Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Lisa Redfern.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest put forward.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th December 2013.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 19^th December were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.

An information report on  the use of the  looked after children element of the Pupil Premium Grant  had been distrusted  to Committee members,  prior to the meeting.

The Adults Safeguarding protocol had been distributed to Committee Members in early February  for consideration. Comments  had been sought on what aspects  of the protocol can be applied  in the  council’s responsibility for the standard of accommodation for young people in care and care leavers.

The Chair advised the Committee that the usual performance report with information  on the progress   of  key performance indicators for looked after children and care leavers  had not been available  for consideration at this meeting as the  process for gathering data,  in Children’s Service, had changed from a monthly exercise to a weekly event . The  next performance report to the committee in June   would have added lines of enquiry concerning  staffing and resources  of the service. There was a  brief performance report with some key  headlines  included in a report to the joint meeting  at 7.30pm concerning children missing from care and stability  of placements.

To consider the work of the Virtual school in meeting their aims and objectives for supporting children in care and care leavers. To further consider a summary of the educational attainment for children in care and care leavers with comparisons to national data.

The Virtual Head’s Annual Report was the final update of the Interim Virtual Head report presented to the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee in October.  The report provided information on the education of children who are looked after by Haringey Local Authority in regards to attainment, attendance and exclusions.

Since the publication  of this report last week,  the DfE had published the attainment of looked after children in England and Haringey looked after children have again achieved above the national average in most areas, with Haringey rated in the top 15 local authorities in 6 out of the 7 attainment criteria.

Haringey children in care have also reduced the gap between their attainment and all children in Haringey this year.

The Committee considered the data in relation to achievements  of children in care at early years foundation level,  Key stage 1,  Key stage 2, year 6, post 16  and  further  acknowledged the range of practices and processes being used by the Virtual school to support  and facilitate successful outcomes for  children in care ad care leavers.

In responses to questions from the Committee the following information was provided:

·        In terms of GCSE results, including attainment of Maths and English, Haringey were third in the country.

·        Key stage 2 results were above the national average.

·        The attainment at key stage one also depended on the needs of the cohort. In this current cohort there were 5 children with SEN, in the previous year there had been none.

·        Noted that the  data collected by the Virtual School  was   from a September to September basis and this was  different to the time period of national data collection .Agreed that  the  collection and presentation of  data by the Virtual school be synchronised  to be compatible with national data  to enable easier comparisons to be made.

·        Agreed that the early year’s data ,at page 15 of the agenda pack, is updated.

The Chair and Committee thanked the Virtual School for their significant work and achievements for looked after children and care leavers.  Their continued  emphasis  on  finding activities, specialised support, and  good projects for  children and young people in care to participate in reflected their commitment  to  helping  them  achieve good academic results and maintaining a high level of aspiration for their future.

The Committee considered the progress on recruiting an external provider to recruit and increase the number of internal foster carers in the borough and also received information about the work on the council’s operational sufficiency strategy.

The following was noted.

·        A contract with NRS Limited was in the process of being finalised and they should begin work on recruiting foster carers in the borough in early April. They had a high target of recruiting 45 carers by March 2015 in order to cover the number of foster carers retiring and increasing the existing cohort of local foster carers. The payment to NRS would be on a  results  basis

·        There were already a prospective 18 foster carers in the process of being recruited by the council who would transfer to NRS Limited.

·        Existing staff working on recruitment would be transferred to work with supporting and developing existing foster carers in the borough. There will be an improved set of quality standards put in place  for how the council looks after  foster carers

In response to Committee comments and questions, the following was noted:

·        The points made by Cllr Allison, at this Cabinet sub bodied, over the last 5 years, about the need to increase the numbers of foster carers in the borough and improve recruitment, were acknowledged.

·        Positive changes that will contribute to stability of young people in placements were the implementation of the ‘staying put policy’.

·        There will be a  proactive approach  to foster care recruitment, including: tapping into existing networks associated with  Children’s services to potential carers,   holding weekend and evening foster care events,   and increasing  the reach to all areas of  Tottenham .

·        Assurance was given that, following the recruitment of an external provider to recruit foster carers; there would not be a reduction in frontline staff dealing with foster care.

·        There was discussion about  cost of the contract  including  the separate cost of the  work with iMPOWER  on the fostering review, and  assurance  provided that the contract will save the council  money in terms of the  cost of  the foster carers assessment  and the cost of marketing   which   the committee noted was a set reasonable amount.

·        Assurance was given that the retention rate for Haringey Foster carers was good and there was commitment seen from existing foster carers of wanting to continue to work in the borough and not being attracted to private fostering agencies or working with other boroughs for a higher rate.

The Committee thanked Paul McCarthy for his continued work in helping to improve fostering services and noted that he would be staying on for a further year to manage the first year of the contract with NRS Limited.

A vote of thanks was given to Cllr Rachel Allison for her continued commitment to the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee over the last 5 years.

The Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee at their meeting in December  requested an update on the Children’s Services budget, including the focus for spending plans in 2014-15.The attached report provides an update on the Children’s Services budget position for 2013/14 (including progress on making savings) and gives an update on Financial Planning for 2014/15.

The Committee considered an update on the Children’s Services budget for 2013/14(including progress on making saving) and noted  the update on Financial Planning for 2014/15. The savings for 2015/16 linked to the Haringey 54000 programme  and involved  the shift in  spend on high end services to prevention and early years.

Following questions from councillors it was noted that:

·        The Children’s service would need to make £4.7m in savings in 2014/15

·        The funding for iMPOWER,  the strategic partner of the Children’s service was funded from the council’s transformation reserves.

·        The increase cost of accommodating homeless families had risen this year  as well as the cost of supporting families with no recourse to public funds. The Director for Children’s services (Acting) and interim Assistant Director for Children’s Services would hold meetings with Housing to work out how both  services will work together with these families to provide a sustainable solution.

·         The £150k  savings connected to the review of the early years service would be met by reducing staffing costs and not through closure of Children’s Centres.

To consider any new items of business as per item 2.

No new items of urgent business

Not required

Date of next meeting 16^th June [this date is provisional and subject to agreement  as part of  the municipal council diary to be considered  at Full council on the 9^th June]

None

 To consider any new items of exempt urgent business as per item 2.

None