Previous reference:  Minute 5 (2016/17)

A report will be submitted by the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) in respect of the progress made in respect of the establishment of a Regional Adoption Agency (Document “F”).

Members will recall that this issue was discussed at the meeting of the Panel held on 13 July 2016.

Recommended –

That the arrangements for the new Regional Adoption Agency be endorsed and that the following recommendations to the Executive be supported:

(1)       That the Joint Committee be formally appointed with effect from 10 January 2017, contingent upon all other authorities also agreeing to appoint to the Joint Committee.

That the Constitution, Terms of Reference and Procedure Rules of the Joint Committee be approved.

That it be noted that the Leader will appoint a Principal Member and two substitutes.

That the principles of the Partnership Agreement, as set out in the report, be noted and that the Strategic Director, Children’s Services be authorised to approve the terms and signature of the Partnership Agreement through his existing delegated powers.

That it be noted that the Joint Committee will delegate responsibility to the lead officer within the West Yorkshire Adoption Agency for the recruitment and assessment of adopters, adoption panels, family finding and adoption support.

That the transfer of staff via the TUPE regulations from Bradford into the employment of Leeds City Council to work within the Regional Adoption Agency be noted.

That it be formally agreed that Leeds host the West Yorkshire Adoption Agency, which is a shared service.

That the further work required regarding non-agency adoption and support for Special Guardians, as detailed in the report, be noted and that the Strategic Director Children’s Services be authorised to make further arrangements for extending the breadth of the delegation to this aspect of the function following agreement by the Management Board and Joint Committee as the project develops.

(Mary Brudenell – 01274 434439)

Previous reference: Minute 5 (2016/17)

A report was submitted by the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care) in respect of the progress made in respect of the establishment of a Regional Adoption Agency (Document “F”).

Members were reminded that this issue had been discussed at the meeting of the Panel held on 13 July 2016.

The Deputy Director explained that:

·         The proposal would be submitted to the Executive in early December for ratification.

·         A great deal of work had been undertaken since the report in July.

·         There was now a draft Partnership Agreement which included details in respect of budget and funding formulae and governance arrangements.  Bradford Council had contributed to the development of this documentation.

·         The Joint Committee was due to commence working in April 2017 and a Lead Member would need to be appointed by Bradford.

·         The first Shadow Management Board meeting was due to take place the following week and he would be involved in this body.

·         28 staff would be transferred to Leeds City Council (as the lead authority) via the TUPE regulations and negotiations were ongoing with the Trades Unions.

·         The staff with responsibility for family finding would still be based locally and office space in Bradford was being sought.

·         A budget for the first year and Bradford’s contribution of just under £1.3 million had been established; this would cover everything except Adoption Allowances.  A new scheme would be introduced for recipients from 1 April 2017 but existing agreed allowances would continue to be paid by Bradford.

·         The Partnership Agreement covered a term of 10 years (with a review at 5 years) and had the potential to continue after that time. There was a facility to withdraw with a notice period of 18 months.

·         There was great co-operation between the partner agencies and all the individual elements of the work the service undertook were being examined in an effort to establish best practice standards and to ensure the effective measurement of outcomes.

·         The Head of Service post had been advertised and it was hoped that someone would be in post from January 2017.

He replied to questions as follows:

·         Approval from the final partner agency would be sought on 21 December 2016.

·         In terms of the role of the NHS; as the young people would remain the responsibility of this Authority the arrangements in respect of medical assessments would remain very much the same. There was a strong wish to develop the links with the NHS and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service).

·         It was considered that the new arrangements meant that there would be much greater potential for young people to be placed within West Yorkshire rather than further afield. This would lead to a cost saving as inter-agency fees would no longer be payable to partner agencies.

·         It was believed that the economies of scale that would be gained by the regional organisation of the service would lead to more effective recruitment and training and would bring forward matches that were more local to the child concerned and in a more timely way. It should also facilitate the delivery of a better level of support to the children as they would be less likely to be placed at a distance.

·         The decision to place a young person for adoption and the final decision about the match of a young person with a family would remain the decision of Bradford Council.

·         Recruitment by the constituent agencies for potential adopters was still ongoing but any adopters recruited at this point would become part of the pool to be used by the Regional Agency.

·         The Adopted Children’s Group, and the Adopter’s Voice Forum had been involved in the process of the development of the Regional Agency and the Forum would feed into the Management Board.

·         If a young person was placed outside the region as long as they remained a looked after child negotiation would be undertaken with the Virtual School in terms of input to their education. Once adopted a young person was treated the same as every other child apart from the payment of Pupil Premium.  This was an issue that was being looked at for the future.  (The Virtual School Head said that this had been discussed at regional level and all Virtual School Heads were aware of this issue. The statistics indicated that adopted children struggled more in settling into education however, currently, they did not receive the same level of support as looked after children).

The Co-opted Member representing the NHS said that there would be no saving to the NHS from fewer young people being placed outside the district as there was an agreement that cross-charging did not take place for medical assessments. However the Commissioning Group would have to monitor whether it became a net importer or exporter of this service.  She noted that if the new arrangements led to a faster process in terms of adoption this could raise issues with capacity to meet demand in terms of undertaking medical assessments. The organisation would do its best to work together with the new Regional Agency.

The Portfolio Holder noted that the issue of the governance arrangements may need to be considered by the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee.

Members commented that the suggestion of a minimum of one meeting of the Joint Committee per annum did not give the right message in terms of responsibility.

Resolved –

(1)       That the arrangements for the new Regional Adoption Agency be endorsed and that the submission of the recommendations set out in Document “F” to the Executive be supported.

(2)       That the Panel considers that one meeting per annum of the Joint Committee is not sufficient and asks the Executive to give consideration to this issue.

ACTION:       Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care)

                        City Solicitor