Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

Further to Minute 50/17, the Scrutiny Board considered a briefing note of the Deputy Chief Executive (People), which provided an update on progress made against recommendations and the year 1 parenting action plan.

The note indicated that, as children and young people develop, families may face a number of challenges and the extent to which they are able to cope would differ from person to person.  It was recognised that in Coventry the future for young people was not as good as others across the West Midlands and the country as a whole, particularly for more deprived children.  The total number of children and young people 0-19 was 89,200 and equated to approximately 25% of the City’s population.

As a Marmot City, those delivering support to families in Coventry were committed to tackling health inequalities, where increasing deprivation was associated with poorer health.  Coventry’s vision for parenting was to have ‘more Coventry children and young people grow up within supportive families and communities’.  The Coventry Parenting Strategy 2018-2023 identified areas for improvements and made key recommendations, bringing together the views of parents, stakeholders and evidence. 

Ten years ago there was a key drive by the Council to invest in parenting programmes such as Triple P (an evidence based programme for parents of children aged 0-19 years).  There was strong evidence that there were many benefits associated with Triple P parenting support and, consequently, staff at all levels within the Council were trained in delivering this support to families.  The standard Triple P programme had been shown to prevent crime, violence and anti-social behaviour. 

Upon completion of the programme parent’s wellbeing was measured using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS: Lovibond and Lovibond, 1985), a 42 item self-report assessing symptoms of anxiety and stress in adults.  Data for the last 6 years had been analysed for those parents who had completed a Triple P programme to understand the impact of the support offered. From 2012/13 to 2017/18, the scores for depression, anxiety and stress were consistently higher before completion of the programme.  This showed that the investment into parenting support over the past six years had a positive impact on parents and carers in the City.

The note summarised the progress made against the key recommendations from the Coventry Parenting Strategy 2018-2023, along with a high level summary of the five year strategic plan at Appendix 1.  The full action plan, developed by the Parenting Strategy Task and Finish Groups was also set out at Appendix 2.

The Scrutiny Board noted that feedback from parents / carers was positive, with many indicating that they had benefitted from attending the parenting programme.

Having considered the information provided, the Scrutiny Board sought clarity regarding who could make referrals in relation to parents attending the Triple P programme, and particularly whether referrals could be made from GP surgeries and from housing providers, who may be in receipt of information which suggests parents may benefit from attending the programme.  They were advised that there is an open referral system for attending the programme and therefore parents could make a self-referral or other organisations could make referrals on behalf of the parents.  Officers indicated that further work could be undertaken specifically with GP’s and housing providers to promote the Parenting Strategy and the Triple P programme.

RESOLVED that the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2):

1.  Note the content of the report and the progress made.

2.  Request that officers explore ways to promote the Coventry Parenting Strategy and the Triple P programme, particularly with GP’s and the City’s housing partners.

3.  Indicate that there are no specific recommendations to make to the appropriate Cabinet Member at this time.