Matters arising
Minutes:
The Committee considered the matters arising report and noted the following updates:
· Fostering update: it was confirmed that out of date statistics had been removed from the Council’s website as part of the ongoing work to review and improve content. It was advised that new key fostering images had been approved and would be used for campaigns and promotional information going forward. As part of this, it was proposed that the Committee consider the new Fostering Strategy at a future meeting.
On a related issue, Cllr Solomon advised that she had carried out a mystery shopping exercise on the Fostering Service and provided positive feedback on the quality of service received. The Head of Service (Commissioning & Placements) agreed to feed this back to the team.
In response to a question on progress with foster care strategic commissioning, it was confirmed that work was underway as part of the North London Strategic Alliance to map costs across the region which was scheduled for completion in the autumn. Work was also underway to manage the procurement process more effectively within the Council, including running a two day event with providers in May with a view to enhancing working relationships and improving standards and pricing. An update would be provided to the meeting after next.
· It was confirmed that the safeguarding element of IT access had now been incorporated within the Virtual School policy.
· In relation to publishing the complaints procedure for CiC online, it was proposed that this be added on an interim basis to Youth Space until dedicated CiC pages were established as part of a longer term project. It was agreed that Committee members would be informed once the information was live.