The future of the Barnet Children's Partnership Board (BCPB) is under review, with a decision on the next steps scheduled for the upcoming meeting on 6 November 2025. This follows initial discussions at the previous BCPB meeting on 2 September 2025, where concerns were raised about potential duplication of reports for members attending multiple boards. Some members felt that they were receiving the same reports across different boards they attended, prompting a review of the BCPB's purpose and structure.
Lee Robinson, Commissioning Strategy & Policy Advisor, and Collette McCarthy, Assistant Director Commissioning, are tasked with presenting the item for a decision. At the previous meeting, Mr. Robinson highlighted the responses he had received regarding the board's future. John Anthony, Executive Director Children's Services, suggested having cross fertilisation of the work of the board.
To facilitate this 'cross-fertilisation', Neil Marlow, Director of School Improvement and Traded Services (BELS), proposed a standing agenda item to discuss the work of other boards and a template for officers to inform young people. This would allow for a more joined-up approach and prevent the same issues from being discussed in isolation across different forums.
Liz Shaw, Practice Standards Manager, confirmed the allocation of a participation officer to integrate young voices into council plans and strategies. This is part of a broader effort to ensure that the voices of young people are genuinely heard and acted upon. The Barnet Elected Youth Representatives also provide verbal updates on their campaigns, and young people are involved in various initiatives and boards, such as the Strategic Mental Health and Wellbeing Board.
The review comes as the board continues its work on several key initiatives. The BCPB Action Tracker 2025-2026 outlines ongoing actions, including involving young people in mental health initiatives. These initiatives include Janet Matthewson, Young Barnet Foundation CEO, involving young people in the initiative of giving out grants in the voluntary sector to see how it helps with mental health. Jayne Abbott, Resilience Programme Manager (Public Health), is creating a task and finish group to look at the priorities from the self-harm needs assessment and to involve young people. Collette McCarthy is also involving young people in the Strategic Mental Health and Wellbeing Board.
The board is also scheduled to discuss the themes of the Children and Young People's Action Plan.
The Forward Work Programme - 2025-2026 outlines future discussion items, including the FAB (Fit and Active Barnet) Framework Refresh, Places Strategy, School Streets, Economic Development Framework, Temporary Housing/Accommodation, and Youth Strategy. The board will also note the List of abbreviations relevant to their work.
The Barnet Children's Partnership Board aims to address issues affecting children and young people in Barnet, with updates from Barnet Elected Youth Representatives and proposals for youth representation also on the agenda for the upcoming meeting, according to the Agenda frontsheet 06th-Nov-2025.