Agenda item

(Report of the Director Children and Young People’s Service – To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services): This report summarises the various options for the future of the residential provision provided for Looked After Children directly by the Council.

A report was received that summarised the various options for the future of the residential provision for Looked After Children directly by the Council.

Prior to consideration of the report a deputation was taken from Flora Onwukwe of Unison in opposition to the proposals.

Ms Onwukwe noted that within the Ofsted rating awarded to Home B the assessment of the quality of care element had been rated as ‘good’ and that the children care for there had indicated that they supported this. It was contended that the use of agency staff had contributed to a loss of consistency and a subsequent deterioration in the standard of care that the Homes were able to provide.

Ms Onwukwe suggested that private care providers would need to procure specialised services that the Council was able to access from in-house providers and that this would constitute an additional cost. In addition Ms Onwukwe contended that private providers might be selective with regard to the children that they took in order to preserve their Ofsted ratings.

It was noted that twenty-eight staff would be affected by the closure of the Homes and these staff faced with an uncertain future due to the lack of redeployment opportunities available to them. 

Ms Onwukwe concluded by noting that the properties were situated in desirable residential areas where property prices were high and she suggested that this consideration was being placed before the needs of the children living in the Homes.

The Chair thanked Ms Onwukwe for her deputation and invited Cabinet Members to put questions to her.

It was noted that the overall rating awarded to both Homes by Ofsted was ‘satisfactory’ and that when using private and voluntary sector providers the Council’s policy was to only use providers with a rating of ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.  In response Ms Onwukwe acknowledged this left room for improvement and reiterated that the quality of care had been assessed as ‘good’, which constituted an improvement in performance, achieved against a background of significant change and a loss of continuity due to an increase in the use of agency staff.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services responded to Ms Onwukwe and began by thanking her for attending the meeting. She noted that whist it was recognised that staff had been doing a good job in difficult circumstances, a rating of ‘satisfactory’ was not sufficient. As set out above the Council required all private and voluntary sector providers to be rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ when procuring their services and this was what the Council aspired to achieve within all of the Homes that it placed children in.

In response to suggestions that private providers might exercise a degree of selection in order to preserve their Ofsted ratings she noted that there was no evidence to suggest that this was the case and that it was common practice for Local Authorities to work with private providers. 

With respect to concerns raised regarding the impact of potential disruption and continuity resulting from the closure of the Homes Cabinet was advised that all of the young people affected had Care Plans where their needs were regularly assessed and the provision had been made within these for the closure of the Homes and the impact of this. In addition these identified needs requiring the support of other agencies, for example special health cared needs, and these would also be taken forward in a consistent way.

It was noted that recruitment had been frozen and agency staff had been used whilst redundancies were made across Children’s Services in the hope that staff displaced from Children’s Centres and other positions where staff had transferable skills could be redeployed into these positions. As part of the  consultation process with staff that would begin if the decision was taken, in principle to close the Homes, redeployment opportunities would be set out.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services concluded by asking Ms Onwukwe to convey Members’ support and thanks to staff for their continued work during this difficult period.

Cabinet discussed the report and its recommendations and in response to a question Cabinet was advised that there had been discussion within the forum of the North London Strategic Alliance (NLSA) with regard to the collective commissioning power that Local Authorities had to influence the market and drive up quality. The NLSA had recently appointed an individual to focus on this area who would be working with Local Authorities including Haringey.

It was noted that the properties currently housing the Homes were no longer needed by the Children’s Service and that if the recommendations were approved they would be removed from the CYPS portfolio and considered as part of the Council’s Corporate Property portfolio.

Exempt information pertaining to the report was discussed under Item 22.  

RESOLVED:

That it be agreed, in principal, that Homes A and B should be closed, pending a final decision, which would take into account the results of the equality impact assessment and consultation with staff, services users and other stakeholders, and that the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services be authorised to take the final decision on the following proposals:

1. That the two residential homes for children – Home A and B be closed with effect from 1 July 2012 releasing an efficiency saving and providing the opportunity additionally for a proportion of the resources saved beyond the planned 2012/13 savings requirements to be redirected to the new rapid response service in line with the Children’s Strategic Improvement Plan.

2. That the properties be declared surplus to requirements and removed from the CYPS portfolio and a decision be made on their future disposal.

3. That it be noted that this was in line with the determination to ensure that all placements for Haringey’s Looked After Children were recognised by external assessment as good or outstanding within a short timeframe and that better value for money in service delivery was secured.