Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of late items of urgent business. Late items will be considered under the agenda item they appear. New items will be dealt with at item 10 below. New items of exempt business will be dealt with at item 16 below.

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the consideration becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’ judgement of the public interest.  

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2009.

RESOLVED:

·      That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2009 be agreed as an accurate record.  

Matters arising:

The Committee were updated that the focus of the scrutiny review on the transition from child to adult socials services had shifted from Children in Care (CiC) to children with disabilities and additional needs.

RESOLVED:

·      That arrangements for the meeting with Cllrs Hare and Weber regarding feedback from Regulation 33 visits be progressed.

·      That a matters arising report be added as a standing item to the agenda of future meetings.

·      That Ofsted inspection reports for the last year for Haringey’s Children’s Homes be re-sent to Cllr Allison.

·      That information regarding re-offending rates for CiC be added to the forward plan for consideration at a future meeting.

To provide the Committee with feedback from a young person who attended a recent ministerial event held for Children in Care.

The Committee received feedback from the Children & Young People Participation Strategy Officer and Kieran Thomas, a Haringey care leaver, following attendance at a recent national ministerial event to facilitate the sharing of views of CiC. The event included an interactive voting session and discussion of key care issues, as part of reviewing progress in improving outcomes for CiC, with findings to be compiled into a summary report to be submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

RESOLVED:

·      That the Committee receive a report to a future meeting exploring the feasibility of hosting an event to obtain the views of a statistically significant sample of CiC in Haringey, to allow comparison with the national picture and to identify areas of concern and for future focus.

·      That feedback be provided to the Committee at the December meeting from a steering group meeting to be held on 28 October with Leaving Care managers and a number of young care leavers.

In consideration of the generally poor results obtained from the voting session relating to the perception of CiC on how well councils are doing at helping CiC prepare to get good jobs in the future, the Committee requested an update on the situation in Haringey. It was advised that the current focus of attention in terms of future attainment for CiC and care leavers was on education, including support through specialist services such as the CiC Education Team. Itwas recognised that improvements were required to support young care leavers in obtaining employment including apprenticeships, although the recession impacted on available opportunities. There was agreement that linkages with employers and other Council departments needed to be developed to maximise opportunities in relation to jobs, work experience placements and apprenticeships for care leavers. Committee members emphasised the value of being proactive in approaching local businesses to scope opportunities and also liaising with Neighbourhood Management teams to raise awareness through local area networks. 

RESOLVED:

·      That an action plan setting out work to be undertaken to improve employment opportunities for care leavers, including access to apprenticeships, both within and external to the Council be received at the next meeting of the Committee.  

The Committee expressed dissatisfaction with anecdotal evidence that CiC moving placements were not always using suitcases to move personal effects. Confirmation was provided that although a store of suitcases was available, blanket compliance had yet to be achieved for a number of reasons.

RESOLVED:

·      That the Committee receive a report scoping the level of non-compliance with the procedure for suitcases to be used to move possessions of CiC and identifying actions to be undertaken to ensure compliance where necessary.

To update the Committee on issues regarding children’s rights and participation including establishing a Children in Care Council.

The Committee received the above report setting out work underway to enhance the involvement of CiC in shaping services and improving outcomes.

Following the termination of the contract with Action for Children for the provision of a Children’s Rights service, the service would now be transferred to an in-house provision within the mainstream service. This would necessitate recruitment to a number of new roles by the beginning of the new year, with interim arrangements in place until then. The new team would then be responsible for progressing key projects, including developing a CiC council, provisionally by Easter.

The Committee were advised of the successful selection of a group of young people from Haringey to take part in Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) Youth Advisory Group ‘Young Leaders of Change’ project. This project allows the views of young people to be fed to the CWDC Board and to inform its future work, whilst offering training and development opportunities for the young people taking part. 

RESOLVED:

·      That the report be noted.

To provide a verbal update on the feasibility of providing laptops to Children in Care.

The Committee was provided with a verbal update from the Interim Head Of Service (Resources and Placements) regarding the feasibility of providing laptops for CiC. Confirmation was provided that all CiC under the age of 16 had computer access within their placements but for young people over the age of 16, laptop provision was determined on an individual basis. The Committee were advised of the significant financial commitment to providing laptops to the 400+ CiC over the age of 16, which would be expected to exceed £160k, excluding additional costs such as maintenance. The Committee considered that it would be valuable to seek the views of CiC as to whether laptops were considered a priority.

In relation to issues surrounding CiC accessing social networking sites from computers provided in placements, it was advised that a policy and procedure was currently being developed to set out a definitive standpoint and mitigate against the risks associated. 

