Agenda and minutes

At the commencement of the meeting, the Committee held a minute’s silence in memory of Councillor O’Brien.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Fearn, Clive Mailing (Roman Catholic Church representative), Alex Tear (Church of England representative), Tina Lovey (Head Teacher representative) and Paddy Powell (Healthwatch Medway CIC representative).

To approve the record of the meeting held on 1 September 2016. 

The record of the last meeting of the committee held on 1 September 2016 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct, subject to Councillor Opara’s apologies being recorded.

There were none; however the Chairman took the opportunity to welcome Luke Morgan and Chichi Nwodoh, Medway Youth Parliament Chairman and Cabinet Member respectively, to their first meeting of the committee.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

The purpose of this report is to present the Medway Safeguarding Children Board (MSCB) Annual Report 2015-16 to the Committee. The MSCB Independent Chair publishes an annual report describing how agencies in Medway have worked together through the year and how effective the arrangements are in Medway to keep children and young people safe from harm, abuse or neglect.

The report summarises the progress that has been made in 2015-16 and the plans to develop this further in 2016-17.

Discussion:

The Chairman of the Medway Safeguarding Children Board (MSCB), John Drew C.B.E., presented the MSCB Annual Report 2015-16.  He drew the Committee’s attention to the reforms to the system for safeguarding children in England, as set out in the Children and Social Work Bill which was currently under consideration by parliament. These would give local partnerships greater freedom to develop local structures. In referring to the conclusions of Ofsted’s inspection in September and October 2015, which identified improvements in services since the inspection in 2013, the Chairman of the MSBC highlighted what more could be done to maintain these improvements and make more progress. The areas considered to be of growing importance were the recruitment and retention of an experienced workforce; developing services to address the issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE); and improving safeguarding in relation to Cookham Wood Young Offender Institution and Medway Secure Training Centre.    

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:-

·         Medway Secure Training Centre – At the request of a Member, the Chairman of the MSCB advised the Committee of the action taken following the BBC programme on the centre. There remained some specific issues highlighted in the programme that required further review, including the steps taken by the organisations operating within the centre to address poor behaviour by their employees. He explained the process followed in setting up a Serious Case Review.  A Member who had visited the centre raised concerns that the education facilities were not being fully used by the young people at the centre. The Chairman of the MSCB agreed that issues such as this needed to be addressed. The Director of Children and Adults Services (Interim) added that joint collaborative work was being undertaken with other areas where incidents had occurred. Opportunities for greater community engagement, for example enabling young people to undertake education outside the centre, were being explored.

·         Agency attendance at MSCB meetings – In response to a question about the attendance record of NHS England, the Chairman of the MSCB reported that both NHS England and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service found it difficult to attend meetings. He therefore discussed the agenda items with the representatives before each meeting.

·         Operation Willow – A Member noted the success of this operation in raising awareness around child sexual exploitation and asked about its future. The Deputy Director, Children and Adults Services (Interim), advised that the placing of two social workers within the CSE team at Kent Police headquarters had delivered some success. The operation had been adjusted to provide greater clarity of roles.

·         National Working Group for Safeguarding -  At the request of a Member, the Chairman of the MSCB undertook to find out more about this parental group.

·         The role of schools in tackling CSE – In response to a comment from a Member, the Chairman of the MSCB observed that schools were the first line of defence in tackling CSE and undertook to consider how this role could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 343.

This report provides the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the outline of a proposal to develop a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) in line with Government expectations for adoption services:

Discussion:

The Deputy Director, Children and Adult Services (Interim) introduced the report which outlined a proposal to develop a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) in line with Government expectations for adoption services. The aims were to improve the timeliness of the matching processes between children and adoptive parents; develop adopter recruitment and support; and increase the potential for efficiencies by sharing business processes and reducing the duplication of tasks.  The Interim Deputy Director advised that, as members of the South East Adoption Consortium, Medway Council, the London Borough of Bexley and Kent County Council already shared information about children needing adoption and adopters waiting for children. It was envisaged that the three authorities working together as a RAA could initially deal with around 150 children per year and would develop the agency to reach the level of 200 children per year, in line with the Department of Education’s expectation.  The Interim Deputy Director further advised that all RAA’s were required to involve a voluntary adoption agency partner and the three authorities would reach a collective decision on who this should be.

Members discussed the implications of operating as a RAA. In recognising that a larger RAA would increase the pool of adopters, a Member asked if this benefit would be off-set by an increase in the number of children in the RAA area waiting for adoption. In response, the Interim Deputy Director said that the RAA would offer a greater opportunity of  successful matches. In response to a question about the potentially long distances between adopters and children, the Interim Deputy Director gave assurance that there was no restriction based on distance. A Member sought clarification on the governance arrangements for the RAA and was advised that all local authorities with responsibility for children services were adoption agencies and the legal implications of the RAA would need to be clarified.

Decision:

Subject to a full business case being presented to Cabinet, the Committee:

1)    noted the report; and

2)    recommended Cabinet to agree in principle to entering into formal dialogue with a view to the establishment of a Regional Adoption Agency with the local authority partners London Borough of Bexley and Kent County Council.     

This report provides a summary update to Members on progress and developments within Children’s Services.

