Agenda and minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting.]

Cllr Qaiser Azeem, Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised it was also being live streamed to the press and public.

[The Chair will explain how the meeting will proceed.]

 The Chair explained the procedures to be followed for the meeting.

Apologies were received from the following member of the panel:

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record]

That the minutes of the meeting held onxx 2016, subject to the agreed changes, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[Rachel King, Head of Service, to present report]

The Chair invited Alison Hinds, Director of Children’s Services, to introduce the report.

The Director advised the panel that report outlines the implementation plan for how the Families First for Children Pathfinder Programme (FFCP) will be delivered. The Council has been working with colleagues from DfE to develop the plan.

The Director invited Simon Sowerby, Families First for Children Pathfinder Team Leader, DfE, to give a briefing on the programme.

The Families First for Children Pathfinder Team Leader advised the panel the DfE contacted Wolverhampton, Lincolnshire and Dorset Councils to join first wave of local authorities to join the FFCP as part of a commitment by Government to implement reforms outlined in the DfE Stable Homes, Built on Love, published in February 2023.

The Families First for Children Pathfinder Team Leader advised the panel that the Pathfinder Programme followed an independent Government initiated review of children’s social care and child protection in England.  The Pathfinder Programme was officially launched in July 2023.

The FFCP aims to reform children’s social care across England, working with a few select areas at the beginning to help understand and deliver the change programme. The Families First for Children Pathfinder Team Leader outlined the four main reform areas identified by the DfE which are listed below which will inform the service delivery model:

Family Help. Establish locally based multi-disciplinary Family Help teams that work collaboratively with partners to provide intensive, non-stigmatising and effective support that is tailored to the needs of children and families.

Child Protection. Establish a child protection response led by social workers with greater expertise and experience, working as part of a dedicated and skilled multiagency child protection team. The child protection lead practitioners will work alongside Family Help to protect children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.

Family networks. Participating local areas will make greater use of family networks, with earlier use of family group decision-making throughout Family Help and child protection systems, facilitated by targeted funding to enable more children to live at home or support a transition into kinship care.

Safeguarding partners. Local statutory safeguarding partners will need to be fully bought into the pathfinder to deliver across the different reform strands. Exploration to changes to how safeguarding partners operate with clear roles and responsibilities for statutory safeguarding partners at both a strategic and operational level, and with an increased and possibly statutory role for education.

The central focus across all four areas is around early intervention with the aim of reducing future costs and challenges. The Families First for Children Pathfinder Team Leader commented that the DfE has produced minimum expectations to implement the reform programme but added that the DfE will be working with Wolverhampton to discuss and agree the details about how the programme can be designed and delivered. The Families First for Children Pathfinder Team Leader thanked colleagues in Wolverhampton for the hard work done to prepare for the delivery of the FFCP.

The DfE will continue with ‘do, test, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[ Alison Hinds, Director of Children’s Services, to introduce the report]

The Chair invited Alison Hinds, Director of Children’s Services, to introduce the report.

The Director advised the panel the presentation would cover include budget and performance information specifically in relation to children services. The Director invited James Barlow, Finance Business Partner, to present the draft budget 2024-2025 and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy.

A copy of the presentation is attached.

The panel were invited to comment on the draft budget presentation.

A panel member asked whether budget efficiencies referred to in the presentation totalling £6.8 million had been identified.

Amanda Sherrard, Corporate Analytics Manager, advised the panel that in year efficiencies of £6.2 million (2023-2024) have been identified of which £4.2 million are one-off savings. The efficiency savings for children services related to internal residential home as there are plans to open new residential homes. As a result of delay in the opening date this has provided savings. In addition, there is generally staffing underspend in children services due to the natural turnover which has led to a delay before new people start and this has contribute to further efficiency savings.

The Corporate Analytics Manager presented the performance data.

A copy of the presentation is attached.

The panel were invited to comment and ask questions on the budget and performance report.

A panel member queried the reasons for the decrease in number of first-time entrants to the Youth Justice Service linked to the changes in the national reporting methodology and asked for further details.

