Children's Trust Executive
Membership
Core Members
- Director of Children, Education and Families (CEF) (Chair)
- Head of Learning and Universal Outcomes, CEF
- Head of Policy, Performance and Support, CEF
- Associate Director Commissioning and Quality, Children, Young People, Maternity and Women's Services, NHS South West Essex
- Associate Director of Public Health, NHS South West Essex
- Representative of NHS South West Essex Community Services
- Representative of Thurrock Association of Secondary and Special School Headteachers
- Representative of Thurrock Primary Heads Association
Contact Details
| Name / Title | Address | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Jo Olsson Corporate Director of Children, Education & Families |
|
childrensplan@thurrock.gov.uk | 01375 652587 |
|
Jay Mercer Head of Learning and Universal Outcomes |
|
childrensplan@thurrock.gov.uk | 01375 652208 |
|
Colin Stewart Head of Policy, Performance and Support |
|
childrensplan@thurrock.gov.uk | 01375 652585 |
|
Stewart McArthur Deputy Chief Nurse/Deputy Director, Quality, Clinical Development and Innovation |
stewart.mcarthur@swessex.nhs.uk | 01268 705112 | |
|
Barbara Foster Head of Children's Health & Social Care |
|
childrensplan@thurrock.gov.uk |
|
|
Dr Arun Patel Associate Director of Public Health |
|
arun.patel@swessex.nhs.uk | 01268 705279 |
|
Gillian Mills Service Director for Children and Young People |
|
gill.mills@swessex.nhs.uk | 01268 244617 |
|
Brian Wilkinson Children’s Trust Programme Board Manager |
|
childrensplan@thurrock.gov.uk | 01375 652813 |
|
Mrs B King Headteacher |
|
headteacher@ockendon.thurrock.sch.uk | 01708 851661 |
|
Mr Jonathan Shields Headmaster |
|
admin@tilburystmarys.thurrock.sch.uk | 01375 843254 |
Purpose
The purpose of the Children's Trust Executive is to improve the well-being of children and young people in the borough by:
- Bringing together the senior decision makers from the key agencies across children's services to work in partnership
- Agreeing and implementing the overall vision, strategic direction and agreed priorities
- Approving the development of new service provision and processes
- Identifying and pooling resources and
- Monitoring the effectiveness of the partnership in improving the outcomes for children and young people
The Executive will work together and hold each other to account for delivery of the children and young people plan (CYPP), the local area agreement (LAA) and the Shaping Thurrock sustainable communities strategy (SCS)
The Executive will ensure young people are involved in decision-making in children and young people's services, through existing structures.
The Executive will ensure parents are involved in decision-making in children and young people services by developing mechanisms to enable this.
The Executive will ensure that coherence is developed across the range of partnership groups that deliver the operational responsibilities of the partnership and ensure that the groups enhance relationships between Shaping Thurrock programme boards, minimise duplication and prevent creation of further groups or meetings.
The Local Safeguarding Children Board will provide an annual report to the Children's Trust Executive and Partnership Board on the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements in Thurrock. In addition the LSCB will provide information on findings and recommendations from serious case reviews, the Child Death Overview Panel, and also any national developments in safeguarding
Functions
The Executive is responsible for the following:
- Delivering the priorities of the SCS
- Ensuring coherence across the CYPP, SCS, and LAA
- Strategic planning in partnership, through the development and delivery of the CYPP
- Monitoring progress and producing a report on the extent to which Children's Trust partners deliver their commitments in the CYPP
- Directing and managing resources
- Directing and managing performance (monitoring performance will be delegated to a multi-agency performance sub group)
- Directing and managing inter-agency delivery of services
- Developing a strategy for aligning or pooling budgets
- Determining how the necessary resources are to be provided by partners to support the Children's Trust
- Ensuring value for money in children's services across all services
- Influencing and championing the interests of children, young people and their families in the Local Strategic Partnership (Shaping Thurrock)
- Directing and managing the implementation of the Joint Commissioning Framework.
- Promoting synergy across agencies' business management processes.
The work programme for the Executive, based upon the CYPP, will be agreed annually. The Executive will be the accountable body for the CAA
The Executive may set up sub-groups in order to ensure the CYPP is delivered and monitored appropriately. A mechanism for monitoring and feedback will be developed
Reporting Lines
The Executive will report to the LSP (Shaping Thurrock) on behalf the Partnership Board and Executive collectively. The Executive will provide a report on performance (delivery of SCS and LAA priorities) in May and November each year. Within each agency officers will report through their own management structures.
