Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence from Councillor Lammas, Archie Blundell (MYC Chair), Alice Pledger (Teacher Representative), Leanna Rodgers (Headteacher Representative), and Lisa Scarrott (Medway Parent and Carer Forum).

To approve the record of the meeting held on 1 August 2024.

The record of the meeting held on 1 August 2024 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none.

The Chairperson extended thanks on behalf of the Committee to Raj Bharkhada, Interim Assistant Director Children’s Social Care for all his hard work during his time at Medway and wished him well in the future.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

Sharon Docherty declared that she is a governor at St Mary’s School.

Councillor Perfect declared that he was a Beyond Schools and Inspire Partnership Academy Trust Member.

Councillor Mrs Turpin declared that she was a governor at Balfour Junior Academy and a member of the Autism Trust.

Councillor Hamilton declared that she was a member of the Rochester Grammar School Charity and Sir Joseph Williamson Mathematical School Scheme.

Councillor Mandaracas declared that she was a trustee at the Sunlight Centre.

At the 2 March 2023 meeting it was proposed and agreed that as a result of work undertaken in partnership with the Local Government Association the Committee adopt a hybrid model moving forward.

This would be based on the assumption that meetings will last no more than three hours, with two hours focused on the theme and the remaining time on general matters that need to be reviewed by the Committee as existing ongoing business. 

Following consultation with the Director of People, Children and Adults’ Services it was agreed that this meeting would be Public Health Themed with a presentation on Public Health Child Health and reports on Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, and Childhood Obesity Five Year Plan.

Discussion:

Members received a presentation on Public Health - Children’s Health and considered reports on the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme and the Childhood Obesity Five Year Plan.

Members commended the team for all the work that was being carried out across Medway, and raised several comments and questions which included:

Hospital attendance – clarification was sought on hospital attendance by Ward, and the Committee learned that the data presented was a snapshot of hospital attendances for children under 5 years old. The data showed the wards that statistically had significantly higher than average attendances, and these were wards that were in close proximity to the hospital. The increased instances of attendance could have been as a result of difficulties in the ability of families in getting GP appointments. Work continued to be undertaken across the Council on addressing issues with GP access.

Asthma - it was asked what the drivers were for under 19 year olds emergency admissions for asthma. The Committee was informed that there were a range of issues associated with emergency admission, and the Medway and Swale Health Care Partnership continued to work on interventions. Across the (HCP), it had been identified that the management of asthma plans needed to improve, due to a culmination of understanding of the condition by parents, GP reviews, as well as appropriate use of medication. The HCP now had a dedicated Asthma Nurse working to address the issues presented and ensuring that asthma plans were appropriate for the individual. Across Medway, 34 schools had signed up for the asthma friendly programme which focused on training and education as well as engagement with school nurses. The school nurses supported the asthma programme as part of their work in school function. It had been identified that historically there had been limited training for GPs on asthma and that not all patients had a well-crafted asthma plan in place. Additionally, annual reviews were not always robust. The work of the asthma nurse was to upskill GP Practices, in particular those practices where their patients had high instances of hospital attendance.

A breakdown of hospital attendance by Ward was requested to determine a link between air quality and the impact on asthma. It was advised that data was available, and the Committee was informed that a Task and Finish Group Review was being conducted, which included strands of work on air quality and asthma. Discussions took place on what could be done to improve air quality, in particular, near schools where vehicles were often idling, and it was suggested that schools continue to engage through the use of other parents and children in the community and that information could be disseminated through the headteachers newsletter on what additional action could be taken to improve air quality around schools.

Family hubs - it was asked if Medway had lost out on a year of delivery due to receiving the funding late to start the project.  The Committee was informed that Medway was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 315.

This report provides an overview of Medway’s approach to delivering the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme and progress to date.

The discussion and decision of this item can be found at minute number 315.

This report aims to provide the Committee with a briefing of the priorities within the Childhood Obesity 5 year plan. The plan is coordinated by Medway Council but delivered through the Medway Healthy Weight Network. The plan sets out what is currently being done to tackle childhood obesity and details some aspirations over the next five years to achieve the One Medway Council Plan targets of reducing the current obesity rate and increasing physical activity of children.

