Agenda and minutes

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

RESOLVED:  To note there were none.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interest made by Members

That the minutes of the meeting held on 1^st February 2024 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 Febrary 2024 be taken as a read and signed correct record.

To receive any public questions received.

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions if 3.00 pm, 13^th March 2024.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors.

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received.

To receive deputations (if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that deputations were received.

Update from Participation Officer.

The Panel heard a presentation from the Participation Officer which outlined the achievements occurred in 2024:

·                 17 young people were connected with free gym memberships

·                 Delivered an ‘experts by experience’ training session, run by three care-experienced young adults, for international and Newly-Qualified Social Worker.

·                 Hosted three events and activities for Children Looked After (CLA), this included the first 18+ outing exclusively for care leavers

·                 Rolled out Transport for London’s 18-25 Care Leaver Discount to over 250 care-experienced young adults.

·                 Begun to roll out NHS North-West London’s free prescriptions incentive to care-experienced young adults.

It was confirmed that in February 2024, the Care-Experienced Celebration event was held. Children and teenagers were recognised by their Social Workers for exceptional school attendance; resilience in the face of adversity; fantastic academic achievements; sporting successes; demonstrating curiosity and trying new things; and being a role model to others.  This event included a silent disco, balloon-modelling, face-painting, arts and crafts, a photobooth and a wood-fired pizza van for young people.

Discussion centred around events and it was confirmed that these events were over subscribed and included 30 children.  Events were organised for different age groups and different range of activities.

The Panel appreciated the hard work involved to organise such events and thanked the team for their dedication.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Update from Director of Children Services.

The Panel received a presentation from the Assistant Director of Corporate Parenting that highlighted a number of areas, which included Performance Scorecard, Demographic profile of Children Looked After (CLA), Visits, Supervisions and Pathway Plan timeliness, Practice Week and Pan London Care Leaver Compact.

From the last quarter, there were an increase of 9 young people who had at least 1 missing episode, with a total of 30 children looked after who had at least one missing episode in the year.

The panel asked for more information on missing children, including how quickly return home interviews had taken place, and an analysis of risk for those children who were missing.

In relation to performance of visits and supervisions carried out in timescale, children not seen is reviewed weekly. 80% of children looked after had been visited within 4 weeks.  There were an increased focus across the service on supervisions, with a goal for 100% to be completed within timescale.

Members requested to have an additional analysis of pathway plan and care plans and the reasons why children may not have an update to date plan and how long children have not had a care plan.

Harrow held its first Practice Week, which commenced in March 2024 consisted of a panel of care experienced young people who interviewed the Managing Director, Leader of the Council, Lead Member for Children’s Services and the Director of Children’s Service.  It was felt that this was an important part of developing and promoting Corporate Parenting Duties across the Council.

Strategic leaders were committed to improving leaving care services in line with the Children and Social Work Act (2017) corporate parenting principles. Key actions from this week are to be summarised and shared.

The Panel thanked the officer for a detailed report.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Presentation from Coram Voice Officer.

The Panel welcomed a presentation from the Children's Rights Services Manager at Coram Voice, who were part of a group of charities.  The main purpose of the advocacy were that advocates empowered children and young people to make sure that their rights were respected, and their wishes and feelings were heard.  It was confirmed that the advocacy were independent, confidential and child-led.

Most of the feedback from Children were positive, which included:

·                 My confidence had grown. I learned a lot about being assertive about what I wanted to say, and delivered it in a better way

·                 I felt that I can manage on my own

·                 My Advocate really listened to me

22 Young people aged between 6-23 years old in Harrow had received advocacy.  This included 9 who considered themselves disabled and 15 identified as male.

It was stated that the advocacy also included independent visiting, which continued until the child’s 21^st birthday.  It was highlighted that:

·                 4 children and 7 volunteers were on the waiting list to be matched

·                 9 volunteers had nearly finished their on-board process

·                 14 new volunteer applications received since October 2023.

The Panel thanked the officer for a detailed and informative presentation.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Update from Children and Young People Services.

The Panel welcomed a presentation from the Interim Head of Service Quality Assurance that confirmed the Independent Review offices’ report (IRO) for CLA in Harrow.  In 2022/2023 there were 188 CLA, which increased to 195 in October 2022, which dropped to 179 in March 2023.  A total of 542 Reviews were conducted by March 2023, this showed a slight decrease of 3.7%.

It was confirmed that:

·                 8.6% of CLA in Harrow were under the age of 1 years old and 39% were over 16 years old.

·                 78.4% of children and young people over the age of 4 participated in their review and overall less than 10% did not participate.

·                 With regards to social worker visits, 76% took place within timescale.

·                 85% of children and young people had an up-to-date Health Assessment at the time of their review.

·                 100% of children and young people had an up-to-date Personal Education Plan at the time of their review.

The Panel thanked the Officer for the presentation.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Update from Virtual School Headteacher.

The Panel received a presentation on the Performance of the Harrow Virtual School from the Headteacher for CLA

Members were informed of the Drawing and Talking practitioner, this consisted of a young person who was introduced to this therapeutic intervention.  It involved 30 minutes once a week and lasted over 12 sessions.  The young person was encouraged to draw and talk, the practitioner used a storytelling language.  This was a confidential session with a trained practitioner.  Many positive outcomes had resulted from such sessions.

The Virtual Headteacher highlighted that in Year 11:

·                 40% of students were predicted to achieve 5 or more GSCE passes.

·                 Nearly half of the cohort were predicted to pass with at least 1 GSCE.

·                 47% of students were predicted to obtain a good English grade.

·                 7 students have had an education health care plan.

The presentation highlighted a clear signposted route for NEET which had resulted in a positive outcome, 2 young person were in apprenticeship posts.  The figure in January 2024 were 21 young people, which reduced to 19 by end of February 2024.

The Panel thanked the officer for a comprehensive report and noted the positive outcome.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Update from the Named Nurse.

The named Nurse for Children Looked After (CLA) in Harrow presented the report which confirmed the key performance indicators for CLA in Harrow.

It was noted that the main contributor for Health assessments conducted outside if timescales were due to late requests.  7 out of 12 requests for Initial Health Assessments were received outside timescales.  3 of the 7 late requests were seen in timescales.

15 out of 32 requests for Review Health Assessments were received outside timescales.  11 out of the 15 late requests were completed in timescales.

The Panel heard a positive case study where a young person arrived in the UK from a war-torn country.  He had experienced unimaginable trauma, parents were killed and he had lost contact with his older siblings.  Health assessments were carried out with care and this case was referred to social workers, key worker as well as the Red Cross.  The Young Person felt supported and is in regular contact with his social worker.

The Panel thanked the Named Nurse and acknowledged the importance of working as a team with other departments/organisations to help support vulnerable Young People.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.