The Chair of the Executive, as an LSP Programme Board Chair, will be responsible for:
- Inviting representation at Children's Trust Executive meetings as he/she considers appropriate
- Attending Shaping Thurrock Executive Board meetings as required
- Escalating exceptional items to the Shaping Thurrock Executive Board as appropriate;
- Approving urgent items of business outside of Children's Trust Executive meetings; and
- Convening additional Children's Trust Executive meetings as appropriate
- Establishing and regularly reviewing its own working group structure so that it does not replicate activity and responsibilities of any other bodies or groups in existence and promotes coordinated delivery across Shaping Thurrock programme boards.
- Provide six monthly progress reports to the Shaping Thurrock Executive Board, or as otherwise stated by the Shaping Thurrock Executive Board.
- Ensuring it has appropriate mechanisms to engage and involve service users and representatives from the Voluntary, Community and Faith sector.
The Executive will ensure that the following information is provided to the Local Safeguarding Children's Board:
- Formal reports on the activities of the Children's Trust and its partners on specific work to improve or develop safeguarding services for Thurrock children and young people, including the communication of safeguarding messages to children and families
- Minutes ofthe Children's Trust Partnership Board, Children's Trust Executive and Children's Trust Stay Safe group
- Information on performance management data and trends relating to safeguarding
Meetings
- 6 weekly meetings (2 per school term) duration 2 hours.
- To be held in a school, rotated on a cluster basis
- The Children's Trust Programme Board Manager will ensure the meetings are serviced and a record of decisions are retained.
Role Description for Members
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Context
Thurrock's Children's Trust Executive forms part of Thurrock's statutory Children's Trust arrangements, which operates within the terms of statutory guidance on Children's Trusts and the specific terms of reference agreed for the Thurrock Children's Trust Executive and the Thurrock Children's Trust Partnership Board.
All members of Thurrock Children's Trust Executive have a shared accountability for its work and achieving its vision, aims and objectives, as set out in the Children and Young People's Plan.
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General
Those who accept a nomination for membership of the Children's Trust Executive thereby agree to abide by the seven principles of public life arising from the Nolan report, which are:
- Selflessness Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.
- Integrity Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties.
- Objectivity In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.
- Accountability Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.
- Openness Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.
- Honesty Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.
- Leadership Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.
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Key Tasks and Accountabilities
- To prepare for the Executive by reading the papers sent for consideration at the Executive
- To attend the Executive when necessary, usually every 6-8 weeks, and to be available for at least 75% of Executive meetings in the year.
- To contribute to the decision making process of the Executive .
- To give high priority to attending training, key events and learning and development opportunities arranged by the Executive
- To provide information regarding the budgetary and service arrangements to the Trust as required
- To ensure that any issues regarding the performance of their employing agency are dealt with appropriately.
- To ensure that any requirements of the Executive for change in or contribution from their employing agency are implemented.
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Personal Behaviour and Commitment
- to be courteous and respectful to all persons with whom they come into contact through their work on the Executive and never to conduct themselves in a manner which could be regarded as bringing the Executive into disrepute.
- to uphold the values and objectives of the Children's Trust.
- to promote diversity and equality in the course of their work on the Executive and to challenge discrimination in a positive and thoughtful way.
If unacceptable behaviour occurs during a meeting, the Chair may request the member to withdraw and subsequently raise the matter with the nominating body.
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Representation
Where an individual represents a single agency on the Children's Trust Executive they should be able to:
- Speak for their organisation with authority
- Commit their organisation on policy and practice matters and
- Hold their organisation to account
- Report back to their organisation on debates within the Children's Trust Executive
- Make decisions committing the organisation to taking action and providing resources through the CYPP
- Answer for their organisation's delivery of their commitments in the CYPP
- Obtain views/comments from those within the agency they represent in order to be properly informed.
Where an individual's role on the Children's Trust Executive is as a representative of a wider group, network or association, appropriate mechanisms for enabling the wider group, network or association to receive information and feedback comments to their representatives on the Children's Trust Executive should be in place.
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Experience
- To have extensive knowledge of the needs of children, young people and families at a strategic level.
- To be sufficiently senior within their employing agency to be able to ensure the improvement of services to children and young people as required.
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Knowledge
- Knowledge of how to improve the well-being of children, young people and families.