Venue: LB 41 - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions
Contact: Phil Wye Email: phil.wye@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
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Membership To note the appointment of Councillor Patience Uloma Ifediora as a substitute member of the Corporate Parenting Board Minutes: RESOLVED to note the appointment of Councillor Patience Uloma Ifediora as a substitute member of the Corporate Parenting Board |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Councillor Jim Armstrong – personal reasons Councillor Sue Johnson – leave Councillor Marcia Watson – personal reasons Councillor Wendy Smith - other council business
Helen Blackman TM Valerie Marshall Jon Rea |
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Declarations of Interests Minutes: None |
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Last meeting held on 23 May 2016 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair. |
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Independent Reviewing Service Annual Report 2015-2016 PDF 192 KB Report of the Director of Children’s Integrated Services Additional documents: Minutes: Clive Chambers, Head of Service- Safeguarding and Quality Assurance, introduced the report which summarises the work of the Independent Reviewing Service during the course of 2015-2016. Clive highlighted the following:
(a)
the role of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) is to provide
external oversight, challenge and scrutiny to local practice in
child protection, fostering and children in care; (b)
there has been a significant increase in
demand for Child Protection Plans, with the highest category being
for emotional abuse. The small number of plans fro sexual abuse reflects national figures and may
be because it is difficult for children to report this; (c)
on 31st March 2016 there were
589 children and young people in care, the majority of whom were
placed within 20 miles of Nottingham. There were slightly more boys
than girls with the majority being from a white British
background; (d)
there were 156 causes for concern last
year, including insufficient engagement with the child and their
family, failing to progress contact arrangements, work not being
progressed/completed in a timely way, and care plans not being
submitted in advance of meetings. This is a relatively small number
and shows a healthy system as if there were none we would need to
question why that was; (e)
contact between children in care and
their family is an increasing challenge due to social media and the
internet; (f)
Moving forward the council will maximise the opportunities for
children and young people to contribute to plans and meetings about
them support the implementation of a new case recording system and
ensure that this meets the needs of the wider service area, work
with the Child Sexual Exploitation Coordinator to provide
information and intelligence to further strengthen the local
response to sexual exploitation, and refine the Causes for Concern
process and the Efficacy Framework; (g) There have been a number of government documents published recently about children’s social care with interesting implications on the council and the IROs, including a suggestion that the service will be delivered partially through alternative partnership arrangements rather than wholly by the council.
RESOLVED to note the activity of the Independent Reviewing Service over the 2015-2016 financial year. |
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Report of the Director of Children’s Integrated Services Minutes: Sharon Clarke, Service Manager – Children in Care and Leaving Care Service, introduced the report, which includes the current issues in relation to the legislative duties required by Nottingham City Council, in respect of those children eligible for a Pathway Plan. Sharon highlighted the following:
(a)
new government guidance, entitled ‘Keep on Caring’
outlines how Local Authorities can be a good corporate parent by
improving services, support and advice for care leavers; (b)
the council has a duty to ensure that all Pathway Plans are robust
so it has implemented a new E-Pathway Plan to ensure plan are
specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely; (c)
Pathway Plans can support young people from the ages of 15 -25,
depending on when they are ready to leave care. All care leavers
should have all their important documents available in case they
need them. There is also a transitional social worker should any be
eligible for adult social services; (d)
the percentage of applicable young people with a Pathway Plan
started the last 6 months is 91.6%, which is below the target of
97% but this is improving; The following answers were given during the
discussion which followed: (e)
all young people in care have a right to
stay put post-18 and there is a small pot of money to allow this.
There are about 19 currently staying put, mostly in
semi-independent provision. If a young person remains in foster
care they will have a clear contract with an allowance, and an
expectation that they pay board; (f)
there is no set maximum age for a young person to be in care, but
most don’t stay in care past 20; (g) young people could be encouraged to save up money whilst they remain in care in order to afford accommodation when they leave care.
