To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 14 November 2016 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on the 14 November 2016 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive from Members any declarations of interest.

Councillor Mrs A L Dodwell declared an interest as a member of the Council’s Fostering Panel.

Councillor Mrs A Barker declared an interest as a member of the Council’s Adoption Panel.

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

The following announcements and communications were made:

1.    The Chairman welcomed Raj Bharkhada, Interim Head of Corporate Parenting Service to the meeting.

2.    The Panel were advised that Edward Wong, Head of Corporate Parenting Service and Helen Redding, Assistant Director, School Improvements had left the Authority. Mr Wong was now employed by Southwark Council as the Assistant Director Corporate Parenting.  The Panel expressed its thanks for the work they had undertaken on behalf of the Corporate Parenting Panel during their employment at Central Bedfordshire Council.

3.    The Chairman welcomed Sharon Griffin, Committee Services Officer to the meeting who would be supporting future meetings of the Panel. Thanks were given to Leslie Manning, Committee Services Officer for the support he had provided to the Panel.

4.    The Chairman expressed her thanks to all those involved in the interview process for the Peer Review. The initial response was very positive. At the  request of the Chairman, an update on the feedback from the Peer Review and a spotlight session on care leavers and housing options would be given at the May meeting of the Panel.

5.    The Chairman invited the CiCC Ambassadors to visit Priory View, an independent living development for older people in Dunstable, so that they could give their views on what Central Bedfordshire Council was doing for older people in terms of housing.

6.    At the request of the Chairman, the Assistant Director Safeguarding and Early Help updated Members on the internal reorganisation of Children’s Services as part of the Transformation Plan: the aim being to reduce the costs of senior management. An update on the Transformation process would be given at a future meeting of the Panel.

7.    The Committee Services Officer undertook to provide a link to the job advertisement for the vacant post of the Assistant Director Transformation.

8.    The Chairman advised the order of business for the meeting would be varied from the schedule shown on the agenda in order that the Children in Care Council’s (CiCC) presentation at item 11 could be considered in conjunction with the CiCC Annual Report at item 5.

RESOLVED

that in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To consider the Children in Care Council’s Annual Report for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017.

The Panel considered the Children in Care Council’s Annual Report for the period of 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 in conjunction with the exempt presentation.

Points and comments on the Report included:

1.    Work was ongoing to raise the profile of the CiCC. Challenges included the number of young people attending CiCC events continued to fluctuate, changes in the service that could cause challenges for the young people and their involvement/commitment to the CiCC.  The times of the CiCC meetings often meant that only certain young people could attend.

2.    The difficulty of finding members from the younger age range had been resolved with a core group of CiCC members currently in place. The younger group included young people as young as 8 but the group was mostly 8-15 year olds.

3.    Emotional wellbeing and building resilience was very important. Consultations on Personal Education Plans, Pupil Premium and the review of Looked After Children’s Review documents were welcomed.

4.    The CiCC would be delivering training to the 300 participants of the Summer institute, which this year would include those who would be working with CBC to complete training.

5.    The Chairman advised that the initiative to provide young people with opportunities to find out more about chosen careers or experience new activities had been very well supported by members of the Panel.  An Aspirations Wish List had been generated from the young people and their career aspirations.

6.    In recognition of the work undertaken, a certificate had been designed for LAC Champions with the aim of certificates being awarded to Champions at future meetings of the Panel. The first certificate would be awarded to Councillor Chatterley for arranging a visit to Luton Town Football Club. Members of the Panel were asked to publicise the LAC Champion initiative and to bring forward ideas for opportunities not on the list which Members had access to and could facilitate.

Points and comments on the presentation included:

1.    The membership of the CiCC currently consisted of 30 members with an age range of 8-16 years old. Succession planning was in place to ensure that the work undertaken so far by the CiCC would not be lost.

2.    The approach to the use of a Life Story Book was currently inconsistent in terms of some young people being offered a Life Story Book, others not being offered this visual aid and also partial use throughout the journey of the young person. An area of work was being undertaken by the CiCC to ensure every young person is given the option of completing a Life Story Book and that this is a continuous process throughout their journey.

3.    A CiCC Ambassdor indicated that she would be willing to share her Life Story Book at a future meeting of the Panel. 

4.    The Assistant Director Safeguarding and Early Help undertook to provide a template Life Story Book for members of the panel to examine.

5.    Many children in care and care leavers are  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider an update on the NHS Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Looked After Children Annual Report for 2015/16.

The Panel considered the report of the NHS Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Looked After Children Annual report for 2015/16 which outlined future developments and commitments from the Annual Report 2015/16.

Points and comments included:

1.    A new Health Passport was being developed in conjunction with NHS England and the possibility of the use of a mobile app to access the passport. The health passport was  a physical document which would be kept by the young person. A copy was also kept by the Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (BCCG) and the individual’s GP.

2.    The Central Bedfordshire CAMHS team was now located at Stephenson Court, Bedford.

3.    The East of England protocol for Looked After Children and Care Leavers would be rolled out in early spring.  An update on the protocol would be given as part of the annual LAC Health Report.

4.    South Essex Partnership Trust (SEPT) was commissioned to provide a service for Looked After Children in Bedfordshire and East London NHS Foundation Trust currently provided all mental health services including CAHMS.

5.    Challenges in meeting the statutory guidance for the completion of Initial Health Assessments (IHAs) included late referrals from social workers and young people not attending their appointments. Following some challenges in summer around the IHA process for asylum seekers, resilience had been placed within the team to add extra clinics if needed. There was also the ongoing issue of trying to ensure that Looked After Children placed out of county attended IHAs.

