Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Contact: Sheila Farnhill 

Items
No. Item

7.

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.

 

NO ACTION

8.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2018 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Sheila Farnhill – 01274 432268)

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2018 be signed as a correct record.

 

ACTION:       City Solicitor

 

 

9.

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

10.

INDEPENDENT REVIEWING OFFICERS' ANNUAL REPORT pdf icon PDF 174 KB

A report will be presented by the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) (Document “D”) in relation to the work of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) Service and its Annual Report, the production of which is a requirement of the IRO Regulations.

 

Recommended –

 

That the key priorities for the Independent Reviewing Officer Service, as set out in Section 12 of Appendix 1 to Document “D”, be endorsed.

 

                                                            (Imran Cheema – 01274 434530)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was presented by the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) (Document “D”) in relation to the work of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) Service and its Annual Report, the production of which was a requirement of the IRO Regulations.

 

The IRO Manager went through the comprehensive Annual Report in detail and responded to questions from Members as follows:

 

·         The ‘Viewpoint’ consultation system was still being used but was only one of the methods used to capture the voice of the child. Efforts were being made to re-energise this resource and to make it a more bespoke tool.

·         In terms of sharing good practice with education/schools colleagues, it was not considered that there would be a problem with schools accessing sufficiency reports and he would liaise with the Virtual School on this issue.

·         The 86.7% response from Looked After Children (LAC) in respect of whether they felt safe and happy where they lived did not correlate to the remaining 13.3% being unhappy. Similarly, in relation to the 60% of those aged 16+ who said that they knew who to contact if there was a problem with their accommodation, this did not mean that 40% did not know. A young person may have chosen not to answer those particular questions. The sufficiency report used the majority answer to highlight any potential issues.

·         If a young person raised an issue with their IRO about something that they were concerned or unhappy about this would be looked at and the IRO would ensure that there was a resolution to the issue. This had a very positive impact; an example was given of a case where the IRO had acted as advocate for a young person where they had not felt comfortable addressing the issue directly for themselves.

·         The volume of referrals had increased and this could be associated, in part, with the effects of welfare reform and stress on families.

·         In relation to the workloads of IROs (compared with the past) members of the team rated themselves as being happy in their work. The IRO Handbook suggested that case loads should be no more than 70. In some other authorities IROs also undertook other tasks but in Bradford they focused solely on the core responsibilities.

·         An IRO would speak to a young person before their review and if there was a problem this would be discussed at the review meeting.

·         Bradford had a history of developing good social workers. It was very important that these staff were retained, allowed to continue to develop and felt valued.

·         The key priorities were getting placements right and ensuring that Care Plans were robust and sharp and that there was no delay or drift in achieving goals.

 

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) said that:

 

·         Local authorities where Universal Credit had been introduced had experienced a rise in workloads. It was to be introduced in Bradford in June 2019 and the same pattern of increase was anticipated.

·         One of the reasons for the work being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

HEALTH AND DENTAL CHECKS FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN pdf icon PDF 360 KB

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) will submit a report    (Document “E”) updating Members in relation to outcomes in respect of the annual health check and dental check Key Performance Indicators for Looked after Children set by the Department of Education and detailing the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Health Offer in Bradford.

 

Members’ views are requested.

 

                                                            (Emma Collingwood - 01274 437123)

Minutes:

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) submitted a report (Document “E”) which updated Members in relation to outcomes in respect of the annual health check and dental check key performance indicators for Looked after Children (LAC) set by the Department of Education and detailing the Looked After Children and Care Leavers’ Health Offer in Bradford.

 

In presenting the report the following points were also highlighted:

 

·         Data was received on a monthly basis.

·         The Looked After Nursing Team had been set up 14 years ago and since that time the numbers had increased from approximately 600 to over 1000.

·         All LAC had a named nurse who worked closely with the Through Care Service (TCS).

·         An app was being developed in relation to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) which should allow a more robust picture to be achieved in relation to any individual’s wellbeing at any point in time.

·         The Therapeutic Social Care Team was a small team but its members were working hard to try and maximise its impact.

·         The two Care Leavers Nurses were creative in their engagement with young people, this included running various support groups on relevant issues.

