Agenda item

Mr. Brown thanked the Chair for providing him with the opportunity to present a public statement which he believed was part of his democratic right, he also noted that he was a taxpayer and a parent.

In relation to the Doncaster Children’s Services Trust, Mr Brown commented that the services provided by the Trust impacted upon him, his family and the wider community.  He stated that on reading the report concerning the information within paragraph 75, he felt that there was a silence.  He stated that as a parent, this was of immediate concern and that the Trust was commissioned to deliver a wide range of services and had a public equality sector duty.  He continued to state that this would encourage articulating a sense of the differentials of the nine characteristics and an action plan towards it, but he didn’t get that sense.  Mr Brown added that he had a son and as a parent was currently deliberating whether his son should go to university, run up a debt or apply for an apprenticeship and would therefore ask to what extent children in Doncaster are achieving their GCSEs and ‘A’ levels.  Mr Brown stated that in delivering a range of services there should be monitoring and a matrix towards what extent are different groups, not just black, white and LGBT children accessing services and Mr Brown also questioned what kind of experiences they were having in the care system and were they favouring equally to other children.  Mr Brown commented that the BME health needs was 13 years old, that he has 2 children and therefore knows how their health has changed over 13 years and understands how it was a legal requirement for the local authority and its partners to undertake a health needs assessment.  Mr Brown added that he was aware of hate crime and questioned why large institutions say yes to A and B and Doncaster Council could not be bothered to respond.  Mr Brown gave credit to the Member of Parliament for Doncaster Central, how she acknowledged racism and racist acts to be abhorrent.  Mr Brown also credited the previous Mayor who alluded to Mr Browns and his rights, and finally gave credit to a Mexborough Ward Councillor (SG) who has also spoken out.  Mr Brown concluded by stating that the Trust is a public organisation which should provide equality metrics, value for money and comply with the law.

It was noted that the Director of Public Health had stated that he would consult with BME groups and that Mr Brown would chase him up if he hadn’t. 

In response to comments made about the Trust, the Head of Finance and Business Planning stated that the report on the agenda was a financial and value for money report and therefore referred Mr Brown to the Trust’s performance report on the agenda for the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting taking place on the 24th February 2017 which relates to monitoring.

The Director of Learning and Opportunities also added that points raised around performance had been considered at a previous meeting of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel last September and that an update would be taken to the February meeting about performance on children within the Borough.

It was added that the Health and Wellbeing Needs Assessment was part of the implementation of the Wellbeing Strategy and so is on record.