Agenda item

This annual report provides an account of the role of the Lead Member for Children’s Services as identified in the Department for Education statutory guidance on the roles and responsibilities of the Director of Children’s Services (DCS) and the Lead Member for Children’s Services (LMCS) (DfE 2012). This report details their ambitions for their areas of responsibility, how they have and will undertake political challenge and leadership and what their priorities and ambitions are for the year ahead. It covers the period from April 2024 until February 2025.

Discussion:

Councillor Adam Price, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services was in attendance and took questions from the Committee.

Members raised several questions and comments which included:

The Portfolio Holder was congratulated on his award for his service to fostering.

The additional funding added to the fostering improvement package was welcomed. It was commented that foster carers were returning to Medway due to the support that was now in place such as the Mocking Bird Project.

The Reverse Budy scheme by the Children and Young People Council was praised for enabling discussions to take place on things that young people had not been able to talk about freely in the past.

Youth Justice - in response to a question on what assurance there was that good progress was being made and achievement of good outcomes, the Portfolio Holder was confident in the progress made. The Youth Justice Plan enabled increased opportunities for collaborative and multiagency work to be undertaken.

Recruitment and retention – it was asked what progress had been made on ‘growing our own.’ The Portfolio Holder said that the Council was committed to supporting the development of its staff and rewarding their hard work and commitment. There had been a recent 5% pay award for staff and there had been detailed work undertaken to improve the offer for foster carers as well as recognition for their hard work and ensuring the received high levels of support. There would however always be a natural output of foster carers, and the service was diligent in ensuring exit interview were held to gain insight and understanding of reasons for leaving.

Adoption – it was asked what was being done to overcome issues with adoption figures which still remained low. The Portfolio holder reminded the Committee that embarking on the adoption process was a long and vigorous process, with checks and balances to be completed at every stage. Prospective adopters continued to be extensively throughout the journey.

Work with regional partners and LGA- it was asked how working with other bodies supported the work of the Portfolio Holder. The Committee was informed that the training offer and opportunities to meet with other Lead Members to share learning had been instrumental to the role. The opportunities to meet regularly with other Local Authorities was a useful tool of self-evaluation.

Journey from Good to Outstanding -in response to questions on what progress had been made and what significant investment was being made to achieve outcomes, the Portfolio Holder said that the service was committed to achieving their aspirations. The senior leadership team was commended for their hard work, drive, and dedication. Regular overview meetings took place to track trajectory and to ensure line of sight of issues.

Children with disabilities – it was commented that this was an area for improvement as highlighted in the last inspection and it was asked what progress had been made. The Portfolio Holder said that the Medway Parent Carer Forum had been instrumental in provision of support in raising standards of the service through their feedback. There was however more work to be done and remained an area of focus.

Accommodation – it was asked what was being done to improve the accommodation offer for young care leavers and ensure that they were placed in suitable accommodation. The Portfolio Holder acknowledged the challenges with provision for suitable accommodation. There were high proportion of children in Medway living in temporary accommodation and officers worked extensively to address issues. There was also work being undertaken through the emerging Local Plan to ensure that young care leavers had priority for housing. Officers added that there was now a young inspectors programme in place where former care leavers would conduct a round of inspection of prospective supported accommodation to assess standards and ensure they were fit for purpose.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.