Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Christine Rothwell  Senior Governance Officer

Items
No. Item

8.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Neil Gethin.

9.

To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that there were no matters on the agenda requiring the press and public to be excluded.

10.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

A declaration of interest was made by Councillor Jane Kidd by virtue that she works for a voluntary organisation.

 

11.

Public Statements

(A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up to 5 members of the public on matters within the Panel’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be considered or contribute towards the future development of the Panel’s work programme).

Minutes:

There were no public statements made.

 

12.

Doncaster Offer pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were provided with a report that outlined the new approach taken to refresh the Youth Strategy.   Members were informed of the learning from the past four years and the direction for the next three years that included the role of a newly formed Youth Advisory Board, which will hold officers and the partnership to account for its delivery.  A presentation was provided by a Young Advisers on the following areas alongside a short promotional video;

 

·         The Current Picture

·         Participation Principles and Self-Assessment Framework

·         Voice Groups

·         Future Plans

 

There was a discussion held that addressed the following areas;

 

Recruitmentand Representation – It was explained that during the pandemic, the recruitment of Youth Advisors had been opened out to those schools that were in operation prior to the summer holidays, which identified some young people who were interested.   Members were assured that those appointed to the Youth Advisory Board represented all 4 areas of Doncaster Borough and included individuals from uniformed and community groups as well as representation from the Youth Council.  It was commented that as many number of schools as possible had been targeted although the Covid-19 pandemic which in itself had created certain challenges reaching a wider number of young people. 

 

Members were informed that there was a Youth Councillor in place in every secondary school and it was recognised that there was always a need for a new cohort coming through.  It was continued that there were a great deal of Youth Forums across Doncaster with particular remits.  Reference was made to Youth Surgeries and a move to establish something similar with Young Commissioners which would be more locality driven (as part of the locality model).  It was hoped that this would bring Ward Members back into those meetings and produce opportunities for more joined up work.

 

Expect Youthand VolCom Sector - Members raised concern around the previous involvement and varying experiences of what Expect Youth had achieved in the past across the Borough.  Members were of the opinion that further information was required around their performance, what they had achieved and what had changed.  Assurances were provided at the meeting that lessons had been learnt from the past and that their involvement in taking the Doncaster Offer forward was to help build capacity.  It was commented that Expect Youth had undertaken some positive work and engagement but not necessarily in a consistent way across the Borough.

 

Concern was raised at how the VolCom sector had been adversely impacted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and concern was raised about its sustainability.  It was recognised that work needed to be undertaken to understand what was currently in place and what it needed to look like going forward. 

 

A key element of the new Offer was to use Expect Youth as a middle tier organisation to attract external funding into Doncaster, through a mixed economy of grant funds and fundraising, totalling £300k.

 

Quality Mark - Members expressed concern that the quality mark had not been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Making Doncaster the Most Child Friendly Borough in the Country - Participation and Engagement Theme pdf icon PDF 603 KB

Minutes:

The Panel was provided with a report on ‘Making Doncaster The Most Child Friendly Borough in the Country’ as part of a Participation and Engagement Theme.  The report provided an update on progress through the increased participation and engagement of children and young people in services across the Council and partnership services.

 

The Panel received an update on the following:

 

·         The very broad range of voice and representative groups to date involved in co-producing the Self-Assessment Framework for the Participation Principles.

·         The diversity of the Youth Council.

·         The forthcoming training of Young Advisors and Young Commissioners to be Young Inspectors to drive forward this piece of work.

·         Future Plans

 

Monitoring - Concern was raised by a Member in relation to how progress would be monitored and evaluated.  It was recognised that this was a new piece of work and monitoring would be undertaken through qualitative and quantitative means.  Assurances were provided that the work would be advocated, supported and challenged through a number of strands.

 

These would include existing voice groups, representatives from Youth Council and Youth Parliament, social media, partners, the newly formed Youth Advisory Board, new governance arrangements and finally, through the role of the Local Office of the Children’s Commissioner. It was acknowledged that as a new process this would evolve as it grows.

 

Range of voice and representative groups - Assurances were provided that an extensive amount of work had been undertaken to ensure that there had been a broad range of voice and representative groups involved in this process. 

 

Members were assured that all Senior Managers had truly invested in the youth voice, and that Doncaster Council had been allowed to grow (where other places had decreased) with even more and different types of forums that enabled more young people to have a voice.  Members were informed that there were Youth Councillors representation in every secondary school with specialist seats for young carers.  In addition, there were representation with a broad diversity, very different levels of abilities and that ensures maximum inclusivity to include that were more disengaged.

 

Summer Staycation - Clarification was also provided on how funding had been provided and the type of events that had made up the Summer Staycation as well as other face-to-face activities that had been equally spread across localities to ensure full access.  Members were also informed how priority places had been made available for more vulnerable children that needed provision during the Summer period. Members also heard that feedback received from families had been excellent, particularly for vulnerable children who had not been able to mix socially with their friends due to social distancing restrictions arising from COVID pandemic. 

 

Future Plans - Members were pleased to hear about the future plans, in particular, that further work would be done to explore the possibility of Young Ward Members. 

 

There was a brief discussion around the role of the Junior Civic Mayor, their recruitment process and the aspiration for a future Deputy Junior. It was considered that this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Governance Officer presented the 2020/21 Scrutiny Work

Plan for consideration and reminded Members of the current Forward

Plan of key decisions.

 

There was a brief discussion around future items for the Overview and

Scrutiny future workplan following the meeting’s discussions.

 

RESOLVED the Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan 2020/21 and Forward Plan of key decisions be noted.