RESOLVED to continue to support and understand the required duties of Corporate Parents, in relation to Pathway Planning for children in care and care leavers. |
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Foster Carer Recruitment and Retention PDF 207 KB Report of the Director of Children’s Integrated Services Minutes: Sonia Cain, Service Manager – Fostering and Adoption, introduced the report addressing strategies for the recruitment and retention performance of the Fostering Service, and the activities undertaken by the Service to recruit and support Foster Carers. Sonia highlighted the following:
(a)
nationally there is a shortage of foster
carers with 9000 required each year to meet demand and a child
coming into care every 20 minutes. In Nottingham there are a range
of activities and promotional materials to help recruit them, and
it was part of the labour group’s manifesto to increase the
number by 20%; (b)
the council aims to place the majority
of children in care into foster care because it mirrors a family
setting. It is better if they are placed with in-house foster
carers as they tend to live locally, so support services can work
with them more easily; (c)
the recruitment strategy includes
advertising on the council website, monthly information sessions,
promotion at local events and local markets. There are two
dedicated customer services officers; (d)
research commissioned by Nottingham
Trent University has shown that one of the best sources for
recruitment is from existing foster carers promoting to their own
family and friends. The council has therefore set up a scheme where
existing foster carers can refer a friend and receive a financial
incentive; (e)
there is also a retention strategy for
existing foster carers, which involves experienced social workers
regularly visiting and looking a training and development needs.
There are also support groups in Bulwell, Clifton and Lenton and a 6-weekly business meeting. Last year
foster carers received GEM awards for the first time; (f)
a number of foster carers are lost each year due to a variety of
reasons such as retirement or significant changes in
circumstances; (g) the council does also make use of independent fostering agencies where in-house foster carers are not available. There is significant cost to this so it is avoided where possible;
The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:
(h)
independent fostering agencies also have problems to recruit and
retain foster carers; (i)
big poster campaigns do help to keep the idea of fostering in the
public eye, as many don’t make an instant decision and come
to the decision to become a foster carer over a longer
period; (j)
other cities in the East Midlands
experience the same problems with recruitment as Nottingham. Rural
areas tend to find it easier to recruit; (k)
recruitment is targeted where feasible
to sectors such as health, the police and local school. Other
targets suggested included Neighbourhood Development Officers,
Teaching Assistants and Head Teachers through the relevant
networks. The council could also advertise at Nottinghamshire
events outside nthe city
boundary; (l) the fostering team is small and further marketing needs the wider council and local councillors to promote fostering in their networks.
RESOLVED to note the recruitment and retention performance of the Fostering Service, and the activities undertaken by the Service to recruit and support Foster Carers. |
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Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Verbal update Minutes: Steve Comb, Head of Children in Care, gave a verbal update on the dispersal process for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and its impact on Nottingham, highlighting the following:
(a)
there is likely to be an increase in unaccompanied asylum seeking
children in Nottingham. At the moment Nottingham’s position
has not gone through the formal approval process and Nottingham
won’t be engaging with the process until this has
happened; (b) in the last two years, Nottingham has increased its number of UASCs from 9 to 19 children. They may be required to take an additional 30-40 who will all have the rights of a child in care so Nottingham must ensure that it has the resources to cope with this increase;
Board members suggested placing UASCs with foster carers from refugee communities, however this would be difficult to approve due to their legal statuses and health checks. |
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Virtual School (Virtual Head change) Verbal update Minutes: Sarah Fielding, Director of Education, informed the Board that she has replaced Malcolm Wilson as Virtual School Head. An operational lead to support Sarah is currently being recruited. |
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Residential Services Update Verbal update Minutes: Dino Labbatte and Marcel Reid, Registered Managers of Children’s Residential Homes updated the Board on children’s residential services in Nottingham, highlighting the following:
(a)
all of the 7 homes in the city received
a good or outstanding in their Ofsted inspections last year. There
ae regulatory visits twice a year as well as internal
inspections; (b)
there may be changes and recommendations for children’s
residential as a result of the Narey
report commissioned in October 2015; (c)
outcomes for children have improved with
the introduction of smaller homes. They are more homely and make it
easier for positive relationships to develop between children and
staff, and the negative behaviour associated with the larger
children’s homes have now been largely eradicated; (d) the introduction of a home specifically for emergency care has helped to stop children from leaving the city and not returning;
Councillor Mellen recently visited a children’s residential home and made a suggestion that other Board members should do the same. |
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Minutes: RESOLVED to note the forward plan |