Agenda item

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

Contacts:

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

Janet Tolley, Virtual School Headteacher

The Board considered the Children’s Performance Highlights Report presented by Elaine McShane, Service Director for Family Support and Child Protection, Janet Tolley, Virtual School Head Teacher and Stewart Horn, Head of Joint Commissioning, Children and Families.

Elaine McShane presented the performance data relating to children entering care, children in care and placement stability, looked after children (LAC) reviews, visiting, and missing.

The Board were advised that:

-       There had been an increasing trend in the number and rate of children in care from 65.8 (659 children) in December 2019 to 68.7 (688 children) in November 2020.

-       The increase had now stabilised and the number and rate of children in care had not increased to the figure projected.

-       This was partly attributed to the work of the Community Plus Service, Third Sector groups and their role in supporting families.

-       Of the 80 children placed outside of Kirklees, or more than 20 miles from their home address, the large majority were placed in a fostering placement and some of these placements now had a permanency decision.

-       15 requests for Initial Review forms were received by the Child Protection and Review unit in November 2020 relating to 23 children in total.

-       For all referrals received in November all children and young people were allocated an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) within 24 hours and Initial Child Looked After Reviews were arranged for all but 1 child within 4 weeks of them becoming Looked After.

-       In November 2020, the Child Protection and Review Unit held 177 Looked After Review Meetings, with 98.2 % of these were held within timescales.

-       A virtual approach to reviews had been taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but it had been taken into account that some children preferred face to face reviews.

-       Independent Reviewing Officers were closely monitoring Child Looked After Review timescales to ensure that this high percentage was maintained and improved upon.

-       Where there were circumstances where a child’s review meeting was not held within the statutory timescales a clear rational was recorded on the child’s record.

-       Mid-way reviews were embedded into practice and continued to demonstrate evidence of improved oversight of children’s files and planning for children by Independent Reviewing Officers.

The Board were informed that key areas to improve were placement stability, allocated social worker stability and reducing the number of children placed more than 20 miles outside of their home address.

It was also noted that the reporting strategies for when LAC go missing were also being reviewed and a priority was to use return interviews to identify why (Looked After Children) LAC choose to go missing.

Janet Tolley presented the update on Looked After Children Education Outcomes and highlighted that:

•       The initial focus was the transition back into education school closures with a continued focus on supporting young people who were learning from home.

•       100% of Personal Education Plans (PEPs)  were completed within the Summer Term which were all being held virtually.

•       87% of initial PEPs had been completed within 10 school days of a child coming into care since September 2020.

•       Work was ongoing with social work teams to improve both PEP and initial PEP completion and the quality assurance of PEPs.

•       85% of school moves were planned across the service to ensure a smooth transition with no break in provision.

•       92.5% of moved took place within the statutory timescale of 20 working days;

•       It was a priority to reduce the number of school moves and any breaks in education where possible.

•       Attendance and Persistent Absence (PA) remained a high priority.

•       The Covid -19 pandemic made it difficult to compare absence data  with the data from the previous year due to illness school bubble closures.

•       It was important to consider the emotional impact the pandemic was having on children when addressing attendance.

The Board was concerned that Foster Carers would be unable to grant permission for LAC to receive Covid-19 testing in Schools.  In response Elaine McShane agreed that it was important to make sure provision and guidance was in place before lateral testing was implemented in schools.

Stewart Horn, representing Gill Addy, presented the Looked after Health update and it was noted that: 

-       Kirklees Local Authority’s 12-month data showed that that 93.8% and 90.5% of the ‘Developmental’ assessments (for under 5-year olds) and ‘Annual’ assessments (for over 5-year olds) were completed within statutory timescales;

-       Monthly Locala data for November showed that 100% of the ‘Initial Health Assessments’ were carried out within the correct timescales;

-       Staff who had been redeployed were back in post and current guidance stipulated that all health staff working with Children and Young People should remain within their usual job roles;

-       Dentists were only preforming emergency procedures which prevented LAC  from accessing routine dental checks;

-       The request to the Kirklees Dental Commissioner and NHS England for vulnerable children to receive dental checks was declined.

-       This had been raised as a national issue which the Local authority was also to continue to address locally;  

-       There was a downward trend in under 5’s registrations at Dental surgeries;

-       0.42% of looked after young people were identified at their last review health assessment as having a dependant problem with substances;

In response to a question from the Board regarding how many children had received an assessment, Stewart Horn clarified that 100% of children had an assessment but the percentage was lower as the data took into account where there was a small breach in timescale.

Elaine McShane presented the report in relation to Looked after Children Convictions and explained that it was a key objective to examine in more detail the nature of any convictions on a broader scale.

The Board discussed the Council’s role, as a Corporate Parent, in supporting LAC involved in minor offences to avoid excess criminalisation and questioned who was responsible for cases involving LAC to be brought before a Court. In response, Elaine McShane confirmed that though children’s homes may notify the Police of offenses involving LAC, that the decision to prosecute was taken by the Police. It was further explained that there were ongoing discussions with the Police and children’s homes to avoid prosecution where possible.

Elaine McShane presented the update on Care Leavers in the report, and explained that:

·       There had been an increase in the percentage of Care Leavers the Council were in contact with throughout June and July 2020 due the isolating nature of Covid-19 Restrictions;

·       The Community Plus service helped to make sure that Care Leavers had the same access to community support as any other individual;

·       The pandemic had a significant impact on the increasing demands for tenancies and there were still a number of young people awaiting allocation of a tenancy; 

·       Strong links with Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH) and the Housing Panel had been maintained to ensure that suitable accommodation is available;

·       The Number 11 and 12 drop-in centres were closed due to the pandemic;

·       Work was ongoing with Assets Management to be in a position to open the drop-in centres to provide a safe space for young people;

·       There had been a recent review on the financial and practical offer to Care Leavers which was to be implemented following its approval.

The Board requested data showing the number of Care Leavers in education or employment after the age of 18 and a broader compassion of the numbers of Care Leavers in employment/education with peers of the same age to identify any potential inequalities gaps.

Further positive pieces of work were highlighted by the Board including the Kirklees Active Leisure placement offer to Care Leavers and the Huddersfield Town Foundation employability project.

          RESOLVED – 

1.             That the Board noted the Children’s Performance Highlight Report and thanked Elaine McShane, Stewart Horn and Janet Tolley for their contributions.

2.             That a report showing the details of fostering placements outside of Kirklees, or those placements that were more than 20 miles from the child’s home address, be presented at a future meeting of the Board.

3.             That granting permission for LAC to receive lateral Covid-19 tests in schools should be discussed with the relevant teams and at a future meeting of the Fostering Network.

4.             That a report detailing the nature of convictions using a broader scope be considered at a future meeting of the Board.

5.             That the report on the review of the financial and practical offer to Care Leavers would be considered at a meeting following its approval.

6.             A report showing the number of LAC who were in post-18 education or employment, with a comparator to children who were not looked after, be provided to a future meeting of the Board.