Joint Meeting of Children & Families and Education Overview & Scrutiny Committee

4.1 The Chair gave thanks to Woodlands Primary School for hosting a helpful and informative visit. 4.2 In response to questions from the Committee, the Strategic Director – Children, Families and Education, Director of Education, Head of Children & Family Services, Head of ALN, Inclusion and Wellbeing, Clinical Director CAMHS, Lead Educational Psychologist, Regional Manager MyST, Group Manager and the Executive Member for Children, Families and Education made the following points: • Officers confirmed that the findings of the joint inspectorate review were broadly consistent with the local experience in Torfaen. They noted that the Council had already taken steps to address similar challenges through the development of multidisciplinary services aimed at bridging gaps in support for care-experienced children. • In addressing school attendance issues linked to mental health, officers outlined a range of interventions currently in place. These included the deployment of Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs), access to counselling services, and the involvement of family engagement officers. • A pilot project targeting emotionally based school non-attendance was also underway, with collaborative input from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and education teams to support reintegration into school settings. • Monitoring of the action plan associated to the recommendations of the review was being undertaken by the Children and Families Partnership Board, chaired by Monmouthshire and co-chaired by the Health Board. Officers confirmed that local monitoring arrangements were also in place to ensure accountability and responsiveness. • The Space Well-being Panels were reported to have had a positive impact on service delivery. Officers noted that the panels facilitated multi-agency collaboration and streamlined referral processes, including the option for self-referral. • Partnership working was said to have improved significantly, resulting in more coordinated support for children and young people. Despite these improvements, officers acknowledged that a mismatch between service capacity and demand continued to present challenges. • Health representation within safeguarding hubs was being actively explored, although capacity limitations within health services had delayed full integration. Officers assured Members that effective protocols were in place to ensure timely information sharing between agencies. • Waiting times for CAMHS assessments had improved, and neurodevelopmental pathways were being integrated more effectively. Schools were receiving better information to support pupils, although further improvements were still required. • Support for children awaiting CAMHS assessment included same-day access for emergency cases and a one-month target for initial assessments. Officers acknowledged that internal waiting times for therapeutic interventions remained a concern due to limited capacity. • Early intervention initiatives were described, including Primary CAMHS, school in-reach programmes, and community-embedded teams. Officers also highlighted the adoption of whole-school approaches to well-being, which aimed to create supportive environments for all pupils. • Post-diagnostic support for children with neurodevelopmental conditions was reported to be limited due to capacity constraints. Education services provided follow-up support through ASD support officers and parenting courses, which aimed to equip families with strategies to manage their children’s needs. • Referral-to-treatment delays had been significantly reduced through improved coordination between services, resulting in more timely access to treatment for children and young people. • Although transformational changes to the neurodevelopmental pathway were underway, waiting times had not yet improved due to legacy demand. Officers expressed optimism that the redesign would yield positive outcomes in the longer term. • Officers acknowledged the importance of strengthening linkages between early years services and neurodevelopmental pathways. A follow-up briefing via the Early Years Manager was offered to address this issue in more detail. • All schools in Torfaen had signed up to participate in the School Health Research Network (SHRN) survey. Officers agreed to provide completion data at a later date once it became available. • The out-of-school counselling service was reported to be effective, although transport barriers limited access for some children. Consideration was being given to extending the provision to the north of the borough to improve accessibility. • Torfaen employed six Educational Psychologists, equating to 3.62 full-time equivalents. Officers confirmed that schools were consulted annually and through evaluative meetings to assess the impact of the service. Recruitment remained a challenge due to national shortages in the profession. • Trauma-informed practice was being embedded across schools, with all schools having at least one trained practitioner. Senior Leadership Teams had also received training to embed a trauma-informed culture. Officers were exploring cluster working to ensure consistency across schools. • The MyST team was reported to be well-integrated across services, providing therapeutic support, consultation, and training. The team played a key role in supporting children with complex mental health needs. • Children and young people were being involved in care planning through the trial of a QR code-based consultation tool. Initial responses had been positive, and further input was being sought from young people and their advocates. • Out-of-hours support was available for children in placements. • Officers raised concerns about the withdrawal of funding for the Community Psychiatric Nurse, which had impacted service provision. • It was noted that privately commissioned therapy was costly and variable in quality. Officers expressed a preference for expanding in-house therapeutic services to ensure consistency and sustainability. 4.3 Recommendations Members of the Committee put forward the following recommendations to the Officers and Executive Member: Recommendation 1: - Members were concerned to hear that the funding for the Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) had recently ceased and recommended the Executive Member works with officers to consider the potential impacts of the removal of this funding and identify mitigations to address those potential impacts. Recommendation 2:- Members highlighted that some young people living in the north of the borough found it difficult to arrange transport to the Out of Schools Counselling Service at the Cwmbran Centre for Young People. Members were encouraged officers acknowledged this potential issue and therefore recommended that a satellite provision be explored for the north of the borough. Recommendation 3:- With regards to the recruitment issue raised by officers, particularly in relation to the Educational Psychology Team, members recommended officers identify the barriers to addressing this issue and explore potential opportunities for addressing, such as expanding on current approaches including the potential for offering bursaries. Recommendation 4:- Members acknowledged the comments from officers and invitees around the budgetary implications of Privately Commissioned Therapy, and quality standards in some cases. Members commented that it was imperative that more therapies were brought in-house and recommended that officers continue to explore all options to address this. Recommendation 5:- Members recommended that officers explore how cluster working between ALN officers and ALNCos can be strengthened to improve the consistency of how Trauma Informed Care and other relevant interventions are delivered across schools in Torfaen. 4.4 Members praised officers, invitees and the Executive Member for an excellent report and thanked them for the comprehensive responses to the Committee’s questions during the meeting. Members felt assured by the clear demonstration of collaborative partnership working with the health board and other partner agencies to deliver support services to our children / young people with mental health needs.

5.1 The date of the next meeting was confirmed to be the 4th December 2025.