Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Contact: Sheila Farnhill 

Items
No. Item

1.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(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)

Minutes:

No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

 

2.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(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)

 

Minutes:

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

 

NO ACTION

 

3.

APPOINTMENT OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS

The Panel will be asked to consider the appointment of Non-Voting Co-opted Members for the 2018/19 municipal year and to make a recommendation to the Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

 

Recommended –

 

That it be recommended to the Regulatory and Appeals Committee that the appointment of Non-Voting Co-opted Members to the Panel for the 2018/19 municipal year be confirmed as set out below:

 

·         Inspector Kevin Taylor – West Yorkshire Police

·         Yasmin Umarji – Education

·         Sue Thompson – Bradford District Clinical Commissioning Group

·         Chair of the Children in Care Council

 

                                                            (Sheila Farnhill – 01274 432268)

                                                           

 

Minutes:

The Panel was asked to consider the appointment of Non-Voting Co-opted Members for the 2018/19 municipal year and to make a recommendation to the Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

 

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 2018/19 municipal year be confirmed as set out below:

 

·         Inspector Kevin Taylor – West Yorkshire Police

·         Yasmin Umarji – Education

·         Sue Thompson – Bradford District Clinical Commissioning Group

·         Chair of the Children in Care Council

 

ACTION:       City Solicitor

 

4.

REGIONAL ADOPTION AGENCY - PROGRESS REPORT pdf icon PDF 147 KB

Previous reference:  Minute 19 (2017/18)

 

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) will submit a report    (Document “A”) which updates the Panel in respect of the work of the Regional Adoption Agency; One Adoption West Yorkshire and includes the Agency’s Annual Report for the period April 2017 to March 2018 (Appendix 1).

 

The report specifically address the issues of IT provision and office accommodation for staff, as requested by Members in November 2017.

 

Members are asked to review the Annual Report of One Adoption West Yorkshire and for their continued support for the work of the Agency to ensure that children receive the best possible support.

 

                                                (Mary Brudenell – 01274 07712 217288)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Previous reference:  Minute 19 (2017/18)

 

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) submitted a report (Document “A”) which updated the Panel in respect of the work of the Regional Adoption Agency ‘One Adoption West Yorkshire’ (OAWY). It included the Agency’s Annual Report for the period April 2017 to March 2018 (Appendix 1).

 

The OAWY Service Delivery Manager went through the report which specifically addressed the issues of IT provision and office accommodation for staff, as requested by Members in November 2017. She explained that:

 

·         The agency had now been operational for 15 months. This had been a time of great challenge; there had been initial issues with regard to office accommodation and IT connectivity but great progress had now been made in respect of both these issues.

·         The Agency operated across three distinct business areas: Family Finding, Recruitment and Assessment, and Adoption Support.

·         Nationally there were more children than adopters so ways to engage potential adopters and to facilitate early links with children were being explored. There had been an increase in the numbers attending the recruitment/information sessions and the frequency of these events had gone from quarterly to bi-monthly to accommodate demand.

·         The agency was looking at the development of a more bespoke family finding model and exploring the use of the media and social media to identify families, particularly for those children who waited longer due to the complexity of their circumstances.

·         Early permanence for babies was also being pursued.

·         The current target for recruitment was 120 adoptive households across West Yorkshire in the current year.  There were currently 87 in assessment.

·         A pilot peer mentoring support scheme had been established and officers were very optimistic that this would prove to be a valuable resource.

·         33 recruitment/information events had been held, a large number of which had taken place at locations within Bradford.

·         An Adoption Support Care Offer was under development.

·         The Agency made good use of the Adoption Support Fund with the aim being to provide support at the earliest possible point.

·         Group work and support was an area that was being expanded.

·         The Adoption Panel met 7 times a month; delays had been reduced and choice increased.

·         Two thirds of children placed within the last year had been through OAWY. Inter-agency fees had increased significantly from 1 June and the agency was looking at creative ways to manage this.

·         The agency’s management/accountability processes were considered to be robust.

·         To ensure that children had a strong voice there was an Adopted Teenagers Identity group (ADIT) and an Adopter Voice group.

·         The agency was keen to look at best practice and to drive this forward in the future.

In response to Members questions it was explained:

 

·         It was believed that the regional agency was proving to be better for the district. There had been a significant increase in the range of placement choice; fewer children from Bradford were being place outside the area and there was much more support available for people to access.  A Centre for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

IMPROVING SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN CARE/CARE LEAVERS - PROGRESS REPORT pdf icon PDF 446 KB

Previous reference:  Minute 11 (2017/18)

 

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) will present a report   (Document “B”) which sets out the progress made in respect of the implementation of the recommendations arising from a review of the support for young people in care/care leavers, undertaken by members of Bradford Council’s Future Leaders Programme 2016, as requested by the Panel at it’s meeting held on 13 September 2017.

 

The views of the Corporate Parenting Panel are requested in respect of the support in place for Care Leavers and the Bradford Care Leavers Local Offer.

 

(Emma Collingwood – 01274 437123)

Minutes:

Previous reference:  Minute 11 (2017/18)

 

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) presented a report (Document “B”) which set out the progress made in respect of the implementation of the recommendations arising from a review of the support for young people in care/care leavers, undertaken by members of Bradford Council’s Future Leaders Programme 2016, as requested by the Panel at it’s meeting held on 13 September 2017.

 

It was explained that the recommendations had now been brought into the Through Care Service and a number of good outcomes had been achieved. The following initiatives were highlighted:

 

·         A Local Offer website was being created to bring all the relevant information together. There was also access to Facebook and Twitter forums.

·         The pilot scheme to give young people in care free gym membership had now been rolled out to all and extended to carers where appropriate.

·         A lot of work had been undertaken on engagement. Examples of this included: the provision of free tickets for the Bradford Literature Festival; the entry of a team into the 2017 Dragon Boat Festival (who had won both their races; and free pantomime tickets. Future events were being considered such as a picnic and rounders session at the park.

·         Significant progress had been made in respect of apprenticeships; work had been undertaken alongside the Equalities Group and Human Resources (HR) to ensure that all the young people who met the necessary criteria were invited for interview and that they were provided with assistance/support for the interview process. Difficulties had arisen, in relation to necessary HR requirements, relative to a suggestion apprenticeships should be granted automatically to looked after young people but it was possible to ensure that young people managed to gain work experience.

·         Preparations were being made for three specific apprenticeships for a Community Residential Worker, a Social Media/Public Relations post and a post to support Quality Assured accommodation for the over 16s (which was to be funded on a regional basis).

 

The presentation also included information in respect of:

 

·         The numbers of care leavers currently, including those accessing the 21 to 25 service.

·         Positive outcomes achieved in respect of access to education.

·         The management of homeless young people.

·         87% of care leavers were still in touch with the Service on their 19th birthdays which was considered to be very positive.

·         The percentage of young people in suitable accommodation was not as high as the Service would like but the Authority had good contracts in place and strong working relationships with partner agencies such as Centrepoint and Horton Housing and gained added value from these agencies.

·         The Therapeutic Social Work Team was now operating. This service had previously been accessed through CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service). There were now 5 highly qualified workers within the service to care for the young people and they would work with individuals up to the age of 21.

·         This work included assisting foster carers in dealing with any issues. The wish was for all children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

WORK PLAN 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 200 KB

The Panel’s initial Work Plan for 2018/19 is submitted for Member’s consideration (Document “C”).

 

                                                            (Jim Hopkinson – 01274 432904)

 

                                                                       

Minutes:

No resolution was passed on this item.