The committee received and discussed reports on Shaping Services for Children with Disabilities, and on the work carried out by the Care Leavers Task Group, and approved the recommendations in both reports. The committee also discussed its work programme for 2024-2025, and agreed that an update on schools and falling school rolls, as well as on the results of a recent Youth Offending Team inspection would be provided to the committee. Additionally the committee agreed that the unallocated item on Free School Meals would be included as a substantive item on a future work programme. The committee then moved into a closed session to discuss The Future of Leisure Management in Westminster.

Shaping Services for Children with Disabilities

The committee received a report titled Shaping Services for Children with Disabilities¹ from Sarah Newman, the Executive Director for Bi-Borough Children’s Services.²

The report outlines proposals to make a number of changes to the way that services for children with disabilities are delivered. These changes are being proposed following an extensive review of current arrangements for children with disabilities, the results of which were also published by the committee.

The review found that there is significant variation in the cost and quality of home care services for children with disabilities in Westminster, and that there are a number of challenges facing families in accessing the support they need. In particular families have to navigate a number of different services and processes which they often find confusing.

The report proposes that a number of changes should be made in order to improve service quality and consistency and to make services more inclusive, equitable and accessible. In particular the report proposes:

1. Developing the Tresham Centre³ into a family hub offering a number of co-located services.
2. Creating a new integrated family practitioner role to act as a key worker for families using the centre.
3. Bringing together all services for children with disabilities into a single, integrated service.
4. Introducing a procurement strategy for homecare, community and evening services.
5. Reviewing transport arrangements for short break services.

The Committee were generally supportive of the changes proposed in the report. They recommended that health, education and housing needs should be integrated into the Family Hub offer, and that more support should be given to families for independent travel training.

Care Leavers Task Group Report

The committee received the report from the Care Leavers Task Group, which had been set up to review the Council’s current and future plans for Care Leavers aged 18-25 years.

The Task Group found that Westminster Children's Services provides an excellent service to Care Leavers. They identified good practice in a number of areas, including the support provided to Care Leavers to access education, employment and training, the support provided to help Care Leavers find suitable accommodation, and the strong relationships between Care Leavers and their personal advisers.

The Task Group made a number of recommendations in their report to further improve services for Care Leavers.

The committee thanked the officers and care leavers who had contributed to the work of the Task Group and agreed to approve all of the recommendations made in the Task Group's report. In particular the committee were interested in the report's recommendations on housing provision for care leavers and added a recommendation of their own that the vacant Youth Offending Team site on Compton Street should be explored as a possible site for care leaver accommodation.

YPLE PS Committee Report - Shaping Services for Children with Disabilities Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have a joint Children's Services Department. The Executive Director therefore has responsibilities in both boroughs. Tresham is the name of a short break centre for children and young people with disabilities in Westminster. Short breaks are periods of time that children and young people with disabilities spend away from their families in order to give their parents or carers a break from caring, to enable children and young people with disabilities to make new friends and to give them new experiences. There is a Tresham North and a Tresham South. The meeting did not specify which of the centres is being considered for development as a family hub.