Agenda and decisions

The Chair will welcome everyone to the meeting and announce any apologies received.

1.    The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies had been received from Ophelia Rix, Julie Bragg, Elaine McShane, Jo-Anne Sanders, Charlotte Jackson and Sara Miles.

2.    The Board noted that Tom Brailsford’s new job title was Service Director (Resources, Improvement and Partnerships) and that he would remain a member of the Board.

3.    The Board noted that the Head of Commissioning post was currently vacant, but that the new post-holder would be a Member of the Board.

4.    The Board noted that the Terms of Reference Membership would be updated accordingly.

The Board Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have disclosable pecuniary interests, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items, or any other interest.

No interests were declared.

Most debates take place in public. This only changes when there is a need to consider certain issues, for instance, commercially sensitive information or details concerning an individual. You will be told at this point whether there are any items on the Agenda which are to be discussed in private.

It was agreed that all agenda items would be held in public session.

The Board will receive any petitions and hear any deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also hand in a petition at the meeting but that petition should relate to something on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2), Members of the Public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation.  

No deputations or petitions.

The Board will hear any questions from the general public.

No questions from the public were received.

The Board will consider a verbal report from the Strategic Director (Corporate Strategy Commissioning and Public Health) on the role of the Corporate Parent.

10.05am

Contact:         Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Strategic Director (Corporate Strategy Commissioning and Public Health)

1.     The Board noted the verbal update on the role of the Corporate Parent and thanked Rachel Spencer-Henshall for her contributions.

2.    That the Board consider a future report on the ‘Saturday Job Scheme’ for looked after children.

3.    That the Oral Health Strategy Action Plan be considered by the Health and Wellbeing Board at a future meeting. 

4.    That the Board consider a report on the outcome of the pilot job scheme for care leavers.

5.    That the Head of Service for Assessment and Intervention make the link via the local community hubs with local business representatives who may be able to offer employment opportunities to young people in care and care leavers.

6.    That KAL send regular updates to the Kirklees Fostering Network outlining apprenticeship vacancies so that these could be shared with foster carers.

7.    That the Virtual School Head Teacher liaise with the Kirklees Fostering Network regarding max cards for foster carers and how these could be funded via the pupil premium. 

8.    That enquiries be undertaken to find out if council tax relief could be given to care leavers and that this should be in comparison with other Local Authorities.

9.    The Board agreed that further consideration should be given to providing KAL passes to foster carers as they had to take looked after children to leisure facilities but currently had to pay entry.  Rachel Spencer-Henshall and Steve Comb agreed to liaise with KAL on this matter.

The Board will consider a verbal update on key issues from Ofsted and the Improvement Board.

10.20 am

Contact:         Steve Comb, Head of Corporate Parenting

Julie Bragg, Head of Corporate Parenting

1.    The Board noted the update on Ofsted and Improvement Board and thanked Steve Comb for his contributions.

The Board will consider a report giving key highlights on Performance Monitoring data for the Children’s Service up to September 2019.                                                                    

10.30 am

Contact:         Steve Comb, Head of Corporate Parenting (Sufficiency)

Julie Bragg, Head of Corporate Parenting

Janet Tolley, Virtual School Head Teacher

1.    The Board noted the Children’s Performance Highlight Report (September 2019) and thanked Steve Comb, Janet Tolley and Gill Addy for their contributions.

2.    That the Board consider a report in February 2020 showing a breakdown of persistent absentees by foster carers, Connected and Kinship Carer placements.

3.    That the Service Manager for Fostering liaise with Children’s Social Care to ensure that records reported by foster carers on attendance at dental practices by looked after children was passed on to the Designated Nurse Team.

4.    The Board agreed that the use of acronyms in reports should be avoided if possible but if used should be consistent throughout. 

5.    That One Adoption provide figures on the number of children who remained adopted, including the numbers where the adoption had not been successful.

6.    That the Board consider a future update on how Kirklees compared both nationally and with statistical neighbours in terms of the number of children adopted.

The Board will consider an overview of the number of children in care which includes information relating to young people aged 16 plus placed in unregulated semi-independent accommodation in and outside of the District.

10.40 am

Contact:         Steve Comb, Head of Corporate Parenting (Sufficiency)

                        Julie Bragg, Head of Corporate Parenting (Children in Care and Care Leavers)

1.    The Board noted the report on Number and age of Children in Care and thanked Steve Comb for his contributions.

The Board will consider an Annual Report on the Review of the Foster Carer Handbook.

10.50 am

Contact:         Andy Quinlan, Service Manager (Fostering)

1.    The Board noted the Annual Report on the Review of the Foster Carer Handbook and thanked Andy Quinlan for his contributions.

2.    That the Board consider the web version of the Handbook before it went live on the Council’s website.

3.    That a foster carer allowance calculator be added to the website when the Handbook was live so that people could work out their own allowances for foster caring.

4.    That the Recruitment Training for foster carers included information relating to how to apply for housing benefit should foster carers decide to give up work to become a foster carer.

The Board will consider an annual report on the Children’s Rights and Independent Visitors Scheme (1st April 2018 to 31 March 2019) including a 6 monthly update (April 2019 to September 2019).

11.10 am

Contact:         Melanie Tiernan, Service Manager, Family Support and Child Protection

Anna Gledhill, Social Work Practice Lead

The Board noted the Annual Report on Children’s Rights and Independent Visitors Scheme (1^st April to 31 March 2019) and a 6 monthly update (April 2019 to Sept 2019) and thanked Melanie Tiernan and Anna Gledhill for their contributions.   

The Board will consider a report on complaints and compliments for children in care.

11.25 am

Contact:         Yasmin Mughal, Complaints and Represent Manager

The Board noted the Annual Report on Complaints and Compliments for Children in Care and thanked Yasmin Mughal for her contributions.

The Board will consider verbal updates from Board Members who will give an update on progress and key issues following interaction with Services and partners to challenge the role of the Corporate Parent.                                       

Contact:         Helen Kilroy, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer

The Board noted the updates from Board Members on interaction with services.  

The Panel will consider the agenda plan for 2019/20 municipal year.

Contact:         Helen Kilroy, Principal Governance & Democratic Engagement Officer

1.    That the 2019/20 Agenda Plan for the Corporate Parenting Board be noted and updated as agreed.

2.    That the Governance Officer be authorised to liaise with officers on agreed actions.

To note future meeting dates of the Board during the 2019/20 municipal year:

-       13th December 2019, 10am

-       10th February 2020, 10am

-       9th April 2020, 10am

1.    The Board noted the dates of the remaining meetings in the 2019/20 municipal year:-

-       13^th December 2019, 10 am

-       10^th February 2020, 10 am

-       9^th April 2020, 10 am

2.    The Board agreed to schedule an additional meeting in March 2020 to consider the high volume of agenda items.