This meeting was scheduled to include a discussion of a variety of significant topics, including the approval of two major contracts, one for health improvement services and one for family hubs. It also included updates on Children's Services, as well as the SEND Sufficiency Project Plan.

Children's Services Update

The report pack provided for this meeting included an update on Children's Services in Plymouth. The report identified a projected overspend of £6.991m against a total budget of £59.975m for Children, Young People and Families services, of which £4.453m relates to the costs of fostering and residential placements for children in care.

The report highlighted the issue of finding fostering placements for children ready to transition out of residential settings. It stated that as of the end of October, 20 children in residential placements were ready to move to foster care, but no suitable foster carers had been identified for most of these children.

The report also addressed the high cost of unregistered placements, which cost on average between £12,000 and £16,000 per week, per child, and in some cases have cost over £29,000 per week, per child. A series of actions being taken to mitigate the budget pressures related to placements for children in care were described in the report, including increasing recruitment of foster carers, a strengthened early help offer with partners, implementation of an integrated Front Door for families seeking help, and the implementation of Targeted Help Teams.

The report highlighted the council's plans to develop its own residential provision for children in care, with a business case having been approved for two three-bedded residential children's homes in Plymouth, and a feasibility study for a second residential and short breaks home for children with complex health needs and disabilities. It noted that capital investment to get started had been approved and that the council was learning from other local authorities already running residential provisions.

Family Hubs Contract Award

The report pack for the meeting included a recommendation that three new Family Hub contracts be awarded to Action for Children, Barnardo's, and Lark for a period of two years from 1 April 2025, with the option to extend for a further year. These contracts would replace the current Emerging Family Hub contracts. The total contract value for 2025/26 is £2,443,693, with an indicative contract value for 2026/27 of £2,199,323.75. The Family Hubs Programme was designed to adapt the existing Children's Centre model to support a wider age range, expanding from a focus on families with children aged 0-5 to offering services for families with children from pre-birth to 19, or up to the age of 25 for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

The document describes the council's ambition to further develop the Early Help service model and Family Hubs during this period, using funding from the Government's Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, which Plymouth was awarded funding from in 2022. It was noted that the October 2024 budget indicated that the Start for Life grant funding would be extended for one year from April 2025 to March 2026.

The document also notes that this would enable closer scrutiny of the use of buildings and joint working across council services and partners, enabling the council to review long-term partnership, commissioning and contractual arrangements.

The report pack provided for the meeting included an appendix describing the range of activities and support being offered to families by the Family Hubs, including; antenatal and postnatal support, parenting programmes, support for fathers and male carers, safeguarding support, support for young parents and families with children with SEND, and income maximisation work.

Health Improvement Services Contract Award

The meeting was scheduled to include a decision on a proposal to directly award a new contract for Health Improvement Services to Livewell Southwest, for a value of £1,108,760 per year for an initial period of three years, with the option to extend for a further two years, for a total contract value of £5,543,800. The services provided by the contract include; stop smoking support, wellness and healthy weight programmes, physical activity sessions, NHS Health Checks, and mental health support, including suicide prevention training.

The report pack provided for the meeting included a detailed rationale for awarding the contract to Livewell Southwest. It described the positive working relationship that has developed between the council and the provider, highlighting Livewell Southwest's experience delivering the service for over 10 years and its responsiveness to local needs, giving the examples of the development of digital access through a new website, collaboration through the Wellbeing at Work and community capacity programmes, and flexible public health responses to new and emerging crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The document also states that the contract award would provide stability for the provider and encourage it to continue long-term investments in capacity and capabilities within the service. It also notes that a direct award would enable the current provider to continue delivering the service without additional set-up costs or time required.

The report pack for the meeting included a briefing document describing the work completed by the One You Plymouth team during the second quarter of 2024. This included 381 people attending community events, 43 people engaging in the Wellness and Weight Loss programme, 140 community and workplace health checks, 198 people quitting smoking, 143 people taking up the Swap to Stop offer, 182 people taking up the 'no strings attached' vape offer, and 41 new Wellbeing Champions joining the network, bringing the total to 616. It also mentioned the team's work with Plymouth Argyle Community Trust to deliver a new weight management programme, a new partnership with other organisations to create a community of practice for community walks, and the achievement of the Bronze Award in the Wellbeing at Work Awards by City College Plymouth.

SEND Sufficiency Project Plan

The meeting was scheduled to include an update on the SEND Sufficiency Project Plan. The plan sets out how the council intends to make sure that there are enough places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Plymouth. The report notes that the Department for Education (DfE) expects local authorities to:

have robust plans in place to develop a more inclusive local offer and make sure there are sufficient good quality school places to meet local needs, reduce reliance on expensive independent provision, meet the needs of children closer to home, and deliver value for money.

The report describes a range of work underway to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of mainstream education settings, and to increase the range of specialist provision available. The report also notes that the council has submitted a bid for funding to the DfE's Complex Needs Capital Investment Programme, to support the delivery of the plan.