Venue: The Auditorium - Harrow Council Hub, Kenmore Avenue, Harrow, HA3 8LU
Contact: Sonia Karimzada E-mail: sonia.karimzada@harrow.gov.uk
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Attendance by Reserve Members To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-
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Declarations of Interest To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: To note that there were no declarations of interest made by Members |
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That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2024 be taken as read and signed as a correct record. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on14 October 2024 be taken as a read and signed as a correct record. |
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Public Questions 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 is 3.00 pm, 8January 2025. Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk No person may submit more than one question]. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: To note that no public questions were received. |
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Petitions To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: To note that no petitions were received. |
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Deputations To receive deputations (if any). Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: To note that no deputations were received. |
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Resolved Items Additional documents: |
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Update from Participation Service and Care Experience Young People Update from the Participation Officer Additional documents: Minutes: The Participation Officer delivered a presentation, informing Members of the following achievements in 2024. revived the Care-Experienced Celebration, hosting the first ceremony since 2019 curated CREATE, the Art Exhibition, for the second year, featuring nearly fifty artworks and poems from ten care-experienced artists.
• Travelled to the Isle of Wight for five days and four nights – enjoyed the first-ever Residential Holiday. • Hosted an Eid al-Fitr meal at the Hub • Collaborated with Coram and Care Leavers Forum. • Facilitated four interviews between care-experienced young people and senior leaders, as part of Practice Week • Held the first event exclusively for our unaccompanied asylum-seeking cohort.
It was confirmed that this diverse programme of events would be continued during 2025. Training would be expanded to include newly qualified Social Workers as well as international Social Workers during April 2025. It was highlighted that funding from various foundations supported these activities including pantomime tickets donated by Councillor Shah-Levy.
The Care Experience Representative shared her personal current case came to an end, and she shared her experience with Panel members. The experience was described as bittersweet. It was a positive experience where many conversations took place with her Personal Adviser (PA) that made the transition easier. She felt that her case was closed in the best way possible, which would give hope to other children in care.
Discussion centred around improvement and the care experience representative confirmed that communication and engagement could be improved between PA’s and young people, when PA’s change. It was highlighted that the bond between PA’s and young people could be improved. This would be beneficial across the board. It was also noted that it would be beneficial for PA’s and young people to connect outside of the usual office environment such as leisure activities, where their relationship would enhance.
In response to a question about on-going support after cases are closed, it was confirmed that support is available, such as financial support, this included travel expenses, medical prescription, which led young people to feel supported and not abandoned after cases are closed. It was also confirmed that support was not stopped once cases have been closed.
The Chair and Members thanked the officer for a positive report and was delighted to hear a positive experience from the care experience representative.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Presentation from the Assistant Director - Corporate Parenting / Children in Need. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair welcomed the new Assistant Director of Corporate Parenting to the Panel, who presented a report, which confirmed that Corporate Parenting Service had three social work teams who worked with children and young people with a care plan of long-term fostering, special guardianship or adoption, and all unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and care leaving services until the age of twenty-five.
The report outlined the seven pledges to children in care, with plans to develop a specific pledge for care leavers. and the officer confirmed that development would be made to create a pledge for care leavers.
It was noted that due to Ofsted inspection the Corporate Parenting Members’ training that was scheduled to take place this week had been postponed to February.
It was noted that were 168 young people in care, which was a stable number for the Harrow compared to 188 in 2021/2022. There were 310 care leavers in Harrow. The performance statistics indicated that Harrow is above the national average with stability for children, where there were minimal movement of children from one home to another. The statistic indicated that the timeliness of reviews had decreased. It was confirmed that Children placed more than 20 miles away from home had increased from 23.6% to 26.2%, this could be due to safeguarding issues at home as well as adoption.
It was noted that 7 children were adopted and 3 orders of adoption in place. The characteristics of Looked After Children have remained the same such as ethnicity and gender.
Discussion focused around fostering and the officer confirmed that 78 people lived within Harrow’s fostering provision and 28 lived within the independent fostering sector. There were support structures, and a mockingbird project was in place to aid with Foster Carer recruitment, new carers would be recruited as well as retaining current foster carers. This continued to be a challenge as nationally there was a decline of 2,154 in fostering households, while the number of children in care increased by 2,855. It was noted that foster carers were an aging group, it was suggested that foster carers would be targeted in different ways, targeting local mosques and religious building that could attract carers, understanding the drive and demographics of the area. Foster carers maybe inclined to approach independent agencies rather than the local authority, this could be due to perception, which will be scrutinised by the Officer. Benefits are offered to foster carers, and this would be highlighted along with support that would be available.
