[To receive a presentation on the Annual Survey led by members of CiCC.]
Minutes:
A member of the Children in Care Council delivered the presentation on the outcomes of the CiCC Annual Survey conducted for 2022. It was reported that each year, the CiCC produce a survey to gain feedback from young people on the support received which was used to highlight key issues and identify areas of improvement for the Children and Young People in Care service.
The presentation outlined a set of questions that had been developed for the survey. It was confirmed that the questions would be reviewed at the next CiCC meeting and, once agreed, the finalised surveys would be distributed to young people in a variety of formats and channels, including a digital link being made available on the Children in Care website and Foster carer portal.
It was queried whether the survey could include a question asking which type of setting the child or young person was placed in to gain an understanding of which services and settings were working most effectively. It was noted that this would be considered for inclusion.
A query was raised around how quickly the service typically responded to emerging concerns highlighted by survey feedback. It was confirmed that results were continually shared with the Head of Children and Young People in Care and the service managers team would compose an action plan to respond. It was noted that this practice was maintained as a matter of course to identify areas of development as well as a response to high level concerns.
A query was raised around how satisfied young people were with the existing services based on previous feedback. It was thought young people were generally happy from the feedback in other areas, however it was important that surveys were completed and returned to gather as much information as possible.
It was noted that the Service Manager for Children and Young People in Care would be attending the next Children in Care Council meeting to support work on the survey.
It was confirmed that the questions referencing reviews related to reviews with Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) and personal education plan (PEP) reviews undertaken by the school.
A query was raised around the number of questions and how to encourage as many young people to participate in the survey as possible. It was noted the intention was to keep the questions direct and the number edited down to maintain interest.
In response to a query on how the data was tracked, it was confirmed that the feedback from the CiCC survey would be analysed by the CiCC and Council officers. It was added that the intention this year was to compile a set of questions that remained the same for each survey going forward so data could be tracked year on year and the final set would be co-produced jointly with the young people of CiCC and Children’s Services.
The work was commended and a query raised around the questions on personal education plan (PEP) reviews. It was noted that feedback from the survey would be collated with data from PEP dip-sampling undertaken by the Virtual School Head to inform how young people wished to engage with their PEP reviews going forward.
In the chat area, Fiona Brennan, Black Country and West Birmingham CCG offered to share the survey with health colleagues to distribute to the children and young people in care they came into contact with.
Resolved: