The Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss Gateshead's Children and Young People's mental health and emotional wellbeing, the draft Children's Safeguarding Partnership Annual Report 2024/25, the Social Services Annual Report on Complaints and Representations, and the Families OSC work programme for 2025/26. The Committee was asked to provide comments on the key messages in the draft Safeguarding Partnership Yearly Report 2024/25, and to note and suggest any amendments to the current work programme.

Children and Young People's Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing

The Committee received a presentation from the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust on Gateshead's Children and Young People's mental health and emotional wellbeing local transformation plan.

The presentation included information on:

• The Early Years Autism Diagnostic Pathway, which was revised and implemented in 2024 with recurrent funding and additional investment by the ICB.
• The Single Point of Access (SPA) for CNTW Commissioned Services, including the CNTW Getting Help Service and the CNTW Getting More Help Service.
• The Mental Health Pathway (for moderate to severe mental health needs), the Learning Disability Pathway, and the Neurodevelopment Diagnostic Pathway.
• Actions being taken to improve Getting Help and Getting More Help services.
• Young Carers Support, which is commissioned via the Local Authority but jointly funded by the ICB.
• Further work being done to link up to Neighbourhood Health in the Gateshead System, launch an Education Pilot to support education and health to work together, launch a CYP Crisis Café Pilot in 2025, and provide further financial support to the Local Authority to sustain Daisy Chain Autism Hubs while a review of the Neurodevelopment Support Offer is undertaken.

Draft Children's Safeguarding Partnership Annual Report 2024/25

The Committee was asked to comment on key messages in the draft Children's Safeguarding Partnership Annual Report 2024/25.

The report highlighted progress throughout the 2024/25 financial year and articulated how partner governance arrangements ensure members are accountable for safeguarding children in Gateshead. It reflected the collective work that partners undertook in relation to the agreed plans and priorities, successes and challenges.

Key achievements against the four strategic priorities were noted:

• Strengthening the effectiveness of multi-agency practice relating to child protection: Child Protection Conference guidance and training was developed, the quality of Child Protection Conference reports were reviewed and audited, and the formal escalation and dissent procedure was reviewed and updated.
• Reducing the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people and protecting them from harm: Multi-agency audits were undertaken and preparations were made for a potential Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI). A further subgroup on Teenage Relationship Harm has been developed.
• Reducing the fear of knife crime and involvement in serious youth violence: The Missing Sexually Exploited Trafficked (MSET) process was reviewed and updated to address current needs, and a new process was agreed – Partnership Reduction of Exploitation and Missing (PREM) - which ensures a multi agency problem solving meeting to work together to reduce risk, tackle perpetrators and disrupt hot spot locations. Harm outside the Home (HOTH) Conferencing was developed and will be in place shortly.
• Improving the mental health of children and young people who are in need of protection from harm: Work within schools has taken place to deliver support in relation to psychological interventions linked to emotional wellbeing and resilience. A Strategic Mental Health board has been established.

The report also detailed the work of the Learning and Improvement Group (LIG), the Joint Strategic Exploitation Group (JSEG), and the Education Safeguarding Group.

Between April 2024 and March 2025, partnership training courses have been delivered covering 13 different topics, and a new online training programme was procured from Me Learning providing access to 10 different courses for safeguarding children.

Three learning reviews were undertaken, and themes that arose from the reviews focused on: the importance of professionals' curiosity, the importance of consistently offering safe sleeping advice, and the importance of a 'one trusted adult' model of work with older young people.

Priorities for 2025/26 will remain the same with the addition of a focus around Neglect.

Social Services Annual Report on Complaints and Representations

The Committee considered the Social Services Annual Report on Complaints and Representations for April 2024 - March 2025, which related to the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006.

The report provided information on all representations received about the Council's Children's Social Care Services between 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025, a summary of the statistical information, a review of the effectiveness of the procedure, examples of service improvement, and examples of compliments received about Children Social Care.

Key points of interest included:

• The number of formal contacts received citing dissatisfaction about Children's Services decreased by 24% compared with the number of dissatisfaction contacts received during 2023/24.
• Compared with both corporate and statutory complaints, compliments accounted for 72% of all representations received.
• Children's Services received 19 Stage 1 complaints during 2024/25, a 5% increase on Stage 1 complaints received during 2023/24.
• 11% of complaints related to the quality of services provided and primarily regarded the attitude or conduct of workers.
• The number of complaint related queries decreased by 36% compared to those received during 2023/24.
• There were 4 complaints registered at Stage 2 of the complaint's procedure during 2024/25, and 2 Stage 3 Review Panels held.
• Email continues to be the main method of complaint referral, accounting for 89% of all statutory complaints received.

The report also detailed the outcomes of statutory complaints, timescales for responding to statutory complaints, and corporate complaints received.

Families OSC Work Programme 2025/26

The Committee was asked to note the current work programme and propose any amendments as required.

The work programme is a live document that is subject to additions as the Committee sees appropriate.