(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

Notes:

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

                                                                        (Sheila Farnhill – 01274 432268)

No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meetings held on 13 January and 27 April 2016be signed as a correct record.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Sheila Farnhill - 01274 432268)

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

Those present expressed their thanks to previous Co-opted Members; Jonathan Pickles, Nancy O’Neill and Lynn Donohue, for their valued contribution to the work of the Panel.

Resolved –

That it be recommended to the Regulatory and Appeals Committee that the appointment of non-voting co-opted members to the Panel, for the remainder of the 2016/2017 municipal year, be confirmed as set out below:-

·        Inspector Kevin Taylor - West Yorkshire Police

·        Ali Jan Haider – Bradford District Clinical Commissioning Group

·        YasminUmarji - Bradford Education

·        The Chair of the Children in Care Council

ACTION:       City Solicitor

The Chair introduced the new Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) who had recently joined the Authority and welcomed him to the Panel.

He responded stating that in the short time he had been with the Authority he had become aware of some fantastic and innovative practice taking place. He also informed Members of two current bids to the Department for Education’s Innovation Fund in relation to the provision of therapeutic support within residential care to facilitate the retention of those looked after children with more complex needs within the district and the strengthening of fostering arrangements to increase the ability to deal with more complex cases.

The Deputy Director submitted a report (Document “A”) which provided Members with information on the performance of the Adoption Service during the year 2015/16 and also informed them of proposals for adoption reform, as contained within the Education and Adoption Act 2016; specifically the intention to form a new Regional Adoption Agency based on West Yorkshire within a Yorkshire and Humber Hub. The planned implementation date for which was 1 April 2017.

He presented the report in two parts; in the first instance an update on the work of the service over the preceding year and secondly the proposals for the introduction of a Regional Adoption Agency.  The following issues were highlighted:

Update on the work of the Adoption Service during 2015/16

·        The landscape of adoption had changed significantly within the last two or three years with a reduction in the numbers of children coming forward for adoption both nationally and locally.

·        The Adoption Reform Grant had helped to improve performance significantly but had now come to an end.

·        At this point in time 15 families were undergoing the assessment process and between 25 and 30 children awaiting adoption.

·        There had been a decrease nationally in the number of people putting themselves forward as potential adopters. Specific work had been undertaken to generate interest and this had been effective in increasing the number of enquiries.

·        It was considered that the figures for two of the Performance Indicators on the Government’s ‘Adoption Scorecard’ (A1 and A2) had been skewed by a number of children with complicated circumstances.

·        There had been some improvement in the length of time between a child becoming looked after to being placed with an adoptive family.

·        Positive work had been undertaken with Early Permanence Placements during the year.

·        There had been no pre-order disruptions and three post-order disruptions.  These had involved children in the 13 to 17 age range which did pose particular challenges.  Adoption support was being targeted towards this group and there was also a support group for adopted teenagers.

·        The Special Guardianship Order (SGO) Support Team had been very busy with 155 families receiving a support service and over 1000 active ‘letterbox exchanges’; which was a service which enabled adopted children to retain contact with their birth families.  They also dealt with applications to the Adoption Support Fund for therapeutic support for families.

·        A Birth Parent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Panel’s work plan for the forthcoming municipal year was submitted for Member’s consideration(Document “B”).

Resolved –

That the Panel’s Work Plan for 2016/17 (Document “B”) be approved, subject to the addition of the following item to the November meeting:

Progress report on the regionalisation of the Adoption Service; to include information in relation to resource allocation and the position in respect of Special Guardianship Orders.

ACTION:       Deputy Director – Children’s Social Care