Agenda item

7.1

The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Families, submitted the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Annual Report, which contained details on the progress of the Council’s Looked After Children and Care Leavers, the progress of the Looked After Adopted Children and Care Leaver Strategy 2014 and made reference to a revised and updated Looked After Adopted Children and Care Leaver Strategy in 2015.

7.2

The report set out information on the key objectives and actions in the Looked After, Adopted Children and Care Leaver Strategy 2014, together with proposed actions in 2015, in respect of the seven key priorities – Engagement and Influence of Looked After Children and Young People, Educational Achievement and Attainment, Health and Wellbeing, Permanence, Integrated Placement Strategy, Safeguarding and Vulnerability and Care Leavers.  The report was supported by presentations on each of the seven strategic priorities, from Jon Banwell (Priorities 1, 2, 3 and 5), Suzanne Whiteley (Priority 4), Joel Hannah (Priority 6) and Becky Towle (Priority 7).

7.3

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                     It was accepted that the Council was not meeting the target in terms of percentage of children in care with up to date health assessments, although the trend was improving.  There has been a considerable level of communication with, and training for, social workers on this issue, which had resulted in the improving trend.  A new post of Designated Nurse had been recruited to in the Clinical Commissioning Group. The percentage of children in care with up to date dental assessments was also  below the national target, but was also showing an improving trend.  Arrangements were now being made for dentists to visit children’s homes, as opposed to relying on children visiting surgeries, and this had helped in terms of the improving trend.

·                     The issue of the accommodation for care leavers was very high on the Service’s agenda, and regular meetings were being held with colleagues in the Housing Service to discuss this issue.  Where possible, every effort was made to encourage older children to remain with their foster carers, under the Staying Put policy.  Also, the Service was looking at benchmarking and accommodation provided, as well as reviewing the personal circumstances of each care leaver, in detail, to gain a better understanding of their needs.

·                     The biggest priorities in terms of the Children and Families Service were safeguarding, early years and emotional health and wellbeing.  In terms of emotional health and wellbeing, there was a need for the Service to look at its processes with regard to looked after children on the basis that they generally had the most needs.  The Director, Children and Families, had arranged to meet with commissioning leads within the Clinical Commissioning Group and Public Health to look at how the Service’s resources could be prioritised in respect of this area of work.  It was accepted that the 0-25 year old agenda was a major area of work for the Council, and the Committee was assured that there would be major improvements in this area of work in the forthcoming years.

·                     It was important that, in terms of the educational achievement of looked after children, there was the aspiration that all such children would attend a “good” school (as categorised by Ofsted) and achieve to the best of their ability.  It was also important to ensure that the school they attended, and their education package as a whole, was suited to their individual needs.

·                     The Scrutiny Committee could impact on the lives of looked after children by maintaining the high profile of such children, and by Members, as Elected Champions,  maintaining their links with the children’s homes.  Jon Banwell would circulate information to Members, containing information on how they could be involved in some specific work taking place around care leavers, and any comments from Members on the new Looked After Children and Care Leavers Strategy would be welcomed.  It would also be appreciated if Members could support looked after children in terms of their education, specifically, and where possible, ensuring that no such children were excluded from schools.

7.4

RESOLVED: That the Committee notes contents of the report now submitted, the information reported as part of the presentations now made and the responses to the questions raised.