Agenda and minutes

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.

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.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 January 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 January 2011, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 51 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

An officer introduced a report which set out information relating to Children Looked After and Children with Child Protection Plans.  It also provided information on the outcomes for 16 and 19 year old looked after children.

In response to questions, officers advised that:

·                    in addition to raw statistics, officers would endeavour to compile a report from anecdotal cases to capture data relating to employment, education and training;

·                    the possibility of extending the scale of data beyond the past year would be looked into;

·                    a breakdown of the cohort that belonged to each demographic would be provided to a future meeting of the Panel.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

The Virtual Head Teacher (VHT), appointed by the Authority to promote the educational achievement of all the children looked after by the Council, introduced a report which set out the plans for 2011.

He advised that:

·                    the progress of young people was being monitored, with the emphasis being on the quality of work rather than quantity;

·                    schools in the borough had received good Ofsted reports and the standard of information being provided was of a very high standard;

·                    it was intended for meetings with Social Care professionals and Teachers to be more frequent and for them to become more heavily involved in supporting Children Looked After (CLA);

·                    the most challenging aspect for VHT’s was establishing how best to support and interact with CLA being schooled outside of the borough.

In response to questions, the VHT advised that:

·                    schools were aware of the need to maximise support for CLA during school hours;

·                    more work would be done to ensure that CLA were informed of who the members of staff they could approach for extra support within their particular school;

·                    moving children during the latter part of their schooling was avoided to make that period as least disruptive as possible.

Members of the Panel thanked the VHTs for all their hard work, adding that their progress was encouraging.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

An officer introduced a report which updated the Panel on the work of the Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO).

The officer advised that:

·                    IROs were not part of operational processes.  Data was gained through team meetings, informal discussions and surgeries that took place in Pinner Road;

·                    the role of IRO’s was to ensure good practice.  This was carried out through the inspection files, and by conducting formal audits.  Monthly management meetings also provided the opportunity to discuss any problematic themes resulting from audits;

·                    no matter had ever been elevated to the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS).

In response to a query, the officer advised that the questions within the questionnaire would be looked at, to ascertain whether they adequately targeted the information officers were attempting to gauge.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Verbal update of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

An officer provided a verbal update on the arrangements for the presentation stand on 14 April 2011. He advised that:

·                     the stall was intended to be set up by 6.30 pm in the lobby area outside the Council Chamber, prior to the Council meeting on 14 April 2011;

·                     an email would be sent to all Members of Council informing them of the stall;

·                     the stall would exhibit the latest information of the work carried out by Children’s Services.  It would also include pictures and flyers of recent events.

In response to questions, the officer advised:

·                     it was hoped that young people belonging to Young Voices would be attending the presentation, in addition to Members of Beyond Limits.

A Member of Beyond Limits updated the Panel on attending the launch of the Fostering Charter on 18 March at the County Hall, London.  He advised that the event was a positive experience, and that he was appreciative of the opportunity to be able to feed into the discussions on the Fostering Charter.

RESOLVED:  That the verbal update be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

The Chair advised that a Safeguarding Leaders Meeting had been established to keep the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive aware of any potential issues surrounding Safeguarding.  The informal group was set up to strengthen accountability. The Chair would feedback progress to Members of the Panel.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Which cannot otherwise be dealt with.

RESOLVED:  That the following issues be presented to a future meeting of the Panel:

·                    Activity & Performance;

·                    Leaving Care;

·                    Children in Need;

·                    Asylum Seeking Team.

A further update on the proposed new operating model for Children’s Services, which was due to go out for consultation in March 2011, would also be provided at a future meeting of the Panel.