Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies had been received from Councillor Viv Kendrick, Chair of the Board. The Board were invited to nominate a Chair to preside over the meeting. Councillor Carole Pattison was nominated by Councillor Karen Allison, seconded by Councillor Elizabeth Reynolds.

Apologies had also been received from Christine Carmichael, Kirklees Fostering Network, Keith Fielding, Kirklees Fostering Network, Stewart Horn, Head of Joint Commissioning – Children and Families, Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director – Learning and Early Support, Gill Addy, Designated Nurse for Looked After Children, Sara Miles, Head of Service – Resources, Improvement and Partnerships and Keely Lucas- Care Leaver Representative.

The Board were advised that Farrah Munir was to join the Boards Membership as a Care Leaver Representative.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 23^rd November 2021.

The Board considered the Minutes of the last meeting held on the 23^rd November 2021.

RESOLVED- That the Minutes of the previous meeting be approved as a correct record.

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 by emailing executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk.

No deputations or petitions were received.

The Board will hear any questions from the general public. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, questions should be emailed to executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk  no later than 10am on Monday the 10^th January 2022.

No questions from the public were received.

The Board will receive a verbal update on the work of the Samantha Sykes Foundation Trust.

Contact:

Julie Warren-Sykes, Chairperson and Media Contact

Item cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

The Board will consider a report giving key highlights from the latest Performance Monitoring Data for Children’s Services.

Contacts:

Ophelia Rix, Head of Service for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Looked After Children

Janet Tolley, Virtual School Headteacher
Gill Addy, Designated Nurse for Looked After Children

Ian Mottershaw, Head of Service –Contextual Safeguarding and Y.E.S, Family Support and Child Protection

The Board considered the latest reports giving key highlights on Performance Monitoring data for Children’s Services up to the end of November 2021. 

Ophelia Rix, Head of Service for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Looked After Children presented the key highlights arising from the data relating to ‘children entering care, children in care and placement stability’. Itwas noted that:

·       As of November 2021, there was 119 children looked after (CLA), within this cohort, there were 149 males and 116 females and the highest ethnic group White British at 71.9% .

·       As part of scrutiny and oversight, weekly Permanence Panel planning meetings took place to identify where children could remain with connected families and communities where it was safe to do so. 

·       There had been a positive increase in placement with parents, achieved through supporting families within communities and engaging with the family group conferencing service.

·       The data showed that children were been seen in a timely manner and work was ongoing to ensure the timely recording and presentation of data.

·       Ophelia Rix regularly interrogated the data and was assured that all young people had been seen by their social worker or supervisor.

·       There had been an increase each year in the number of Special Guardianship Orders (SGO’s), and recent analysis of the data identified that Kirklees Council had the highest number of SGO’s regionally.

·       Work was ongoing to continue to support and promote applications for Special Guardianship’s.

·       The next update to the Corporate Parenting Board would include a focus on work undertaken in relation to care experienced young people.

The Board asked a question in related to the number of children (75) placed outside 20 miles of Kirklees. In response Ophelia Rix advised this was a result of the availability of Foster Placements.

The Board requested a breakdown of stability data to identify, for example, where children had moved back home. A further question was also asked in relation to the reasons for the increase in changes in social workers (i.e.- sickness, placement break down, children with additional needs).

In response, Ophelia Rix advised that there was a natural change in social worker within the process as a child moved from the Assessment and Intervention Team. To manage this transition, joint visits were made prior to the change to build the relationship between the young person and the new social worker and minimise any disruption.  There had also been some staff sickness and resignations that had resulted in some increase in the number of changes of social workers. Ophelia Rix reassured the Board that as Head of Service she maintained oversight in relation to changes to ensure that any disruption was minimised.

Elaine McShane, Service Director - Family Support and Child Protection
added that the increase was closely related to the challenging circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also important to note that in some circumstances social workers were dually allocated to help minimise disruption.

Janet Tolley, Virtual School Headteacher presented the data in relation to Children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Board will consider the Complaints and Compliments for Children in Care Annual Report.

Contact:

Sara Miles, Head of Service (Resources, Improvement and Partnership)

Anna Gledhill, Service Manager (Quality Assurance and Safeguarding)

The Board considered the Complaints and Compliments for Children in Care Annual Report presented by Tom Brailsford, Service Director (Resources, Improvement and Partnerships) who gave an overview of the report and highlighted that:

·       The report related to complaints and compliments made by Foster Carers, Children Looked After (CLA) and Care Leavers under the statutory complaints procedure within the Children Act 1989.

·       The statutory complaints procedure included three stages:

o   Stage One: Complaints should be responded to by the relevant responding manager within 10 working days (automatic extension of a further 10 working days where necessary.

o   Stage Two: Implemented when a compliant was dissatisfied with findings at stage 1 and involved an independent investigation usually conducted by an independent person appointed to the investigation.

o   Stage Three: At this stage the Local Authority was required to establish a Complaints Review Panel (made up of 3 independent panel members) to make recommendations to the Service Director who would decide on the complaint and any action to be taken.