The Corporate Analytics Manager advised the panel that the numbers of first-time entrants have remained static, but it is reported differently which suggest that there has been increase percentage wise, but the actual numbers are similar.

A panel member congratulated the service on the improved performance in getting Education, Health Care Plans issued within 20 weeks and queried the reasons for this.

Brenda Wile, Deputy Director of Education, commented that the improvements are due to the focus on making systems and processes work better to support children and their families with SEND. The Deputy Director highlighted the recruitment of a new team, including a service manager as key to the improvements in performance.

The Deputy Director advised the panel that the Council had the final monitoring meeting with Ofsted to discuss the actions in the SEND WSOA and the verbal feedback was very positive about the progress made.

The final written report has not been published. The Deputy Director thanked colleagues for their hard work.

A panel member queried if missing updates on statistical data referred in the presentation could be shared at a future data when available. The Corporate Analytics Manager advised the panel that there was a recent release of statistical data and when the analysis has been done the updated information will be shared as requested.

Resolved:

1.    The Director of Children’s Services to note the panel comments on Draft Budget 2024-2025 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy.

2.    The panel comments on the Draft Budget 2024-2025 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy to be included in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Emma Deakin, Project and Change Portfolio Manager, to present report]

The Chair invited Emma Deakin, Project and Change Portfolio Manager, to present report.

The Project and Change Portfolio Manager advised the panel that the Transforming Children’s Services Programme (TCSP) 2022 - 2023 Annual Report was the third report to be presented to the panel.

The Project and Change Portfolio Manager gave a presentation of the main findings of the annual report and outlined the background to the development of the programme, key achievements, and progress of projects in the programme.

A copy of the presentation is attached.

The panel were invited to comment on the annual report and presentation.

A panel member queried if the £3.7million funding for Start for Life Transformation Programme would overlap with projects funded by the FFCP that could create potential savings.

The Director of Children’s Services commented that both programmes are funded by the DfE which overlap with the services offered by the Family Hub. There are close similarities between the two programmes and there is work being done to ensure that children and children and families can access services offered at the very earliest opportunity through their local Family Hub network.

The Director commented the FFCP would offer more targeted early intervention help than would be offered under the children in need model but both programmes will be working closely together. The grant funding from the DfE specifies how it can used and the Council must report on how funds are used but there are opportunities to use funding from these sources to support workforce development.

A panel member queried if there were any plans in the programme to increase the capacity for mental health services for our young people beyond the digital mental offer highlighted in the report.

The Director of Children’s Services commented that the service has a better understanding about the emotional health and wellbeing needs of children in the city. This has been informed by the behaviour surveys and the needs assessment commissioned by colleagues in Public Health which has helped identify gaps in support. The Director reassured the panel about the work of the mental health support teams in schools to meet emotional needs of children. In addition, there is also work being done to support families as part of the broader offer and to engage with other providers and professionals.

The Deputy Director of Education added that in addition to the online mental health support offer the education psychology team work extensively with young people through statutory work and commissioned work.

The Deputy Director of Education highlighted the example of the school non-attendance pathway work to support children. The scheme was developed during the Covid 19 pandemic where children could not attend school daily, and some had additional mental health vulnerabilities. The Deputy Director commented that nationally that school attendance rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and this is a challenge locally and nationally. The Deputy Director added that the situation locally is improving but added that there are some children for whatever reason, who lack the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present the report.

The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel of items scheduled on the work programme and were invited to comment and to suggest any specific issues that they would like report authors to include. The panel were invited to suggest further items to the panel work programme.

A panel member asked for an update on plans for the proposed visit to the new children’s residential care homes and to Family Hubs. The Director of Children’s Services advised the panel that the service was happy to arrange visit to the Family Hubs.

The Director added that the residential children’s homes are being set up and the first home is expected to open in April 2024 and suggested a visit six months after this date.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the report.

2.    The Director of Children’s Services to advise the panel on proposed date for a visit to Family Hubs.

3.    The Director of Childrens Services to arrange a proposed date in October 2024 for a visit to new children’s residential care home.