Agenda item

The Assistant Director of Corporate Parenting presented a report to the Panel, which covered areas such as Performance Scorecard Visits, Supervisions and Pathway Plan Performance as well as Plans to address immunisations for Children Looked After (CLA) and Plans for the weeks ahead.

It was highlighted that in March 2024, 70.6% of children had an up-to-date immunisation.  This had fallen below SN and National Averages, therefore, an immediate plan had been put in place to address this.  CLA health team have sent letters to Carers / young people to encourage up to date health checks.  CLA health team tracked when children attended and completed the immunisations. 

It was noted that the report which highlighted at the end of June 2024, CLA with latest supervision in timescales was 56%, however the officer confirmed that due to the effort put in by the team and changes to expectations, this figure had increased to 90% by the end of July 2024.

It was confirmed that changes to the service are underway to increase participation of looked after and care leaver young people within Corporate Parenting Panel, which will support Members and senior officers to routinely hear the voice of children.  The plan included:

·                 Exploration of frequency and timing of Corporate Parenting Panel to make it more accessible to children and young people.

·                 Reframing the meeting as Corporate Parenting Board

·                 A focus on all Member Training regarding what it means to be a Corporate Parent

·                 A focus on reinvigorating the Children In Care Council, including comms opening the Children in Care Council to all Looked After and previously Looked After children, including Care Leavers

·                 Continued development of the Care Leavers Forum

·                 Creation of a Drop In Centre for Care Leavers and older Looked After Children

·                 Consideration of a Quality Mark awarded by Children and Young People when introducing new policies or approaches affecting Looked After Children and Care Leavers

·                 Review of the Pledge for Looked After Children

·                 Review of the Care Leavers Local Offer.

In response to a question, it was confirmed that Ofsted inspection should be every 3 years, we were found to be a good Authority in 2020.  However, due to the pandemic, there had been a backlog of inspections and some have been delayed.  It was also confirmed that annual engagement with Ofsted had not been disrupted, this continued as usual.

In response to the question about ethnic grouping, this will be confirmed at the next Panel.  However, work is undertaken to support different child’s needs as well as their culture and identity.  Social workers are skilled in working with young people closely, allowing them to support such children’s diverse identity needs. 

Discussion centred around timeline of fully implementation of plans, and it was noted that some of the processes such as identifying drop-in centre locations had already started and other areas such as pledge for Looked After Children to start by September 2024.

The Panel thanked the officer for the enhanced report and noted the high achievements of the team. 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.