Issue - meetings

Ensuring that the service is efficient.

1.    To accept the report.

2.    To express concern that there are no resources to provide speech and language support.

3.    To ask the Cabinet Member for Children and Families to correspond with the government asking them to consider ensuring that the appropriate resources are available to provide speech and language support to young people in the justice system.

The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for Children and Supporting Families. It was noted that the Gwynedd and Anglesey Youth Justice Service (YJS) is a statutory, multi-agency service, which is run by Cyngor Gwynedd and operates across both counties. It was noted that the role of the service was core to the prevention of crime and re-offending by children and young people operating within the framework of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, through a 'Child First' approach which focuses on strengths, well-being and rehabilitation. It was highlighted that the report provided an overview of the service structure, governance and funding arrangements, and the way the service worked with children across a wide spectrum of interventions. From out-of-court prevention and diversion to statutory court orders and support in more complex contexts, including custody and rehabilitation. It was noted that the report provided detailed information on the performance of the service, including the results of the HMIP inspection in 2023/24. In the inspection, it was noted that the service was good overall and that there was a high standard of assessment within the service. However, it was recognised that significant challenges to the service remain, including youth violence, knife crime, poor educational outcomes, mental health and speech needs, and the financial pressures associated with the reliance on grants. It was explained that the purpose of this report was to provide assurance of the effectiveness of the service, to enable members to question and challenge existing arrangements and to offer input to support the continued development of the service in a context of increasing demand and complexity. 

There was an opportunity for members to comment and ask questions. During the discussion, the following observations arose. 

It was asked what progress had been made as the service implements the improvement plan following the HMIP inspection. It was confirmed that the Improvement Plan was in place in March 2024. It was noted that the management board thoroughly reviewed the progress of the plan on a quarterly basis. It was confirmed that they had achieved around 80% of the implementation objectives in the current Plan, and a final inspection of the Plan would take place in March 2026.  With reference to the progress analysis, it was recognised that there were some issues in question that needed to be completed, such as, providing a Safeguarding Report for the Local Safeguarding Delivery group, SLA Review and working practices with CAMHS. It was trusted that most of the recommendations had been completed.  

Concern was expressed that the service had been without the support of Speech, Language and Communication Needs for 6 years, due to a lack of resource provision. It was asked what was happening to try and overcome this problem. It was recognised that this was one of the main limitations of the service and that it was a problem across the Youth Justice sector in Wales. It was stated that Gwynedd was at the forefront in Wales with the language and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6