Agenda item

SBC had taken the decision to close youth centres in 2014. Since this time, significant improvements had been made based on the themes and areas outlined in the report. The Youth Engagement Slough had taken over universal youth provision, working with 925 young people. It had worked to reduce the fear of crime and promote volunteering and healthy living. Overall, its priority was early prevention of issues. Targeted support was based on referrals to the service; whilst the report identified the initial reasons for referrals, greater examination showed deeper causes were often involved. Youth workers supported this; however, this was not a statutory power so relied on workers emphasising mutual interest to persuade young people to co-operate. Return Home Interviews would be conducted within 72 hours of the young person returning and would investigate the reasons for the absence; young people were often willing to share more information with youth workers than the Police.

Performance with children not in education, employment or training (NEETs) was very good in Slough. The use of the Risk of NEET Indicator (RONI) programme to identify cases of concern at an early stage had proved very productive; in 2017 – 18, 205 cases had been identified and 185 had avoided becoming NEETs. The efficacy of tracking systems also meant that SBC had a very low number of cases where the destination was not known in comparison with other local authorities. The YOT worked with Looked After Children and care leavers to ensure their positions were as positive as possible.

The work with PSHE and Street Teams worked on preventing gang behaviour. The Home Office and other partners were engaged to understand the situation in Slough and work with local communities. Meanwhile, Youth Inspectors ensured that any public body could approach SBC for assistance and undertaking reviews of their services.

The Panel discussed the following matters in discussion:

·  The CSE Team specialists were working intensively with young people and SCST to understand the local situation on grooming. The Exploitation Tool would also be used in this process. The process was also sensitive, as often the young person may be unaware of the abusive nature of the relationship involved. Ditton Park Academy had staged a production to raise awareness on the issue.

·  The Youth Service did not cover issues such as child mortality, diabetes and the entry rates of epileptics to Accident and Emergency. Whilst this information was held by the service for information, they could not act on it. These questions were more suited to Public Health for more information.

·  The rise in the number of incidents of missing people could be explained by the fact that these were incidents rather than the number of people involved. As a result, the same person could be responsible for multiple instances. The Joint Parenting Panel discussed these matters in detail on a confidential basis.

Resolved:  That the update be noted.