Agenda item

To consider and comment on the Annual Report of Children’s Social Care for 2021-22.

Beverley Hendricks presented that Annual Report for Children’s Social Care, as included in the agenda papers for the meeting.  The Panel congratulated the service for the report and particularly the work that had been done to develop the Council’s own social work academy and recruitment drive.   It was noted that there had been a drop in the number of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans that were completed within 20 weeks.  In response, Jackie Difolco (Assistant Director for Early Help and Prevention) reported that the service had undergone restructuring during this period, which had resulted in a number of staff leaving.  The new structure had now been implemented, new staff recruited and training taken place.  70% of assessments were now, on average, completed within 20 weeks and this would be reflected in the next annual report.

In respect of factors found at the end of assessment, the Panel requested a gender breakdown where these related to alcohol misuse. In answer to a question regarding ethical recruitment, Ms Hendricks stated that there was an ethical code that ensured new recruits were well supported when they arrived in the UK.  There was a generous relocation package and staff were able to support their families and bring spouses and children to join them. 

In answer to a question regarding adoption, Ms Hendricks stated that the assessment process for adoption involved a high degree of challenge and support .  Information was gathered and kept in a children’s permanency record, including background and heritage, so that they had a record that could accessed if required at a later stage.   Adoptive parents could access support through the regional adoption agency or local authority.   This included an adoption support fund, which included financial and therapeutic help if required.   Comprehensive packages could be designed  to avoid breakdown of placements.  Adoption failure was rare and data on this was kept centrally.  She agreed to share this with the Panel if it was possible to disaggregate figures for Haringey.  The Council had also invested in a scheme called Pause, which was a national programme that sought to avoid unnecessary adoptions by working with parents who had previously had children removed from their care.   A spectrum of approaches was required for interventions to ensure that children were able to remain with families.

In answer to a question regarding children who were out of school, Jane Edwards (Assistant Director for Schools and Learning), reported that the number of these fluctuated.  They were identified by a number of means and action was taken to get them back into school as soon as possible.  In some cases, children became electively home educated.   If it was not possible to find the child or young person, a multi-agency was arranged to decide what further action to take.  The number of children who were out of school in Haringey was very low and compared well with other authorities, with only 35 identified in the previous week.  This was not considered to be a significant number.

AGREED:

1.    That, in respect of factors found at the end of assessments, the Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Social Care be requested the provide the Panel with a gender breakdown of where these relate to alcohol misuse; and

2.    That the Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Social Care be requested to provide the Panel with statistics for the number of adoption breakdowns in Haringey.