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 extra funding and support put in place for the Kinship programme was welcomed.
• Maintaining the budget in a demand led service must remain an area of focus.
• The Mocking Bird programme was commended.
• The use of language was instrumental in connecting and building relationships with young people.

Children’s voice – it was asked how it was ensured that children’s voices were heard and were included in shaping services for their future. The Committee was informed that inspectors at the last ILACS visit commented that it was evident that children matter in Medway. Children’s voices were central throughout the service, which took all possible opportunities to engage with and consult young people in planning of services. Joint working took place with young people through the Corporate Parenting Board, and we continued to grow our own, which was evident through the appointment of the Assistant Director of Children Social Care who started her journey at Medway, many years ago as a young person and had worked her way up through to leadership position.

Lived experience –  in response to a question on how it was being ensured that children’s lived experiences, hopes and aspirations were being used to shape services, the Portfolio Holder said that the children’s choice report taken at the start of each Corporate Parenting Board meeting was central to all discussions. The Corporate Parenting Strategy had been reviewed, with changes made to strengthen the Strategy and further align with aspirations of young people.

Areas for improvement - in response to a question on what the response was to Ofsted’s comments regarding instability in senior leadership and issues with recruitment and retention of staff, the Portfolio Holder said that the comments made were in relation to inconsistencies in case recording due to high caseloads. The  service had responded to the areas highlighted for improvement by working with social workers to ensure consistency in recording, evidencing of tasks and activities and supporting them with personal development. There were ongoing issues experienced nationally with recruitment and retention and through various initiatives, the service had been able to recruit more permanent staff to the service. Lessons continued to be learnt on areas of improvement and responded to accordingly. There was a focus on a strong induction programme, and exit interviews conducted had been instrumental in gaining meaningful insight on the reasons staff left Medway. Cultural changes continued to occur across the service, with feedback received that the senior leadership team were a particular strength of Medway Council.

It was further asked how the service would ensure consistency of practice across all teams and ensure the sustainability of progress made in improvement. The Committee was informed that there were seven practice development leads in place across the service and a Principal Social Worker who maintained quality assurance of practice. Monthly audits took place to identify strengths and areas of focus, with  training programmes in place that were aligned to practice improvement in an environment of high support and high challenge to staff.

Virtual schools – it was commented that there had been progress made in virtual schools, with personalisation programmes, and it was asked how it would be ensured that the progress made was sustained and led to positive outcomes. The Committee was informed that the relationship and communication between practitioners continued to improve, with a clear strong commitment to ensure good outcomes for young people to enable them to succeed. Foster carers were also instrumental in assisting young people to access education. In response to feedback on a need to strengthen the work of the Corporate Parenting Sub-Group, the membership and terms of reference had been reviewed, and the group was now chaired by the Assistant Director of Education to drive forward consistency in progressing actions.

Foster carers – it was commented that the increase in the recruitment of foster carers was encouraging, and it was asked what was being done to retain them. The Portfolio Holder said that being a foster carer was a calling, was rewarding and this required commitment and a special desire and dedication. At the celebratory event, it was encouraging to meet with people that had been caring for young people for many years. In response to providing additional support for foster carers, there were now three Mocking Bird networks in place across Medway which had been instrumental to foster carers in building strong connections of support, and social workers also built strong relationships with carers. Feedback received was that carers liked working for Medway. The service was committed to continue to explore ways to retain their foster carers.

Inclusion - in response to a question regarding what the next steps would be to build on the success of inclusion for children with high and complex needs, the Committee was informed that three inclusion conferences had taken place which were increasingly attended by a growing number of schools. Medway schools were becoming more inclusive and more children with complex needs were now attending schools in Medway and not outside of the authority.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.