for young people. 

The Chair thanked Roshan for his presentation and cast her mind back to the Pandemic where she felt the air felt fresher and cleaner, with people getting into the environment more. She recognised how more needed to be done in this area for young people, as places like the Trafford Centre were expensive.

Silas Ashby added that there were several parks in Trafford with lots of empty space. Silas felt this space could be embraced, including different plants and notice boards, encouraging young people to notice what was going on around them.

Councillor Procter encouraged the young people to join Friends of Park groups, which could apply for grants for extra funding to improve the area.

Councillor Sutton agreed with Roshan that older teenagers do fall into an unknown space when it comes to parks. Councillor Sutton encouraged the young people to respond to consultations for their local parks, with the youngest age group rarely responding. 

Councillor Ennis felt that public spaces were actively hostile to teenagers, which, alongside the reduction of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

For Members to discuss any items they would like to suggest to be considered during the next municipal year.

The Chair highlighted appetite to establish a task and finish group looking at SEND Tribunals which had been agreed at the previous meeting. This was not to start until the next Municipal Year, and asked Members if they had any items they would like to be considered for the next year.

Councillor Procter felt that something needed to be brought on support for Trans-Children in school following the presentation from the young person earlier in the meeting. 

Councillor Sutton referred to the Council’s Constitution and how the Committee could include co-opted members. Councillor Sutton felt that in the run up to the new year, the Committee could look again at adding co-opted members to the Committee. Councillor Sutton also asked if it could be looked at to amend the Constitution to include further co-opted members such as support staff representatives.

The Chair responded that reach out had taken place in the past to get Governors to join the Committee, to no avail and highlighted the difficulty to get these Members.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services had contacted the Council’s legal services to see what the process was for co-opted members, as any co-option was subject to a transparent and fair process.

The Democratic Officer added that Co-opted members could be looked at again in the new Municipal Year.

            RESOLVED:

1)    That Councillor Procter’s suggestion be considered at the setting of the Work Programme before the next Municipal year.

2)    That the Committee and Democratic Services look at Co-opted Members again before the next Municipal year.