The discussion and decision of this item can be found at minute number 315.

The annual report provides information on children’s services complaints handled during 2023–24, and includes the numbers received and the types of issues raised. The report also highlights some examples of the many positive things people have said about the provision of children’s services in Medway over the same period, and the service improvements Medway Council has made as a result.

Discussion:

The Manager for Social Care Complaints introduced the report which provided information regarding Children Services complaints and compliments for 2023-24.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

The net zero data for Stage 1 complaints for the Children in Care Team 4 was commended.

Responses to a young person’s complaint - in response to a question on how the process was made clear to a young person, it was explained that if a young person made a complaint directly, they were offered and provided with an advocate. Social Workers also explained their rights and the Independent Reviewing Officers were skilled at reinforcing the understanding of the process. If a complaint was received via a parent, it was made clear that it was the young person’s complaint and not that of the parents. If the complaint was received via a Councillor, consent was always sought with the young person to share any outcomes or information from the investigation with the Councillor.

Approach and Learning – it was asked how the Children’s Social Care Department embedded the approach to complaints and how learning fed in to the wider improvement of the service. The Director of People said that how complaints were handled was of the utmost importance. The complaints process was sometimes the only way that a family, going through the social care process, felt they could get their voices heard so it was important that the process was fair and dealt with within the timescales given and that the family’s views and feelings were treated with high regard.

The message for all, including social workers was that families must be informed as to how they can complain and any concerns that were presented should be treated as a complaint if raised and presented as one.

The Manager for Social Care Complaints added that a lot of work had been undertaken and was ongoing with the social workers and senior leadership team on managing the process effectively.

Members collectively noted the range of compliments received by the service and recognised the important of sharing the learning from these positive experiences.

A comment was made that volumes of complaints were low, and it was queried whether it was difficult for people to make a complaint. The Complaints Manager for Social Care explained that unlike previously, complaints which did not meet the statutory requirement were investigated and responded to through the Council’s non-statutory complaints procedure. The numbers or statutory and non-statutory complaints combined therefore made up the total number of complaints and any reduction reflected overall service improvements.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Complaints and Compliments Annual Report 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

This report provides an overview of Medway’s Children Services response to children that go missing from home and care.  The paper will consider information and data for children who went missing during the period April 2023 - March 2024.

Discussion:

The Head of First Response and Family Solutions introduced the report which provided information and data on children who went missing from home and care during the period April 2023- March 2024.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

Missing Looked After Children - it was commented that the report stated 98 missing children were in the care of Medway and 146 were the responsibility of other local authorities and it was asked what conversations took place regarding those children. The Committee was advised that a significant amount of work continued to be undertaken on prevention and understanding of why children went missing, which was attributed to a number of factors. It was essential to continue to address issues on a multi-agency approach basis with all partners and conduction of return home interviews (RHI) were also essential. The teams continued to engage with other local authorities, but clarified that they held responsibility for RHIs for the children placed in Medway. The data trends in missing looked after children was complex and any trends identified would be reported in the next annual report.

It was further asked whether RHIs took place for children placed outside of Medway and it was confirmed that meetings did take place but more needed to be done to increase the numbers of interviews, in particular, by the use of technology and how to utilise this more effectively. It was also important to ensure that the interviewer was the same person each time in order to build a relationship and environment of trust.

Additional needs – it was commented that there was a lack of information on missing children with Special Educational Needs and Disability and the officer agreed to capture the information for the next report as well as details of children on Education Health Care Plans.

Support for repeat missing children and families - it was asked what support was in place for families and the Committee was informed that support was in place through various services including early help teams and schools. In instances of increased repeat missing episodes, the multiagency model approach and response was utilised to explore support needs as missing episodes were often symptomatic of other issues and factors to be considered in the family households.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.

Discussion:

The work programme was presented for information.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report, agreed the work programme as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, and accepted the proposed changes, outlined in italic text on Appendix 1.