RESOLVED:

·      That feedback from young people on their views as to the priority attached to provision of lap tops as against other possible spend be reported to a future meeting of the Committee.

·      That a report be received to the December Committee meeting on the policy and procedure for the accessing of social networking sites by CiC.

To provide an update on Children in Care missing from placements.

The Committee received a report advising of the publication of new DCSF statutory guidance on reducing risk and harm to children who run away or go missing from home or care, to support authorities in meeting National Indicator 71 – missing from home and care. An action plan had subsequently been developed at the lead of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) to implement changes required, centred around developing more effective interagency working including in respect to early intervention, the development of new protocols and improved data collection. It was confirmed that data collection would play a pivotal role in identifying patterns and mapping episodes of runaways to inform service provision.

Confirmation was provided that a recent self-assessment submitted to the DCSF in relation to children missing from home or care had rated Haringey as achieving a score of 3 out of 4, an improvement on previous performance stock takes.

Committee members questioned whether information was routinely provided to CiC containing important information such as contact numbers for emergency helplines etc for use in a crisis situation. Members were advised that although such information was contained within the Leaving Care Handbook and provided in leaflets sent to foster carers, the emphasis remained on early intervention e.g. advocacy. The Committee requested that the feasibility of providing a small credit card size information booklet containing key information for CiC be investigated.

RESOLVED:

·      That the DCSF statutory guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care 2009 be circulated to Committee members.

·      That the mechanism for reporting data collected on missing CiC to Members be explicitly set out in the action plan, centred on monthly provision to the Lead Member for Children and Young People and reporting to the Committee on a frequent basis.  

To update the Committee on progress with Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs).

The Committee received a progress update report on Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) and showing that targets for the current financial year for the granting of SGOs and adoption orders were anticipated to be exceeded. A review of placements had identified  opportunities in relation to encouraging the movement of foster placements into SGOs as an area for future focused work, especially as support arrangements, including financial provision, for SGOs had been strengthened and developed. In response to a query regarding specific room specification requirements for SGOs, confirmation was provided that space considerations would be taken into account under any assessment carried out for the order, with funding available to provide additional space if deemed necessary.

Following questions from Members regarding the stability of SGOs, the Committee were advised that the Orders were a relatively new concept and as such, limited statistically significant information was available for an accurate assessment of success to be made. At present in Haringey, there had been no breakdown of SGOs since their introduction, although it was emphasised that it remained early days.  

RESOLVED:

·      That the report be noted. 

To consider specified performance data for Looked After Children.

The Committee received a report setting out the September performance monitoring data in relation to CiC within the Children and Families Service and details of statistical neighbour comparative data collected by central government on a national basis for 2007/08 for a range of CiC outcome indicators based around health and education.

The Committee were updated that Marion Wheeler would be taking up her new post as Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Chris Chambers as Acting Head of Service (Children in Care) by the end of the month.

The Committee were advised that the number of CiC remained high, although the stabilisation of the level over the previous months masked the high turnover of children of around 30 per month.

Concerns were expressed by Members regarding performance in relation to CiC having up to date Personal Education Plan (PEPs) despite advice at the last meeting that improvements would be seen following the start of the new academic year.

RESOLVED:

·      That an update on performance in relation to PEPs be included within the CiC educational attainment report to be provided at December meeting. 

·      That the September performance report be noted.

To consider any items admitted at item 2 above.

There were no new items of urgent business.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of Items ### as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 1 & 2; namely information relating to any individual, and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

RESOLVED:

That as items 13 to 18 contained exempt information (as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government 1972; namely information likely to reveal the identity of an individual, and information relating to any individual) members of the press and public should be excluded from the remainder of the meeting.

To consider the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2009.

RESOLVED:

·      That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2000 be agreed as an accurate record.

To provide the Committee with a verbal update on issues arising from a review of the service provided by the Emergency Duty Team.

RESOLVED:

·      That a report summarising the management review of the Emergency Duty Team be considered at the December meeting of the Committee.

To provide an update on the restructure of Muswell House Children’s Homes.

RESOLVED:

·      That the verbal update be noted.

To provide an update on issues surrounding budgetary management for Children in Care.

RESOLVED:

·      That a revised version of the table on weekly unit costs for placements be circulated to Committee members to provide better clarity.

·      That the budget management report for CiC be noted.

To provide a verbal update on safeguarding issues pertinent to the remit of the Committee.

There were no child safeguarding issues pertinent to the remit of the Committee.

To consider any items admitted at 2 above.

There were no new items of exempt urgent business.  

Date of next meeting

There were no items of further business.