Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Ken Ferrett. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Purvis.

There were no declarations of interest.

RECOMMENDED that the minutes of the previous meeting of 2 February 2015 be confirmed and signed by the chair as a correct record

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Education, Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel held on 2 February 2015 be confirmed as a correct record.

The draft scoping document for a review progress against the Youth Offending Team Improvement Plan is attached for discussion and approval.

Hayden Ginns, Commissioning and Partnerships Manager, Jon Gardner, Youth Offending Manager, Superintendent Stuart Murray, YOT Board Chair and Will Schofield will be attending to provide the panel with evidence to commence their review.

The Chair welcomed all guests to the meeting and introductions were made around the table before evidence was given. 

Scoping Document

Thepanel had received the draft scoping document which was introduced by Hayden Ginns.  Members were happy with the objectives and proposed way forward for the review.   

RESOLVED that the draft scoping document be approved, subject to

amendment during the course of the review.

Superintendent Stuart Murray, Chair of the Youth Offending Team Board

Superintendent Murray circulated some presentation slides to the panel which he introduced.  He advised that in July 2013 he had taken on the role of District Commander and YOT Board Chair.  He had now been appointed Detective Superintendent for Hampshire Police and would be stepping down from chairing the YOT Board. Chief Superintendent Will Schofield, who is currently chairing the Isle of Wight YOT Board, would be taking over the role of Portsmouth YOT Board chair from April 2015.  Chief Superintendent Schofield has been attending meetings for the last few months to ensure a smooth transition.  Due to Julian Wooster's imminent departure, Stephen Kitchman had taken over the role of Vice Chair of the Board for the next 6 months.

The YOT migrated to Portsmouth YOT from Wessex following a problematic inspection.  HMIP chose to inspect Portsmouth in November 2013 primarily because of concerns arising from the core case inspection of Wessex YOT in 2011, which had identified particular weaknesses in Portsmouth, together with higher than average rates of reoffending.  The outcome of this was a new methodology.  Areas that needed improvement were:

·         Governance

·         Performance management

·         Partnerships

·         Professional Practice

·         Peer Review

There were also a number of staffing issues, however the staff that remain are very capable and can deliver the service.  He felt that Portsmouth YOT had previously not as involved as they could have been.

Youth offending can be difficult to get a handle on and it is difficult to find out whether the work being done is effective.  There was a feeling that governance was not direct enough and things had been allowed to ' trundle along'.  The YOT brought together statutory partners including the LA and Police to establish what their roles were, whether the professional practice was of significant quality, and their performance management. The Youth Justice Board sits alongside the YOT and following the HMI visit an improvement plan was drawn up, this was broken down into two parts.

Achievements of the YOT included:

•      Attendance and Commitment by partners

•      Robust performance data, analysis and challenge

•      Priority Young People strategy

•      Peer Review which was undertaken by the YOT Manager at Milton Keynes and valuable feedback had been received which had helped

•      Case and Practice Audits

The YOT cohort had now reduced but those who remain have complex needs which is a challenge. The biggest challenge however was funding, it is expensive to run at nearly £900,000 and conversations were starting to gather pace about future funding.

There have been some periodic dips in performance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.