Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3 - 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.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2017 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Sheila Farnhill – 01274 432268)

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2017 be signed as a correct record.

 

ACTION:       City Solicitor

3.

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.

 

4.

APPOINTMENT OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS

The Committee will be asked to consider the appointment of Non-Voting Co-opted Members for the 2017-18 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 remainder of the 2017/2018 municipal year, be confirmed as set out below:-

 

·        Inspector Kevin Taylor - West Yorkshire Police

·        Ali Jan Haider – Bradford District Clinical Commissioning Group

·        Yasmin Umarji - Bradford Education

·        The Chair of the Children in Care Council

 

                                                                        (Sheila Farnhill - 01274 432268)

 

Minutes:

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 2017/2018 municipal year, be confirmed as set out below:-

 

·        Inspector Kevin Taylor - West Yorkshire Police

·        Ali Jan Haider – Bradford District Clinical Commissioning Group

·        Yasmin Umarji - Bradford Education

·        The Chair of the Children in Care Council

 

ACTION:       City Solicitor

 

 

5.

B POSITIVE PATHWAYS (INNOVATION FUND) - PROGRESS REPORT pdf icon PDF 165 KB

The Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) will present a report   (Document “A”) which updates the Panel in respect of the programme resulting from the award of £3.2 million from the Department of Education Innovation Fund in January 2017 which, further to consultation with the Children in Care Council, has now been named ‘B Positive Pathways’.

 

The report explains that the programme has three aims:

 

(i)         To reduce the number of children in care through stronger edge of care work.

(ii)        To improve the Authority’s ability to provide high levels of care within its residential homes through embedding a therapeutic ‘PACE’ (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) approach.

(iii)       To set up two ‘Mockingbird’ hubs to improve support to foster carers working with children with more complex needs.

 

Recommended –

 

That Document “A” and the creation of the B Positive Pathways Programme be noted.

 

(Jim Hopkinson – 01274 432904)

Minutes:

The Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) presented a report (Document “A”) which updated the Panel in respect of the project resulting from the award of £3.2 million from the Department of Education Innovation Fund in January 2017.  Following consultation with the Children in Care Council the programme had been named ‘B Positive Pathways’.

 

The report explained that the programme had three aims:

 

(i)         To reduce the number of children in care through stronger edge of care provision.

(ii)        To improve the Authority’s ability to provide high levels of care within its residential homes through embedding a therapeutic ‘PACE’ (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) approach.

(iii)       To set up two ‘Mockingbird’ hubs to improve support to foster carers working with children with more complex needs.

 

In presenting the report the Deputy Director explained that:

 

·         The programme was being adapted from a successful initiative running in North Yorkshire (‘No Wrong Door’).  It would be fully funded for the first two years and savings were expected to show from Year 3.

·         The ‘Mockingbird’ model of care was based on a family model, with the local authority acting as the ‘grandparent’ figure surrounded by a constellation of foster carers, and aimed to deliver resilience in fostering placements. This approach had been used successfully by a number of other local authorities and officers had taken note of their experiences in developing the scheme for Bradford.

·         Two pilot projects had been undertaken and the aim was to launch the scheme fully towards the end of 2017.

·         PACE training had been taking place across the workforce with a number of staff having also been trained in DDP (Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy). The new approach was starting to have a positive impact.

·         There was a significant amount of interest from other authorities in the development of the programme within Bradford.

·         A key issue was the recruitment of the right people, both staff and foster carers and this task was in progress.

·         The aim was to act more innovatively particularly with the most challenging young people.

 

He responded to questions from Members:

 

·         Recruitment was underway; large numbers of staff would be changing their roles and this could be a lengthy process.

·         A Research Partner had been allocated.

·         Cost benefit analysis would be undertaken and the aspiration was that significant savings would be achieved.  If the initiative proved successful then funding would continue into Years 3 and 4.

·         The initiative in North Yorkshire had resulted in a reduction in the numbers of missing young people, an increase in school attendance and a reduction in incidents of self harm.

·         Points of entry for the Police and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) would be included within the hub.

·         The largest savings would be achieved by young people remaining with their families rather than coming into care and the placement of Bradford children within the district rather than outside.

·         The feedback from local authorities that had already implemented the ‘grandparent’ role was that it worked effectively; the feedback from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN AND OFFENDING pdf icon PDF 156 KB

A report will be submitted by the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) which summarises the activities undertaken, to date, in the current year to try to ensure that looked after young people are not unnecessarily criminalised whilst living in residential or foster care (Document “B”).

 

Recommended –

 

That Document “B” be noted.

 

(Charlie Jones – 01274 436063)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was submitted by the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) which summarised the activities undertaken, to date, in the current year to try to ensure that looked after young people were not unnecessarily criminalised whilst living in residential or foster care (Document “B”).

 

In presenting the report the following points were made:

 

·         Nationally, young people in care were over represented in the justice system although there had been a steady decline in the numbers entering the system formally over the last six years and also in the numbers in custody.

·         The protocol agreed between the local authority, the Police and the Youth Offending Team (YOT) was currently being reviewed to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) 10 point check list was followed. Staff needed to consider whether Police involvement was absolutely necessary; if the Police were called to attend then the inclination tended to be towards taking some action; they had a duty to record any crime

·         The aim was to ensure that young people in care were not being criminalised for something that they would not be in a domestic family setting.

·         Local magistrates were very sensitive to these issues and did provide challenge which had resulted in some cases being withdrawn from court

·         This approach complemented the on-going work in community residential homes; the YOT had adopted the ‘signs of safety’ model.

·         The majority of call-outs to residential children’s homes related to missing children.

·         Work was being undertaken with the homes to deal with more in-house rather than using the criminal justice system perhaps via restorative justice/discussion.  Reporting strategies were also being looked at to ensure that Police were not contacted too quickly.

 

He answered Member’s questions:

 

·         It was recognised that in a number of cases the young people were victims and/or survivors of offences themselves and this would have an impact upon their behaviour, the new model of care would look to address this.

·         The role of the Safer Homes Police Officer would be integral to the new approach; building trust and positive relationships with police officers and providing positive role models.

·         The reviewed protocol would need to be re-launched with all residential home staff.

·         It was believed that North Yorkshire’s ‘No Wrong Door’ initiative had halved the numbers of young people reported as missing.

·         The residential homes would be well resourced and would include access to a designated police officer.

·         It was appreciated that residential home staff worked in a high pressure environment and that there was a need for strong team working and robust policies and procedures. Internal sanctions would be available for staff to use within the homes.

·         The re-offending rate was in line with national trends. Once a young person had started exhibiting such behaviour this could be a challenging cycle for staff in the homes to break.  It was hoped that the new model of care would help achieve a reduction in the numbers. It should also be borne in mind that although re-offending figures had increased fewer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

WORK PLAN 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 246 KB

The Panel’s Work Plan for 2017/18 is submitted for Member’s consideration (Document “C”).

 

(Jim Hopkinson – 01274 432904)

 

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the Panel’s Work Plan for 2017/18, Document “C”, be approved subject to the following additions:

 

·         B Positive Pathways – Progress Report (September)

·         Through Care Strategy

·         Information on financial management skills to be included in the Leaving Care report scheduled for March 2018.

 

NO ACTION