Agenda and minutes

To note the appointment of Councillor Janet Mote at the Cabinet meeting on 18 January 2007 as Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2006/2007.

RESOLVED:  To note the appointment of Councillor Janet Mote at the Cabinet meeting on 18 January 2007 as Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2006/2007.

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business transacted at this meeting.

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chairman to the Corporate Parenting Panel for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2006/2007.

RESOLVED:  To appoint Councillor Eric Silver as Vice-Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2006/2007.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:  That (1) in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the following item be admitted late to the agenda by virtue of the special circumstances and grounds for urgency detailed below:-

(2)  all items be considered with the press and public present.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received at this meeting under the provisions of the Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To note the Terms of Reference for the Corporate Parenting Panel agreed by Cabinet on 18 January 2007.

The Chairman welcomed Members and officers to this, the inaugural meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel.  The Panel noted its Terms of Reference, and considered how best to involve looked-after children, foster carers and designated teachers.

Officers suggested contacting:

·                     Harrow Foster Care Association to invite the nomination of two non-voting members of the Panel

·                     teachers to invite them to nominate one non-voting member.

The Panel was informed that many of the senior officers’ titles listed in the Terms of Reference had changed, with further amendments expected, owing to the Organisational Review. The Chairman asked officers to circulate a revised list to the Panel.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the Terms of Reference be noted;

(2) officers seek non-voting representatives of service users, carers and schools, as listed in the Terms of Reference, to attend meetings of the Panel;

(3) officers circulate to Members an up-to-date list of the names and job titles of the senior officers referred to in the Terms of Reference.

Verbal update

The Panel was invited to consider its work programme, and ways of working.  To inform the discussion, officers tabled a confidential sample Management Information Activity Report on looked-after children. This contained statistical information relating to looked-after children and highlighted 11 key performance indicators in line with DfES guidance.  The document had a traffic-lights system, with red indicating any area of concern.  Members found the report very useful, but asked also to see additional information on:

·                     the proportion of looked-after children placed outside the Borough and a comparison with other boroughs’ figures – Members noted that other boroughs’ figures were not widely accessible;

·                     the number of children with an allocated social worker;

·                     any useful predictions such as a forecast of the number of adoptions;

·                     brief anonymised circumstances around specific cases as identified by the Panel;

·                     GCSE results as soon as they were available, without waiting for validated results – Members noted that there was already a view about the predicted performance of the cohort.

Following discussion, the Panel agreed that it would be useful to have information for a given month, the previous month, the last year, the Outer London average and the projected performance target.  Members noted that some key performance indicators were not available on a monthly basis, e.g. GCSE results and school attendance figures.

The Panel also requested a programme of visits to homes of looked-after children, initially by Members of the Panel, with a view to possibly extending this to Councillors outside the Panel in order to highlight the issues covered by the Panel and of children in care.  It was noted that sensitivity was required when visiting homes, as these were the children’s homes.

The Chairman presented information produced by the London Borough of Barnet and suggested:

·                     looking at how the London Borough of Barnet had managed to increase the GCSE performance of looked-after children with a view to adopting the good practice;

·                     inviting a speaker from Barnet to come to talk to the Panel.

The work plan needed to identify the best way forward and how best to receive input from other officers and agencies.  Members agreed to intersperse formal meetings with informal meetings. 

Members agreed to hold the Panel meetings in the evening, as this was preferable for all Panel attendees and made it more attractive to guest speakers.

The issue of how to promote the work of this Panel would be discussed at a future meeting.

Officers agreed to draw up a list of:

·                     officers who wished to contribute to the work of the Panel;

·                     officers and organisations that would want to receive the Panel’s support and endorsement for their work.

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.