Agenda item

(To receive a report by Carolyn Knight, Head of Service - Quality and Standards and Principal Social Worker, which introduces the six-month report on the Independent Chair's Service)

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Service - Quality and Standards and Principal Social Worker, which provided a six-month update on the Independent Reviewing Service.

The service are working on a number of priorities for 2021/22, which include:

• Adapting to the ‘lessons learned’ as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, including offering people the choice to hold meetings virtually where appropriate. It was noted that there had been positive feedback by some parents and young people that had taken part in virtual meetings, therefore work had been carried out to ensure that the offer could remain for those who wished to partake virtually. 
• Improvements in the way that the service gather and analyse feedback and information received in order to better the individual service provided to young people and families.
• The introduction of a pre-birth protocol which would reduce the need for some parents to be subject to care proceedings once their child was born. It was acknowledged that this would reduce the expectations on the parents at a time when many other checks and procedures were being undertaken.
• The development of a sexual abuse pathway as a result of the low numbers of children on a sexual abuse plan. The pathway would look to use pre-existing work in a more coherent and strategic way and identify gaps in provision which needed to be addressed.
• Investigating ways to further engage partners in child protection conferences and child in care reviews as a result of recent research which had suggested that many cases of severe abuse had been at the hands of fathers.
• The Panel was advised that the independent reviewing service had been subject to a restructure which had resulted in the introduction of a separate team manager which would mean management capacity across the independent service. 

Overall, performance had remained consistently high across the service, despite challenges faced with Covid-19 and IT.

The Panel considered the report and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·       The Panel were pleased to see that there was still an opportunity for people to attend meetings and training if they wished to and if it was appropriate.

·       The Panel welcomed the work that was being undertaken to engage fathers with processes. It was suggested that men could often be excluded by current processes. Officers acknowledged the need for a culture shift and more work needed to be done to engage fathers which could hopefully lead to less instances of abuse. 

·       It was confirmed that in instances where it was difficult to engage both parents in the process, extended family would be consulted. The Council had a legal duty to explore and place the child within the family. Evidence showed that children do better when they are brought up within their family, including extended family and all family options would be exhausted before a child was placed into long term care or adoption.

RESOLVED:

1.      That consideration be given to the report and the comments made be noted;

That the priorities for 2020-21, as set out in the report, be endorsed.