·         There were challenges arising from the increase in numbers and the level of resources but a stronger partnership approach was being pursued.

 

The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) representative said that she considered that the key issues was that there was an exceptional, dedicated team of nurses for looked after children. In many areas this work was undertaken by standard services whereas in Bradford there were specialists and the aim was for a young person to have one named nurse throughout their time in care.

 

In response to a question about dealing with the increase in numbers, she explained that a service review was being undertaken by the CCG (which was expected to be concluded by January 2019) and the team was also looking at creative ways of working to maximise the available resources and to avoid duplication across different services. The situation was complex due to the number of services involved.

 

The Deputy Director said that those young people who were waiting for their initial assessment were tracked on a weekly basis to ensure that if any problems did arise they could be prioritised. A smarter and faster service was now being provided.

 

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services said that it was recognised that there was massive demand in the system; the Council had a similar issue with social worker capacity, and work was being done to try and ensure smarter working. He undertook to speak to the Chief Officer for the CCGs, about resourcing, as a priority but stressed that there was no criticism of the CCG.

 

The Deputy Director said that the issue was already being discussed with the CCG. The key issue for the TCS was the completion of the initial assessment within the 28 day period in order to facilitate future planning.  The Director of Strategic Partnerships had agreed to look into this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

CITIZENSHIP AND ACCESS TO PASSPORTS FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN pdf icon PDF 114 KB

A report will be submitted by the Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) (Document “F”) which provides an overview of the work that is undertaken by Social Workers to ensure that the children in our care who are not UK citizens have the appropriate identity documentation to allow them to travel abroad on school trips and holidays, and the work undertaken to ensure that their immigration status is appropriately addressed.

 

Recommended –

 

That the contents of Document “F” be noted.

 

                                                                        (Rachel Curtis – 01274 435779)

Minutes:

A report was presented by the Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) (Document “F”) which provided an overview of the work that was undertaken by social workers to ensure that children in the Authority’s care who were not UK citizens had the appropriate identity documentation to allow them to travel abroad on school trips and holidays, and to ensure that their immigration status was appropriately addressed.

 

The Deputy Director explained that this was a very complex area which was a relatively new issue for social workers. Knowledge and skills were being established and it had been identified as a training need. Relevant training was to be provided by Migration Yorkshire in the near future.

 

Some young people were missing out on participation in school trips or holidays abroad with their carers due to these issues. This was a national issue and had been raised with the Home Office and Migration Yorkshire without any resolution.

 

The Chair said that she was personally aware of three children whom this affected. She had written to the Home Secretary about the issue but had not, to date, received a response.

 

A Member suggested that:

 

·         A child’s primary school may have a copy of their birth certificate, if parents were unwilling or unable to provide it, as they were often necessary to get a place at a school or nursery.

·         The Chief Executive had been asked by full Council to report to the Executive in respect of passports and documentation and it was considered that these issues should be included within that process.

 

In response to questions from Members it was stated that:

 

·         Brexit was a significant issue but, at this stage, it was not known what the impact would be; it was probable that the situation would be even more complex post Brexit.

·         Care leavers were provided with documentation to assist them in getting a job. Most young people had at least some paperwork.

·         The CICC was sending representatives to a national meeting which would have a focus on immigration and it was hoped that this may be the source of some useful information.

 

It was requested that further information in relation to the impact of Brexit be included in the next report.

 

Resolved –

 

(1)       That the Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) be requested to raise this issue with the Local Government Association.

 

(2)       That the Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) be asked to submit a further report to the Panel in 12 months time and that this include information on the numbers/percentage of Looked After Children affected by these issues.

 

ACTION:       Deputy Director (Children's Social Care)

 

13.

WORK PLAN 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 202 KB

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

 

                                                            (Jim Hopkinson – 01274 432904)

 

Minutes:

The Panel’s Work Plan for 2018/19 was submitted for Member’s consideration (Document “G”).

 

Resolved –

 

That the following items be added to the Work Plan:

 

(i)         Report in respect of young people’s knowledge of the content of their Care Plan.

(ii)        Report on Differential Allowances

(iii)       Report on recommendations arising from the on-going Ofsted Inspection.

 

ACTION:       Deputy Director (Children's Social Care)