Agenda item

(To receive a report from Bryan Glover, Regional Adoption Agency Service Development Manager, which invites the Committee to consider a report on the Family Adoption Links – Regional Adoption Agency, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services between 14 and 25 September 2020)

The Chairman advised the Committee that this item was for pre-decision scrutiny, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services between the 14 and 25 September 2020.

The Chairman invited Bryan Glover, Regional Adoption Agency Service Development Manager to present the report to the Committee.  The Committee noted that Janice Spencer OBE, Assistant Director – Children's Safeguarding, was also in attendance for this item.

Attached at Appendix 1 was a copy of the report to the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services for the Committee to consider.  Appendix A to the Executive Councillor Report provided the Committee with the business case for the Regional Adoption Agency.

The Committee's views were sought on the formation of a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) between Lincolnshire County Council and Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council, Rutland Council and North Lincolnshire Council operating as a partnership under a contractual Inter-Agency Partnership Agreement under the title "Family Adoption Links".  The Executive Councillor Report also sought approval for the creation of an actual and a virtual pooled budget, as detailed in the report.

The Committee was advised that the reasons for the recommendation had been as a result of the government's policy and legislative agenda of promoting regional adoption agencies, with the aim of better targeting the recruitment of prospective adopters and speeding up the matching and placement of children for adoption.  The Committee noted that the proposed Family Adoption Links Partnership combined the expertise of five local authorities.  The Partnership also had a unique arrangement which would create a sustainable system, which would operate on a regional footprint, maximising resources, capacity and flexibility, which would then lead to improvements in service delivery, effective practice and long-term outcomes for children, whilst maintaining the independence of each individual Local Authority, enabling them to preserve their current arrangements.

The Committee was advised that the preferred option for a partnership aligning adoption services across the RAA footprint with one authority acting as lead.  It was noted that this preferred model addressed the Department for Education (DfE) requirements and maintained the key structures and accountabilities for each partner authority.

The report also provided the Committee with information relating to the proposed governance arrangements; the regional workforce, the financial implications; and the legal implications.

The Committee noted that the Partnership was developing the 'Family Adoption Links' regional brand, which would reflect the vision, mission, values and strategic outcomes of the Partnership. 

The Committee noted further that an interim Regional Head of Service responsible for the delivery of the RAA had been appointed who was Bryan Glover; and that Bryan would have a single line of accountability to the Management Board and would undertake a range of key functions across the partner Local Authorities. 

It was highlighted to the Committee that the hub and spoke model would still enable services to be delivered centrally, with minimal disruption.  The Committe noted that Lincolnshire County Council would establish an actual pooled budget that would be hosted by Lincolnshire on behalf of its partners to run the central office.

During discussion, Members of the Committee asked a number of questions, when the following points were confirmed:

·              It was encouraging to hear that the Council was learning from other organisations about where they had problems and where it had gone wrong, so that the same mistakes were not repeated, as this would affect vulnerable children and could lead to financial repercussions if there was an increased reliance on external placements;

·              The performance of the Regional Adoption Agency would be measured by a number of agreed performance measures including the length of time taken from permission to place to the placement happening; whether the Council had been able to place more complex children as a result of being in this arrangement; aligning the timescales to see if they could be improved; an increase in adopter recruitment; and an increase in matches. A key objective to achieve, moving forward, would be a wider matching pool from the adopters coming through to take more sibling groups, older children and children with more complex needs;

·              There would be no restrictions in placing children outside of the partner agencies involved in the Regional Adoption Agency. Neighbouring regional adoption agencies were being engaged with and there were already relationships in place with Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Ideally children would be place within Lincolnshire or with partners in the Regional Adoption Agency but sometimes placement in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire would be closer and a better match, and there were mechanisms in place to enable that through a broader Midlands partnership; and

·              The direct impact of Covid-19 on the project itself had been minimal as the focus was now leading up to the launch and the majority of the work had been completed within the partner authorities. However, Covid-19 had resulted in adoption panel meetings, preparation groups, and information evenings being held virtually. Feedback had been positive, particularly in relation to the virtual adoption panels, where adopters had highlighted that the virtual meetings had been less daunting to attend. Consideration would now be given to what could be done differently in future post Covid-19.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee extended thanks to the Regional Adoption Agency Service Development Manager for his informative presentation.

RESOLVED

1.        That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee unanimously agreed to support the recommendations to the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services as detailed in Appendix 1, on pages 27 and 28 of the report pack.

2.        The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee agreed that the points listed above should be forwarded on to the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services in relation to this item.