Agenda and minutes

Councillor Josh Cook  - Personal

Councillor Sam Webster

Maria Ward – Nottingham Community and Voluntary Services

None.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2017

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2017 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources

Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years introduced a report on the Ofsted framework and thematic inspections. Helen Blackman, Director of Children’s Integrated Services and Sophie Russell, Head of Children’s Strategy and Improvement outlined the main findings of the pilot inspection, highlighting the following points:

(a)  For 2 weeks at the end of January 2017 a team of Ofsted inspectors conducted an inspection of Nottingham City Council’s Children’s Services piloting the new framework focusing far more on the journey of the child and looking in depth at 274 case;

(b)  as the inspection was voluntary the results and final report will not be published but the Council are permitted to release the results, which it will do at an appropriate opportunity;

(c)  the inspectors recognised the impact of changes made since the last inspection in 2014, most notably all services being bought under one Director and all first contact coming through a multi-agency hub;

(d)  the inspectors praised Nottingham City Council for the strong corporate and political support for Children’s Services ensuring that children’s needs are prioritised. They stated that significant progress has been achieved from the previous inspection in 2014 when the Council was judged to require improvement;

(e)  in the pilot inspection framework there are now 4 areas of judgement:

·  The impact of leaders on practice with children and families, in which the Council was judged as good;

·  The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection, in which the Council was judged as good;

·  The experiences and progress of children looked after and care leavers achieving permanence, in which the Council was judged as requiring improvement;

·  Overall effectiveness, in which the Council was judged as good;

(f)  the key areas of positive feedback were:

·  The creation of one directorate being the catalyst for subsequent improvements;

·  There is good involvement in, and use of, regional interactions, peer review and learning;

·  The over recruitment of Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW) was a sound decision and the induction process is strong with staff giving positive feedback. It was noted that Nottingham City Council is becoming an employer of choice for Social Workers in the region;

·  Good and outstanding social work can flourish within Nottingham City and there are a number of examples of both;

·  The diversity of the community is well understood and services fit well;

·  Voice of the Child is a real strength;

·  Ability to access Early Help services means that risks are being reduced;

·  The introduction of the Integrated Locality hubs look to strengthen multi-agency work;

·  Assessments of children’s needs are consistently good leading to meaningful plans;

·  Support for disabled children is good and services provided are tailored to their needs;

·  The Multi systemic therapy and Edge of Care Hub show creative use of resources and work to reduce the numbers of children in care;

·  Social Workers know their children well;

·  Carers are seen as ambitious and proud of their young people and their needs are well considered;

·  Educational outcomes are improving;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Report of the Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources

Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Early Years and Early Intervention introduced a report on Adoption in Nottingham. Helen Blackman, Director of Children’s Integrated Services and Sonia Cain, Service Manager for Fostering and Adoption informed the Committee of the process for adoption in Nottingham and the work that the Council is doing to ensure positive outcomes for looked after children. They highlighted the following points:

(a)  Across the UK the number of adoptions is decreasing. In Nottingham City the number of adoptions completed continues to rise. In 2011/12 there were 33 adoptions, in 2016/17 there have been 48 adoptions;

(b)  there are currently 96 children in care in Nottingham City  awaiting adoption;

(c)  there are a number of misconceptions about who can adopt, and as long as carers are over the age of 21 and have the ability to offer a child a permanent home then they will be considered as an adopter;

(d)  Adoption Services are advertised on the Council website, once someone has expressed an interest in adopting they will be invited to an information evening, these are held every 6-8 weeks. Following this meeting a series of assessments are completed including home visits, medical checks and reference checks. This process takes about 26 weeks at which point the potential adopter will go before a panel who will assess their suitability. If they are deemed suitable then the process of matching the carer to a child or children can begin;

(e)  carers are supported with a full training programme, including managing challenging behaviour, health needs and managing disability, and caring for sibling groups. The Council also offers some financial support for adopters, and the pupil premium in schools is available for children after adoption;

(f)  there is a Post Order support team who are available to support adopters after the Adoption Order has been finalised and who can help carers access therapeutic support;

(g)  between three years prior to and including 2014/15 financial year the Council achieved permanency through adoption for 153 children, 59% of which who fell into one or more of the “hard to place” categories;

(h)  the national performance tables drive for quicker outcomes for children leading to a focus on easy to place children such as babies and toddlers. The Council is working hard to ensure that all children are given the same chance and works hard to place those children who fall into the “hard to place” categories;

(i)  each year the target for securing an adoption from the time a child entered into care becomes shorter and the target more challenging especially around securing placements for the children in hard to place categories;

(j)  much work is focused on suitable placement and ensuring that the correct placement is found for children. Nottingham’s disruption rate (the breakdown of a placement) is very low and this is attributed to the extensive work put into prior to placement;

(k)  Ofsted feedback highlights the following points:

·  Adoption is considered for all children, and is achieved for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Report of the Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources

Rav Kalsi, Senior Governance Officer, introduced the work programme for 2017/18 to the Committee. He outlined mandatory topics as prescribed in the terms of reference, items scheduled for 2017/18 and possible items for further discussion.

RESOLVED to schedule the following items for the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2017/18:

  i.  Safeguarding of looked after children in Nottingham

  ii.  Vulnerable Children (disability, domestic violence and missing children)

  iii.  Child Sexual Exploitation

  iv.  Educational attainment

  v.  Commissioning of services for children and young people in Nottingham

  vi.  Post Ofsted improvement journey

 vii.  Nottingham City Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report

viii.  School admissions and Place Planning

  ix.  Missing Children

  x.  Service provision for Young Carers in Nottingham

  xi.  Service Provision for Care Leavers in Nottingham

 xii.  Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and Dublin III Reunified Families

xiii.  Edge of Care Services

xiv.  CSE and Children with Special Educational Needs and Disability

 xv.  Effectiveness of Home Education in Nottingham

xvi.  Recruitment and Retention of Teachers in Nottingham

xvii.  Regional Schools Commissioner for East Midlands and Humber

xviii.  Secondary Education Provision – Funding and Place Planning