Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence had been received.

No declarations of interest were made relative to items under consideration at the meeting.

[For approval]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2015 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2015]

With reference to Minute No 7 (Performance Monitoring – Looked after Children (LAC)) and insofar as it related to waiting times for LAC having access to the children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), Emma Bennett, Service Director, Children and Young People reported that a request had been submitted to the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the provider of this service, with a view to a report being submitted to a future meeting on this matter

With reference to the request for other reports made at the meeting, the Service Director for Children and Young People undertook to ensure that these were included within the Work Programme for 2015/16.

Resolved:

That the reports be noted.

[To consider the annual report for the Safeguarding Service which outlines the activity of the service, the impact for children and recommendations for service improvement that will enhance young peoples experiences]

Mandy Lee, Children’s Safeguarding Manager, presented the Safeguarding Service Annual Report for 2013/14. She explained that the Safeguarding Service had statutory responsibility for oversight and ratification of the care plans for Looked After Children (LAC) via the activities of the Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO’s). The service was duty bound to provide this Board with an Annual Report which outlined the activity of the service, the impact for children and recommendations for service improvement which would enhance young people’s experiences. She drew particular attention to the good performance of LAC participating in reviews but commented that the overall performance of the service was affected by the high number of children in the care system. This in turn had not allowed the service to fulfil all of its functions as outlined in the IRO handbook.

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre enquired as to whether the “Agresso” system would provide “real time information” which would overcome the difficulties the Board experienced by receiving an Annual Report almost twelve months out of date. The Service Director, Children and Young People, reported that while the “Agresso” system would assist, other factors had led to the delay in this report being presented and that, in any event, it was the “Care First” system which provided the “real time” information which was used to populate the Performance Monitoring Report which was considered at each meeting.

Cllr Paula Brookfield referred Sections 3 and 4 of the Annual Report insofar as they related to quantitative and qualitative information about the service and asked if further such information could be included within the regular Performance Monitoring Reports. The Children’s Safeguarding Manager advised that she was working closely with the Business Intelligence Team to achieve that aim.

Cllr Martin Waite referred to anecdotal evidence of the national shortage of Social Workers and enquired whether the high level of caseloads was a concern. The Service Director, Children and Young People advised that the workload of IRO’s included attendance at Child Protection case conferences in addition to duties on safeguarding and that the high caseload level was a matter of concern. She reported on the initiatives taken to recruit additional Social Workers. Cllr Rita Potter reminded the Board that since March 2012 the number of children in care had increased significantly and enquired with the progress on the campaign to recruit Specialist Foster Carers’. Alison Hinds, Head of Looked After Children reported that recruitment to these posts had commenced but reminded the Board that even when fostered the children remained in the care of the local authority.

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre commented that he understood that the LAC population had stabilised or even dropped slightly and enquired whether this would enable the Safeguarding Service to get closer to fulfilling the functions outlined in the IRO handbook. The Children’s Safeguarding Manager confirmed that this would assist but that the caseload was substantially above that recommended nationally and was also affected by the increase in the number of child protection  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[To receive a monitoring report on Performance Monitoring data in respect of Looked After Children]

The Service Director, Children and Young People, presented the Performance Monitoring Report as at March 2015. She drew to the attention of the Board an error in the gender figures in the report submitted to the meeting held on 21 January 2015.

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre referred to the Section pertaining to Education, the discrepancies in some of the information and that Ofsted now considered the best eight results rather than 5+ A* - C inc. English and Maths. He suggested that this matter be drawn to the attention of the Director of Education. The Service Director, Children and Young People acknowledged the points made and informed the Board of the work currently being undertaken by the COPE Team Manager/Virtual School Head in conjunction with the Business Intelligence Team and the Education Directorate on certain elements of the report.

With regard to LAC Health, Lorraine Millard, Designated Senior Nurse Safeguarding Children, Wolverhampton City Clinical Commissioning Group and Jane O’Daly, Safeguarding Manager, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust reported on the pro-active steps being taken to ensure that all Wolverhampton LAC received a timely health check. They explained that the different commissioning arrangements of local authorities compounded the position and that the funding for reciprocal health check arrangements had been lost at the time of the last NHS re-organisation. The Designated Senior Nurse Safeguarding Children informed the Board on the arrangements which were in hand for an appointment to the post of Statutory Designated Nurse for LAC by the Wolverhampton City Clinical Commissioning Group and that an interim appointment could be made in the short term. The Safeguarding Manager reported that the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust was currently investigating the possibility of co-location with both the Clinical Commissioning Group and the City Council.

Cllr Paula Brookfield referred to the data in connection children awaiting adoption and enquired at which point those children with a Placement Plan would have their status changed. The Head of Looked After Children advised that this decision was made on an individual basis in respect of each child and that the pre-adoption preparation was conducted sensitively.

Resolved:

1. That the report be received and noted;

2. That the continued enhancement of the format be welcomed;

3. That future reports include data relevant to the average caseload of Social Workers dealing with Child Protection and LAC issues.

[To pass the following resolution:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information on the grounds shown below]

Part 2 – items not open to the public and press

Resolved:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information contained in paragraph 1 of the Act, namely information relating to any individual.

Part 2 – items not open to the public and press

[To receive details of any visits to establishments undertaken by Councillors since the last meeting]

No visits to establishments had been undertaken by Councillors since the last meeting of the Board. In response to questions from Cllr Martin Waite and Cllr Rita Potter the Service Director, Children and Young People explained the ownership and management arrangements at the Merridale Street West, Wolverhampton Residential Home and the involvement of the Council with private residential children’s homes where no Wolverhampton LAC were resident.

Resolved:

1. That the report be received and noted;

2. That any establishments which had not been the subject of a visit by a member of the Board be highlighted, that the Chair be informed accordingly and that the Chair endeavour to seek volunteers from the Panel to undertake such a visit.

Cllr Julie Hodgkiss informed the Board that Cllr Val Gibson had recently won a prestigious award from the LGIU and CCLA for her work to drive forward improvements for children and families in Wolverhampton.

Resolved:

1. That the congratulations of the Board be offered to the Chair, Cllr Val Gibson on her recent award from the LGIU and CCLA;

2. That the slides presented recently to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel in relation to the Families r First programme be circulated to the Board.

Resolved:

That the best thanks of the Board be extended to the Chair, Cllr Val Gibson, for the able and courteous manner in which she had conducted the proceedings during the current Municipal Year.