Agenda item

Report from Chief Superintendent Sharon Goosen, West Midlands Police and Interim Chair of the Multiple Complex Needs Board

The Board considered a report of Chief Superintendent Sharon Goosen, West Midland Police and interim Chair of the Multiple Complex Needs (MCN) Board which informed of the decisions taken by the MCN Board at their meeting on 4^th August, 2017 and sought approval for the ‘next steps’ to be taken.

The report indicated that there had been 7 key members of the MCN Board who had transitioned roles and responsibilities between January and July which had implications for progress with the project. As a consequence, prior to the MCN Board meeting on 4^th August, Chief Superintendent Goosen, had reviewed the strategic focus, activity and outcomes of the Board to date. The Terms of Reference were discussed at the Board meeting and amendments were to be made to reflect the membership and commitment required to deliver the strategic objectives of the Board. In addition, the PID document was to be reworked into a clear strategy document that set out the Board’s ambition, strategic intent, delivery mechanism and measures of success.

The MCN Operational Delivery Group met for the first time on 20^th July, 2017. An Operational Group was established to support the Board. The Group were to identify a cohort of individuals with multiple complex needs to inform pathways and transformation of services. The Health and Wellbeing Board were informed that data collection presented challenges and the cohort had yet to be defined and agreed by the Board.

The report referred to the Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) bid which had been submitted and subsequently shortlisted to become an official MEAM area. This would result in national co-ordinator support, peer networking and access to national research and strategy, all funded through Big Lottery initiative. The MEAM coalition currently worked with 27 service areas across England that were designing and delivering better co-ordinated services for people with multiple needs. Coventry’s cohort needed to be clearly defined and agreed to underpin this programme of work. The Coventry MCN team were interviewed by MEAM on 28^th September and the outcome of the application was due the following day. Chief Superintendent Goosen placed on record her thanks to all involved in this submission.

At 4^th August meeting, Mitchell Lee (WMFS) had provided an update on the MCN work being undertaken by the West Midlands Combined Authority. This focused on preventative work/early intervention within ‘adverse child experiences (ACE s)’ with work to date being centred on pupil referral units and a pathfinder programme, supported by a multiagency team, to reduce demand on services.

The Board noted the decision, previously taken by the MCN Board, not to pursue ACEs as this was covered through the work of Ignite and Troubled Families.

The Board noted that Chief Superintendent Goosen had commissioned work to clearly define the area of focus and cohort. A paper had been presented to the MCN Board at the recent meeting on 12^th October. The Board were informed that the next meeting was due at the end of November and the focus was now to be on rough sleepers which was an increasing issue for the city.  

Members raised a number of issues arising from the report including:

·  A concern about the significant increase in rough sleepers across the West Midlands region and an offer of assistance from Coventry University to support work in this field

·  Clarification that the MCN Board would be focussing on rough sleepers who didn’t engage with services

·  An acknowledgement of the importance of early prevention, learning from experience and joined up working

·  Clarification that Cabinet would be looking at the issue of homelessness in the near future

·  Concerns about the potential impact of universal credit on the number of homeless in the city

·  Reference to the current public sector reform work and the need to update the Board on this in due course

·  A concern that organisations were not aware of the true number of homeless people in the city  

RESOLVED that the following be noted:

·  A formal expression of interest has been submitted to MEAM (Make Every Adult Matter) in order to bid to become an official MEAM area

·  The MCN Board’s Terms of Reference will be amended to reflect the outcome of the MEAM application if necessary and in any case in order to present an accurate picture of the membership and commitment required to deliver the strategic objectives of the Board

·  The PID (Project Initiation Document) is currently being revisited to ensure it clearly defines the Board’s ambition, strategic intent, resource requirement and delivery mechanism

·  In July 2017 a Multiple Complex Needs Operational Group was established in support of the MCN Board, with two clear initial objectives: (i) to case work an identified cohort of individuals with MCN and (ii) to capture, action and track progress on the work with individuals and action transformation activities from the MCN Board

·  MCN Project Leads are working on behalf of the Board, in consultation with the Operational Group, in order to define the first MCN people cohorts to work with. This intervention will enable the MCN Board to gain further traction.

·  The MCN Board to determine measures of success and intended outcomes

·  The outcome of the MEAM bid to inform the ‘next steps’.