Agenda item

(To receive a report by Janice Spencer, Assistant Director – Children's Safeguarding, which provides key performance information for Quarter 3 2020/21 which is relevant to the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel)

Consideration was given to a report which provided key performance information for quarter 3 2020/21 that was relevant to the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel.

It was reported that seven of the 14 measures which related to Children in Care were outside of the target set by the services.

In relation to the 'Fostering/adoption of LAC aged 10-<18 years old' measure, it was noted that whilst 76.8% was under target, it was still strong performance.  Performance in this area was being impacted by the pandemic as fostering options were reduced.  There had also been a concentrated focus on reunifying children with their birth families this year.

It was noted that the length of placement measure had improved, but it was still below target.  The measures related to number of routine immunisations and up to date dental checks were also below target, but this was very much linked to the pandemic, and the NHS not being in a position to deliver the regular immunisations or regular dental treatment.  It was however, noted that any child that had needed emergency dental treatment had received it.  It was also reported that confirmation had been received that GP practices would be prioritising vulnerable children as services returned to normal.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:-

·         In relation to care leavers in employment, education or training, it was queried what the Council could do to encourage its contractors to take on apprentices who were care leavers and whether this could be reported to the Panel.  Officers agreed that this could be added in to future reports. 

·         It was noted that some children had returned to their birth families, and it was confirmed that care orders could be removed to allow this.  This would be risk assessed to ensure it was appropriate for the child to return, and the family network would be examined and a support package would be put in place.  However, the reduced capacity in the court system had meant that fewer care orders had been removed.

·         It was commented that there had been fewer moves for foster children due to the restrictions and foster carers had been able to work through issues, and it was queried whether some lessons had been learned which could help with reducing placement moves in the future.  The Panel was advised that new ways of working had been found and a blended approach was now being developed.  It was noted that some foster carers had really valued the Zoom meetings with their supervising social workers as they had been able to take place more regularly.  Caring 2 Learn had also had a big impact as well as the support that foster carers had found with each other (e.g. WhatsApp groups/Facebook groups) and it was hoped that these were things which would continue.

·         In relation to some of the other performance measures which have not reached target due to Covid-19, such as those in education, employment or training and dental check-ups, it was queried how long until that performance would settle down, as next year's performance would be compared to 2020's data.  It was suggested that there was also a need for caution as performance may not immediately return to pre-Covid-19 levels.  It was noted that with regards to recovery, it was difficult to know when performance would start to return to normal, but once there was access to dental appointments and immunisation appointments, every effort would be made to get the young people seen.  The concern was for care leavers in employment, education and training, but there was support from elected members and the Corporate Leadership Team to put additional support into Barnardo's for the next 12 months, and work was underway to explore what the key performance indicators would be in the future.

RESOLVED

            That the Corporate Parenting Panel note the performance information contained within the appendices of the report.