Agenda item

(To receive a report from Tara Jones, Head of Service – Children in Care Transformation, which provides the Committee with an update of the Children in Care Transformation Programme)

Consideration was given to a report which provided Committee members with an update of the Children in Care (CIC) Transformation Programme.  It was reported that the Transformation Programme had been developed in response to the impact of the pandemic upon Children's Services to provide additional resource capacity to respond these challenges.  The ambition of the Children's Services CIC Transformation Programme was to ensure that the right help was provided to the right children at the right time and for the right duration.

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 the Early Help Assessment, it was queried who the partner agencies were and at what stage the County Council would get involved.  Members were advised the authority would become involved if any concerns raised reached the criteria of a safeguarding concern, and then an investigation would be undertaken.  It was highlighted that all partner agencies had a responsibility for safeguarding;

·         The Police was one of the statutory safeguarding partners and was trained in safeguarding matters, as well as having training in undertaking safeguarding assessments.  The authority would not get involved in some early help cases as it did not have the legal right to be involved.

·         It was suggested whether it would be useful to offer opportunities to members of the Committee to visit the Customer Service Centre so they could understand more about the types of calls which were received.  A number of councillors expressed an interest in doing this.

·         It was noted that the County Council trusted its partner professionals, who were aware of the processes through which any concerns could be escalated if necessary.

·         It was queried what action was being taken to manage the increased activity and the reduced foster carer placements which were available, and also what was being done to attract and train new foster families.  It was acknowledged that a rise in the numbers of children in care had been seen since the start of the pandemic.  However, most had been under five years of age and had been planned moves into care.  There had been challenges around foster care as some of the foster carers were vulnerable and so had been unable to take in any children during the pandemic.

·         A small percentage change between the in house foster care and private foster care could have a significant impact on the budget, as the cost per external resident placement had increased significantly as Lincolnshire was now competing with other authorities and so providers had raised their prices.  Some additional funding had been received to address this increase but this would remain a pressure for some time to come.

·         It was noted that the Ofsted inspection had highlighted the excellent support that the authority provided to foster carers.

·         It was commented that it was reassuring that the number of foster carer applications was starting to increase again, as it was important for children and young people to have suitable long term placements.

·         Support for foster carers was important, particularly enabling them to communicate with each other, as other foster carers may be experiencing similar issues.

·         It was clarified that the language audit was a piece of work which was carried out with young people in care about how they felt about the language used to reflect their journey through the care system.

·         It was commented that it would be useful for the Committee to receive an update on the development of the two new children's homes.  Members were advised that the reports would be coming to this Committee prior to the decisions being made.

RESOLVED

            That the Committee be assured of the purpose and progress of the Children in Care Transformation Programme.

(NOTE: The Committee adjourned for a short break at 11.30am, and resumed at 11.40am)