Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received from Yvonne Denny (church representative).

None.

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 interest becomes apparent.  

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if 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's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

None.

To receive a general intoduction on the issue of children missing from care or from home from officers from the Children and Young People’s Service.

Debbie Haith, Deputy Director of the Children and Young Peoples Service (C&YPS), gave a presentation introducing the issue of children missing from home or from care and providing some background information. 

It was noted that the terms ‘young runaway’ and ‘missing’ referred to children and young people up to the age of 18 who had run away from their home or care placement, had been forced to leave or whose whereabouts were unknown.  There was an important distinction between this and unauthorised absence, which was where the whereabouts of looked-after children were known or thought to be known but unconfirmed.  In such circumstances, they were not considered to be missing but instead classified as absent without authorisation from their placement.  This was in order to ensure a proportionate response.  The distinction was overridden if there were any child protection concerns as the safety of children and young people was paramount. 

Little detailed research had been undertaken on the issue except by the Children’s Society.  They had recently asked C&YPS to identify a link officer for some further research that they were undertaking on the issue.  Such research that was available showed that many children ran away repeatedly and a significant proportion were away for long periods - 10% ran away for more than four weeks.  Children could be coerced into running away and 25% of children said that they ran away because they were told to or were physically forced to go.  The vast majority – two thirds - were not reported to the Police as missing.  Refuges were now required to notify social services if missing children arrived at their premises.  They had previously been required to inform parents. 

The Police Missing Persons Unit had primary responsibility for dealing with children who were reported as missing.   As part of this duty, they were required to notify relevant social services departments.  In Haringey, they would notify the First Response Unit. However, any involvement of childrens social care services did not override their overall responsibilities. Following notification, the Police would try to gain an understanding of the circumstances and make an assessment of this situation including whether the child was at risk.  There was normally some sort of reason why children or young people ran away.  This could be difficulties at school, drugs or alcohol problems, trouble with the Police or the breakdown of relationships between parents.  Although children in care were three times more likely to run away, they only made up 2% of the total number of runaways.

There were London wide procedures on safeguarding children missing from care or from home.  There was a large concentration of children in the capital which made it essential for there to be clear expectations of all agencies working within the capital.  The most important issue was the need to mitigate against risk. 

Each local authority had to have a named officer responsible for children and young people who go missing or run away.  In Haringey, this was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To approve a draft scope, terms of reference and work plan (attached) for the review for recommendation to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

AGREED:

That the draft scope and terms of reference be updated in the light of the discussion on the previous item and re-circulated to Members of the Panel for comment.

To note the dates of future meetings of the Panel:

·        29 November;

·        13 December; and

·        24 January

It was noted that a date for the final meeting of the review still needed to be arranged and agreed that a suitable date would be identified by Panel Members prio to the next meeting.