·       Most complaints were resolved either at stage 1 which showed the effectiveness of the restorative approach.

·       It was important to make sure that key learning points arising from complaints were reported back to the Quality Assurance Panel and analysed.

·       Key objectives were to ensure responses to complaints were made in a timely manner using clear and understandable language; to ensure that positive feedback was collated and shared to enable learning from best practices; and to improve the feedback loop from complaints to facilitate learning from children and families’ experiences of services. 

The Board highlighted that the compliments showed that the approaches taken to service delivery were effective in many ways. The Board also noted the importance of understanding and learning from positive feedback to share best practices and learning from any complaints was equally as important.

The Board were pleased to note that most complaints were dealt with within the statutory timescales but asked about the process for where there was a delayed response and if there was an independent review undertaken.

Tom Brailsford advised that where a response to a complaint was delayed that it was sent to a Head of Service/Strategic Director for analysis which ensured a level of independence. Further to this, in progressing through the stages of the statutory procedure a complaint would be reviewed by different Managers maintaining independence.  In response, the Board were satisfied that the approach used the correct balance of internal oversite and independent review. 

The Board noted that reducing the delay in implementing the policies was essential to reducing foster carers concerns around finances.

In response to a question from the Board about the timeliness of implementing staying put arrangements for Foster Carers, Ophelia Rix agreed that it was important to make sure that early conversations about staying put arrangements took place and advised that there were plans to address the challenges in implementing the policy such as maintaining communication with staff through regular briefing sessions and setting clear expectations of timescales. It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Board will receive a verbal update from the Chair of the Virtual School Governing Body.

Contacts:

Councillor Carole Pattison
Janet Tolley, Virtual School Head Teacher

The Board considered a verbal update on the work of the Virtual School Governing Body presented by Councillor Carole Pattison and Janet Tolley, Virtual School Headteacher who explained that:

·       The Virtual School Governing Body met regularly with a cross section of representation that holds the Virtual School to account through supportive and challenging meetings.

·       The Virtual School Governing Body had met on the 15^th December 2021 to discuss the Annual Virtual Headteachers Report.

·       Key areas of focus arising for the Virtual School included Key Stage 2 Outcomes, lowering the age range of Children accommodated for to ensure access to appropriate nursery provision and increasing involvement supporting young people with further education post 18. 

·       There was a new statutory duty and responsibility for advice and information for any young person previously looked after.

·       Additional capacity had been created by appointing team managers on an honorarium basis to work strategically across services to focus on the new duty whilst maintaining support to the children currently within the Virtual School.

The Board commented that the new duty was a positive way forward and looked forward to further updates.

RESOLVED – The Board noted the Virtual School Governing Body Update.

The Board will receive a verbal update in relation to the Children’s Ambition Board.

Contacts:

Elaine McShane, Service Director (Family Support and Child Protection)
Tom Brailsford, Service Director ( Resources, Improvement and Partnerships)

The Board considered a verbal update on the work of the Children’s Ambition Board presented by Elaine McShane, Service Director - Family Support and Child Protection who advised that the Ambition Board now included a wide range of services within its remit and proposed that a thematic approach was taken to future updates to the Corporate Parenting Board.

The Board noted that last meeting of the Children’s Ambition Board had been cancelled and the next update would be given at the next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Board to be held on the 15^th February 2022.

RESOLVED – The Board noted the Children’s Ambition Board Update, and it was agreed that a thematic approach be taken to future updates to the Board.

The Board will consider verbal updates from Members in relation to progress and key issues following interactions with Services and partners to challenge the role of the Corporate Parent.

Contact:

Jodie Harris, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer

Board members shared updates following key interactions with services.

The Board noted that Councillor Lawson had proposed during a meeting of the Council that young carers be considered as allies in Corporate Parenting. In response, Elaine McShane, Service Director - Family Support and Child Protection reassured the Board that young carers received full assessment to ensure their needs were met. It was also suggested that a piece of communications work be undertaken using different forums, such as GP surgeries, to raise the profile of work carried out in relation to young carers and private fostering.

RESOLVED – The Board noted the Update from Board Members on interaction with services and it was agreed that communications work be undertaken to raise the profile of work carried out in relation to young carers and private fostering.

The Board will consider its agenda plan for 2021/22.

Contact:

Jodie Harris, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer

The Board considered the Work Programme and Agenda Plan for 2020/21.

RESOLVED – 

1.    The Board noted the forward work programme for the 2021/22 municipal year.

2.    It was agreed that the Samantha Sykes Foundation Trust be invited to a meeting of the Board to provide an update on their work.

3.    That regular reports in respect of implementing the Staying Put Policy be added to the Boards work programme for 22/23.