Discussion:

The Deputy Director, Children and Adults Services (Interim) introduced the report which updated the Committee on the progress and developments within Children’s Social Care Service and specifically in relation to the wider service Improvement Plan.  The Interim Deputy Director commented on the benefits of the revised service structure; improvements in quality of practice with the aim of achieving a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating; and the next steps and priorities going forward. 

A Member sought further information regarding the work of the Social Work Academy and also fostering allowances. The Deputy Director, Children and Adults Services (Interim) advised that a range of fostering allowances were available. It was agreed that the Committee would be provided with briefing notes on these issues.

Decision:

The Committee noted the progress made and the continued implementation of the Improvement Plan.

This report provides an update to Committee members on the recent consultation process relating to a Draft Service Model for a Medway Young Person’s Wellbeing Service.

Discussion:

The Director of Children and Adult Services (Interim) introduced the report which provided an update to Committee members on the recent consultation process relating to a draft service model for a new Medway Young Person’s Wellbeing Service. The Director advised that the proposed new service model would be commissioned on a Medway footprint rather than Kent and Medway and would reflect the commitment to improve access to the range of services available.

The Partnership Commissioning Programme Lead reported the key findings from the consultation. These identified a high degree of support for the principles of the proposed service model which aimed to provide a holistic, integrated service with a single point of access. Some adjustment had been made to reflect feedback from the consultation. This included the provisions for an open access service that enabled self-referral; web based counselling; and early support for families experiencing challenging behaviour.  

Members were referred to the final service model and high level specification and the procurement timetable attached at Appendices 2 and 3 of the agenda report respectively and were invited to comment on the proposals.

Members raised a number of questions and comments, which included :-

·         CAMHS– in response to a question on the existing CAMHS provision, the Partnership Commissioning Programme Lead advised that there would be a continuum of support with the existing tier 2 and tier 3 service being integrated into the new model.

·         Home schooled children – the importance of gaining the trust of children and young people in order to be able to meet their emotional needs was recognised, as was the role of schools. In response to a question regarding support for children who were home schooled, the Partnership Commissioning Programme Lead highlighted the drop in advice and support service and the web based service, both of which would be available outside of the school environment.

·         Raising awareness among ethnic minority groups – in response to a concern that certain groups might be reluctant to discuss mental health issues, the Partnership Commissioning Programme Lead agreed that the service needed to reflect the ethnicity of people in Medway and undertook to engage with ethnic minority support groups, including the Medway Ethnic Minorities Forum. 

·         Improvements to the service – in response to a range of questions, the Partnership Commissioning Programme Lead clarified that the reference to a single point of access related to an administrative rather than a geographical point of access. Replacing the current fragmented service, the new service would adopt a more integrated, holistic approach and would provide the opportunity for much stronger support for looked after children.       

·         New service provision -   in response to a question on the capacity to deliver the new service, the Partnership Commissioning Programme Lead advised that the service would be commissioned from providers who would be expected to think innovatively in terms of collaboration and partnership. 

Decision:

The Committee:

1)    noted the progress made since the last report; and

2)    recommended to Cabinet to approve the Final Service Model and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 346.

This report informs the Committee of the results of the recent consultation concerning the move towards Direct Payments being the main vehicle by which families purchase community based Short Breaks. The consultation also sought feedback on suggested eligibility criteria and a self assessment process in order to ensure that Council resources are more effectively targeted, to make it clearer as to who was entitled to Council funded Short Breaks and to make the process for obtaining a short break easier for families.

Discussion:

The Director of Children and Adult Services (Interim), introduced the report which set out proposals for offering a greater range of options for short breaks to meet the needs of all children with a disability.  The Interim Partnership Commissioner, Children with Disabilities, outlined the proposals with reference to the results of a recent consultation exercise. These included direct payments; eligibility criteria; and the self assessment process.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·         Providers – Members considered that more information was required on short break providers. There was concern that some providers might withdraw from the service. The view was expressed that Parklands Resource Centre was under used and there was concern that Aut Even had been closed.  In response the Interim Partnership Commissioner, Children with Disabilities said that it was the intention to meet with providers individually to explore the services that they could provide. Information was available on the Council’s website.

·         Direct payments – Members expressed concern that some families were not in favour of direct payments.  The Interim Partnership Commissioner, Children with Disabilities stressed the importance of meeting individual families needs and said that direct payments would not be suitable in every case.

Decision:

The Committee referred the report back to identify the providers needed and to examine the idea that a part of the budget should be held centrally and that some services are provided centrally.

Medway’s three priorities and three ways of working are set out in the new Council Plan 2016/17. This report summarises how we have performed in Quarter 1 2016/17 for the key measures of success and projects for this committee.

Discussion:

The Deputy Director, Children and Adults (Interim) introduced the report which summarised the performance of the directorate in Quarter 1 of year 2016-17 for the priority relevant for this Committee, ‘supporting Medway’s people to realise their potential’.

A Member asked for more information about the outcomes of the 18 permanent school exclusions during this quarter. It was agreed that a briefing note would be provided. 

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.

Discussion:

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report which provided the Committee with its current work programme and proposed amendments.

Decision:

The Committee agreed its work programme, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, subject to adding:

1)    Medway Child Health Recommissioning Project – 6 December 2016

2)    Home to School (including Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Transport Policy – date to be confirmed (possibly March 2017)

3)    Female Genital Mutilation - date to be confirmed.