6.    The results of an examination of the health of local children in care had shown that their physical health was a mirror image of the health of children in the general population. However, their emotional health was not.

7.    All GPs attended training for Looked After Children as part of level 3 of their safeguarding training and each GP surgery had a safeguarding lead which provided the link between the surgery and the Designated Nurse for Looked After Children. Health visitors should be aware of LAC on their case loads.re as the safeguarding needs of LAC were identified under the Universal Partnership Plus offer. Work was ongoing to establish a link between School Nurses and Designated Nurses.

8.    Initial Health Assessments for Looked After Children service currently covered the age range of 0-19 years. The possibility of extending the current age range and improving the transition from children’s services to adult services was being looked at as part of the SEND agenda.

9.    If a young person is still in education they can contact the LAC team for support around issues such as mental health or a change in lifestyle.

10. A project was taking place to look at the commissioning of health services for care leavers which would include consultation with commissioners and care leavers about possible improvements to the current process.

11. The Panel requested that a sub-section on carer leavers health be added to the CCG annual report.

NOTED

the NHS Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Looked After Children Annual Report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To consider a report setting out the remit of the Adoption Support Fund and how the Council is making use of it.

The Panel considered a report of the Director of Social Services which set out an update on the remit of the Adoption Support Fund and how the Council made use of the Fund.

Points and comments included:

1.    From 1 April 2016 the Department for Education had extended the criteria for applications to include Intercountry Adoptions (once the placement had been made and the child was in England) and for Special Guardians who cared for children who were previously Looked After.

2.    Following a budget review in October 2016, the Government had introduced the interim measure of a £5,000 ‘fair access limit’. This was followed by the announcement in January 2017 that the fair access limit of £5,000 per child for therapy accessed through the Adoption Support Fund (ASF), would continue into the next financial year (2017/18). There was also the requirement that local authorities share the costs of support above £5,000, through a match-funding approach.

3.    Applications for £186k had been received and approved since the funding was made available in May 2015.

4.    The Chairman queried the  effectiveness of the Adoption Support Fund and its monitoring  and expressed the need for additional information to be provided on this matter.

5.    The Assistant Director Safeguarding and Early Help referred to the expansion of the original range of the Fund beyond Adoption.  Concern was expressed over the possibility that Central Government could withdraw its funding post 2020 leaving local authorities to finance the provision of therapeutic support and intervention not only to adopted children and their families but to an expanded range of clients.

RESOLVED

that a regular annual update on the Adoption Support Fund be submitted to the Panel

To consider a report outlining the activity in the Fostering Service from October to December 2016.

The Panel considered the report of the Executive Member for Social Care and Housing which outlined the activity in the Fostering Service from October to December 2016.

Points and comments included:

·         The results from the quarter were very positive with the Service on target to meet the recruitment of 10 new fostering households for this financial year. The number of placements with in-house foster carers was also increasing.

1.    The number of Special Guardianship Orders in place had remained static at 140 at the end of this quarter.

2.    Following the introduction of a training policy and mandatory training for certain areas, the number of carers attending training opportunities had increased. The consequences of not attending were a potential drop in tier and associated fee level.

3.    A small number of foster carers adopt children they had initially fostered which was significant for the child in terms of the stability of not having to move placement.

4.    A lot of work had taken place with schools to try to gain access to promote the fostering service. Information leaflets had been made available in schools and visits to schools to explain the fostering process could be arranged if requested.

5.    A lot of head teachers and governors attend the cluster groups to discuss School Improvement which would be a captive audience in terms of engagement with schools.

6.    A review of training for Foster Carers was taking place at the end of March during which attendance of training course would be looked at.

7.    The requirement to form Regional Adoption Agencies had not been withdrawn by government. A further review of regional adoption agency plan was going to take place which include the rebase of the grounds of procurement by the commissioning authority and the local authority. The DfE had been advised of concerns about the regional approach and officers were currently working on more practical and realistic options for the process. There were some collaborative arrangements nationally good practice already in place which could be built upon. One of the concerns was the risk of the regional adoption service being more expensive and less effective than the current service which was not acceptable.

8.    Work was taking place to look at whether the current process of using an adoption panel to match children to a family would remain or whether this decision would be delegated to professionals. From a local authorityperspective, how matches are agreed was yet to be defined.

NOTED

the Fostering Agency Quarter report Quarter 3.

To consider the Panel’s work programme.

Members considered the report of the Committee Services Manager and Committee Services Officer which set out the Panel’s proposed work programme for the municipal year 2017/18.

RESOLVED

that the Corporate Parenting Panel work programme for the municipal year 2017/18, as attached as Appendix A of the report of the Committee Services Manager and Committee Services Officer, be approved subject to the addition of the following items:

·         8 May 2017

o   Peer Review and Action Plan

o   Transformation Update

·         3 July 2017 - Spotlight Report on Leaving Care Housing

Unscheduled reports

·         Transformation update

To consider whether to pass a resolution under section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the Press and Public from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that the consideration of the item is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED

that in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To receive a presentation from the Children in Care Council.

The Panel received a presentation on the work that has been undertaken by the Children in Care Council during the year.

Note: Minute CPP/16/31 above also refers.

To consider a report which provides information on the role of the Virtual School and the validated outcomes for Central Bedfordshire Looked After Children in the Academic Year 2015/16 and the steps being taken in the Academic Year 2016/17 to raise the levels of achievement and progress for all Looked After Children.

Members were advised that the presenting officer was unable to attend the meeting. In the absence of the officer, the Assistant Director Safeguarding and Early Help responded to queries from Members of the Panel.

RESOLVED

that further consideration of the Interim Report on the Virtual School for Looked After Children be deferred until the May meeting of the Panel.