Venue: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions
Contact: Phil Wye Email: phil.wye@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Councillor Nicola Heaton – work commitments Councillor Sue Johnson - unwell Councillor Neghat Khan – leave Helen Blackman TM |
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Declarations of Interests Minutes: None. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2018, for confirmation. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair. |
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The Health of Children in Care of the Local Authority 2017/18 PDF 216 KB Joint report of NHS Nottingham City CCG and Director, Children’s Integrated Services
Additional documents:
Minutes: Kathryn Higgins and Claire Tagg introduced the report providing the second Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Children in Care annual report providing assurances that Nottingham City CCG is fulfilling its statutory responsibilities to children as outlined in the Children Act 1989 and associated guidance. The following information was highlighted:
(a)
the CCG continues to commission two providers to undertake medical
assessments of Children in Care in the city. Medical services are
provided by the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and
nursing services are provided by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS
Foundation Trust. CAMHS services are jointly commissioned by the
CCG and Nottingham City Council; (b)
the CCG also has responsibility for the medical and nursing needs
of Children in Care that are in the care of other local authorities
but placed in Nottingham City; (c)
the Nottinghamshire Children in Care Service Improvement Forum was
established in December 2016. It has developed an action plan to
look at risks, service gaps and improvements with agreement from
city and county local authorities, CCGs and health
providers; (d)
a project is underway to improve the collection and reporting of
data on Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Children in Care,
following a successful bid to NHS England for funding; (e)
a Care Leaver workshop was held in July 2017 to review support
around health, with a care leaver working group being established
to review and implement recommendations from the
workshop; (f) in 2018/19 a priority will be to ensure quality assurance of medical assessments for all Children in Care placed out of the city. There will also be further work to consider young people who do not engage, unaccompanied asylum seeker children and those in secure accommodation.
The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:
(g)
care for Children in Care placed out of area can vary across the
country and Nottingham has no jurisdiction over this. In
Nottinghamshire and Nottingham City it has been agreed that all
children will receive the same standard of care regardless of who
the placing authority is; (h) there are many factors when deciding where a Child in Care will be placed, not only medical care. However, more robust data will be useful to identify any problem locations so that the council can take a proactive approach in addressing any issues.
RESOLVED to
(1)
note that health providers supported by the Designated
Professionals will continue to work with the Service Improvement
Forum and associated working groups with the aim to improve the
health outcomes for Children in Care; (2)
note that revised CCG pathways for out of area
placements and other local authority placements in the city are to
be implemented in 2019; (3) note that health providers supported by the Designated Professionals will continue to work with the Local Authority, other partner agencies and Commissioners in planning for and ensuring adequate health provision for Care Leavers. |
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The Children's Society: Independent Advocacy Annual Report 2018 PDF 116 KB Report of Director Children’s Integrated Services Additional documents: Minutes: Alison Smith and Gabriel Hall introduced the report providing an update on the children’s advocacy services provided by The Children’s Society on behalf of the council. The following information was highlighted:
(a)
The Children’s Society is a national charity that works with
the country’s most vulnerable children and young people and
lobbies for national policy change; (b)
the advocacy service for Children in
Care has been jointly commissioned to Nottingham City and
Nottinghamshire Councils. The Children’s Society provides
Advocacy, Residential Visiting Advocacy, Issue Based Advocacy and
Independent Persons; (c)
across the county and city there is one
manager and 5 advocates. All residential units should be visited no
less than once every eight weeks. During June, July and August 2018
a total of 79% of all residential homes were visited within this
timeframe and this figure is improving; (d)
there has been an increase in the number of issues raised by young
people, such as issues around placements, lack of support from
social workers, requests for placement changes and lack of
reviews; (e) the advocates have allocated homes to ensure continuity for the young people, and advocates remain the same when a young person is moved between placements, where possible.
The following points were raised during the
discussion which followed: (f)
the reason that young people may want to
change placement is that they have been placed outside the city and
want to come back. There are also issues with young people feeling
that social workers are not seeing them often enough; (g)
the advocacy is always led by the young person and based on wishes
and feelings so may not always be in their best interest; (h)
if a child wants a new advocate they can be provided, and there is
a complaints procedure if they are unhappy; (i)
issues are triaged by the manager and
allocated appropriately to the advocates. Children and young people
should be ideally visited within 72 hours, though this is not
always possible if they live far away; (j) one of the advocates specialises in children with disabilities and special educational needs.
RESOLVED to note the contents of the report. |
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Independent Visitor Service – SOVA PDF 284 KB Report of Director Children’s Integrated Services Additional documents: Minutes: Gillian Black introduced the report introducing the Board to SOVA as a service provider and updating the Board on the Independent Visitor Service since the contract began in November 2017. The following information was highlighted:
(a)
Independent Visitors (IVs) are adult volunteers who serve as
positive role models for children. They meet monthly and take part
in activities, chosen by the IV and child together; (b) there are currently 19 active matches in place, with 10 children awaiting a best match.
The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:
(c)
if an IV has to stop volunteering due to personal circumstances
they are asked to contact the child themselves to discuss and
explain the situation; (d)
volunteers are observed during their
training to highlight their areas of interest and they are matched
to children by SOVA accordingly. Views of social workers and foster
carers are taken into account but it is ultimately the
child’s decision; (e) it would be helpful if the child received an information sheet with a photograph and some basic likes and dislikes prior to meeting their IV.
RESOLVED to note the contents of the report. |
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Children in Care and Care Leavers Strategy 2018 – 2020 PDF 225 KB Report of Director Children’s Integrated Services Additional documents: Minutes: Clive Chambers introduced the report providing
an update on the Children in Care and Care Leavers Strategy which
sets out how the council will meet its responsibilities as the
corporate parent for Children in Care. The following information
was highlighted. Seven strategic priorities (or promises) have been
identified that represent areas that require improvement in order
to achieve the best possible outcomes for Children in Care and Care
Leavers. The following points were raised during the discussion
which followed: (a)
the promises themselves could be made
clearer within the document, and in bold. It could also include
contact details for Advocacy and Independent Visitor
services; (b)
the introduction could include more information on how the council
aspires to for children and young people in its care; (c) the promises are mapped against directorate priorities, what young people have told the council, and statutory guidance.
It was suggested that assessments and Personal Education Plan meetings during school hours can be disruptive to education and cause problems at school.
RESOLVED to
(1)
agree the strategic priorities, and accepting them as
‘corporate parenting objectives’; (2) endorse the Children in Care and Care Leavers Strategy 2018-2020. |
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Children in Care Service Performance Report: Quarter 1 / Quarter 2 2018 - 2019 PDF 207 KB Report of Director Children’s Integrated Services Additional documents: Minutes: Clive Chambers introduced the report providing the Board with the most up to date Children in Care performance data covering the first and second quarters of the 2018-19 financial year.
RESOLVED to acknowledge the current performance position of the Children in Care service. |
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Children in Care Council Report of Director Children’s Integrated Services Minutes: Kelise Knowles and Jordan Whatman gave a verbal update on recent and upcoming meetings and events of the Children in Care Council. The Council has recently spoken to Ofsted and worked on the Local Offer for Care Leavers. The Big It Up awards will take place soon, and a Christmas meeting is planned with the Sheriff. |
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Chair's update Additional documents: Minutes: A report will be published on Nottingham and Nottinghamshire following the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse early next year, with the overall thematic report, focussing on the role of local authorities generally, being published at a later date.
The Local Offer for Care Leavers will be shared with Board Members for their comments and is attached to these minutes. |
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Minutes: The forward plan was noted. |