The Chair thanked the Officer for an enhanced report and would like to see statistical comparisons.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Feedback from Harrow Foster Carers Verbal Update from the Fostering & Adoption Team Manager Additional documents: Minutes: The feedback from Harrow foster carers was presented to Members alongside the Corporate Parenting Service report and the minutes of this are detailed above. Additional comments highlighted the range of support available, including access to a psychologist.
The panel thanked the officer for the report.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Being a Corporate Parent in Action Verbal Update from the Assistant Director – Corporate Parenting / Children in Need. Additional documents: Minutes: The Assistant Director of Corporate Parenting highlighted the importance of identifying the different strategies used to support foster parents, carers and young people.
Members suggested incorporating training/guidance sessions for councillors before other council meetings. These would be an engaged/interacted event for both young people, councillors and officers.
It was proposed that Virtual Schools collaborate with the Participation Officer and assistant director for Corporate Parenting to provide training to young people.
The Chair and Members all agreed to the collaboration of different organisations to further support children in care.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Update and Performance on Health for Children Looked After Presentation from the Named Nurse for Harrow Additional documents: Minutes: The Officer introduced the New Head of Service for Children CNWL. The Named Nurse presented a report to the Panel that confirmed:
· 20/24 (83.3%) of requests for Initial Health Assessment (IHA) were received outside timescales. 4 of the 20 late requests were seen in timescales.
· The main factor contributing to completing Review Health Assessment (RHA) outside of timescale are carers declining appointments and young people not attending.
· 16/30 (53.3%) requests for RHA were received outside timescales. 7 out of the 16 late requests were completed in timescales.
· Efforts to address delays included regular liaison with social workers, senior managers, and carers, as well as reminder calls to promote engagement.
The team attended a Designated Teacher forum and delivered an update on Children Looked After, which was well received. There were plans in place to attend the Foster Cares Support Network to raise awareness and present on health-related issues such as sexual health.
A positive case study was shared about a 16-year-old female dealing with trauma, bereavement, and potential drug use. The Designated Nurse’s intervention improved the young person’s school attendance and behaviour as well as the agreement of virtually attending their RHA. This was an on-going case, and the officer will be working closely with the social worker and the young person.
The Chair thanked the Named Nurse for a positive report and improvement with the case study.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Virtual School Performance Update Presentation from the Virtual School Headteacher Additional documents: Minutes: The Virtual School Headteacher presented the Panel with a report that confirmed:
· 78 students were on roll at Statutory School Age (SSA). · 74% (58/78) of students had been in care for 1 year or longer. · 93% of students attended schools which were Ofsted rated as ‘Good’ or better. · 41% (32/78) of students had an EHCP. · 40% of students have been identified as having social, emotional and mental health challenges. · Personal Education Plan (PEP) returns remain at 100%. · 44% (34/78) of students were educated outside of Harrow and attended schools across 22 local authorities.
It was noted that over the years the CLA number of statutory school age (5-16yrs) had declined, although the overall CLA population had increased the cohort for Virtual School had declined. This had affected the Virtual Schools budget, there had been a gradual decline as last year there were 84 students, and the year prior had 102 students. Financially the School had lost approximately £70,000 this year due to the decline in numbers of students. It was confirmed that the premium was £2570 per child which had been given direct to the school.
In certain cases, children placed in schools outside Harrow were prioritised for interventions. For example, when an urgent Educational Psychologist (EP) assessment was required and there were delays in the host local authority, the Virtual School's EP visited the child to carry out the assessment.
Discussion also focused on training and apprenticeships. It was highlighted that the team organised an event promoting pathways to higher education. Students were provided with information on bursaries, scholarships, university transitions, and wellbeing support, all of which were well-received by attendees.
In response to a question, the Virtual Schools Headteacher confirmed that once a child was enrolled in the Virtual School, they are assessed, and tailored support is provided. This includes Personal Education Plans (PEPs) and tuition. PEP meetings also offered students opportunities to discuss their wellbeing and mental health, helping them identify areas for improvement and progress in their education.
The Virtual School had collaborated with other educational institutions to support students through apprenticeship schemes and work experience opportunities.
The Chair thanked the Officer for the report.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |