To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 14 May 2012 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 14 May 2012 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

The Chairman praised the foster carer awards ceremony held on 25 May 2012.  He stated that meeting the foster carers at the event had proved a humbling experience for him and he referred to the experience and length of service within their ranks.  The Chairman then expressed his thanks to the Vice-Chairman of the Panel, the Chairman of the Council and the Head of Adoption and Fostering for their support.

To receive any declarations of interests from Members.

To consider a report outlining the activity of the Conference and Review Service in relation to the reviews of Looked After Children during 2011-2012.

The Panel considered a report by the Team Manager Conference and Review which outlined the team’s activity in relation to the reviews of Looked After Children during 2011-12.

The Chairman queried what the Council’s procedure governing the oversight of review management had been before the statutory requirement had been introduced.  In response the Team Manager explained that the Quality Assurance Service within Children’s Services Operations had held the same responsibilities but the data collected had been reported to central government.  There had been no specific requirement to report findings to Members though it was acknowledged that some authorities did so.

Turning to the timeliness of reviews the Chairman queried why five children and young people had experienced late initial reviews.  In reply the Team Manager explained that several factors had been indentified including that all five were late notifications from the operational teams and that in three cases there had been a lack of clarity and slight delay in notification in the notification of a change in the children’s status to Looked After.  She added that the issues had been raised with the operational teams to ensure future compliance with the regulations.  She also stressed that the children and young people had not been disadvantaged in any way and that the performance target had of 95% had been met.

The Chairman next referred to the participation by children in their reviews.  The Team Manager explained the procedure governing participation and the efforts made to ensure that child’s views were made known.  She added that participation was defined as a child having taken part at some point in the review and did not mean that he or she had been present throughout.

A Member referred to the rising number of Looked After Children and sought clarification on the reasons for this.  In response the Interim Assistant Director Children’s Services confirmed that the number was continuing to increase year on year but that the rate per 10,000 of population was still below the national figure.  The Interim Assistant Director advised that she was now responsible for determining which children would be taken into care to ensure consistency.  She further advised that almost all of the later had come about as a result care proceedings and therefore was in line with national social care activity.  In addition Central Bedfordshire had also been more stringent than the legacy authority in applying thresholds and intervening to protect children. 

The Panel considered the ethnicity statistics for Looked After Children and noted that the white ethnic group was largely made up of two or three extended gypsy and traveller families.  It was further noted that, whilst some targeted work had been carried out with families in general that required special assistance, there had been no particular focus on gypsies and travellers.  Further discussion followed during which the possibility of measuring and displaying the data in alternative forms, such as by cultural background or by age, was considered.  During the discussion the Interim Assistant Director explained that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive a report outlining the statutory framework for the submission of annual reports on the adoption and fostering services and summarising the key points contained in the attached Annual Reports for 2011/12.

The Panel received a report which outlined the statutory framework for the submission of annual reports on the adoption and fostering services and summarised the key points contained in the Annual Adoption and Fostering Service Reports for 2011-12.  Copies of the Service Reports were attached as appendices to the report.  The meeting was aware that the Adoption and Fostering Service was currently a shared service for Central Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough Councils and that the reports contained information in respect of both Councils.

a)         Adoption Service

The Head of Adoption and Fostering introduced the Adoption Agency Annual Report. 

A Member referred to the forthcoming end of the Shared Service Arrangement with Bedford Borough Council on 31 January 2013, expressed concern regarding the impact on panel workloads and the need to organise new panels and sought an update on developments.  In response the Interim Assistant Director, Children’s Services Operations explained that the Regulations set out the composition of the new panels.  She added that officers from both authorities met every three weeks to consider aspects of the service disaggregation.  The Interim Assistant Director stated that the cost of the replacement service would be relatively high but this increase had been anticipated.  Further, it was felt to be more acceptable in relation to the quality of service provision than continuing with the existing Service Level Agreement.

The Head of Adoption and Fostering advised that Central Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough Council were committed to working together to ensure the process of disaggregation was managed as efficiently as possible.  Officers were also fully aware of the risk that foster carers or adopters could decide to leave the Council as a result of the changes.  As a result a communications strategy had been drawn up and meetings were to take place with carers to explain the decision to disaggregate.

It was noted that draft staffing structures had been prepared in anticipation of the disaggregation and a staff consultation had been carried out.

The Interim Assistant Director, Children’s Services Operations advised the meeting of the Borough Council’s intention to substantially reduce its funding contribution towards the Shared Service and, in view of the resulting impact on the quality of service, how this had lead to the decision by Central Bedfordshire to disaggregate. 

b)        Fostering Service

The Head of Adoption and Fostering turned next to the Fostering Agency Annual Report.  

Following a description of the process undertaken when appointing foster carers a Member advised the meeting of the heavy workload associated with the Fostering and Joint Permanence Panel and suggested possible means of overcoming this.  In response the Head of Adoption and Fostering first stated that there would be a number of changes to the adoption service in the coming year which would lead to a reduction in the number of cases being considered by the Adoption Panel.  She added that there was a possibility of the Fostering and Joint Permanence Panel adopting the same procedures and, if this occurred, it would lighten that Panel’s workload.

With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.