The Chairperson opened the meeting and welcomed all in attendance. It was explained that Councillor Mike Jones had been appointed to the committee on 12 July and was unable to attend the meeting.

To receive apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Burbidge.

To receive details of members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a member of the committee.

There were no named substitutes.

To receive declarations of interest in respect of Schedule 1, Schedule 2 or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting on 11 March 2019.

The minutes of the meeting on 11 March 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Tuesday 9 July 2019.

Accepted questions and answers will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting. Please submit questions to: councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk. 

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Tuesday 9 July 2019.

Accepted questions and answers will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting. Please submit questions to: councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk. 

There were no questions from members of the council.

To consider the updated action plan to the corporate parenting strategy and receive a performance report against the objectives. To make recommendations to the cabinet member on the progress of the strategy during 2019/20.

The committee received a report by the cabinet member children and families which provided an annual update on the corporate parenting strategy. The report was introduced by the director children and families who explained that it concerned looked after children and good progress was reported with the introduction of an exemption for care leavers from council tax and the purchase of accommodation for care leavers. It was recognised that there remained some challenges which the strategy would seek to address in the forthcoming year including the educational attainment of care leavers.

The points below were raised by the committee in the debate that followed:

·         It was queried when the care leavers covenant would be available and if an update could be provided to the committee. The head of looked after children (HLAC) explained that it was likely that the covenant would be considered by Cabinet in September.

·         The latest number of looked after children was requested and the proportion with special education needs. The HLAC explained that a response would need to be provided with the data.

·         The issue of runaways and offending by looked after children was raised and the strategies in place at the council to deal with missing children including the provision of mentors. The HLAC explained that the report provided details of 32 children who went missing during the year which was in line with the rate of other local authorities. Mentoring schemes were available and return from missing interviews were conducted to attempt to understand the reasons why looked after children went missing. It was acknowledged that the increase in countylines activity had been a factor in some cases of missing children however it was explained that only a small number of looked after children were involved with the youth offending team.

·         Looked after children accessing mental health services was queried and what work was being undertaken to improve access. The HLAC explained that a business case was being developed by Wye Valley Trust to be considered by the CCG requesting additional resource to expand the LAC health team. Additionally  a multiagency group consisting of the looked after children health team, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and the counselling learning development trust (CLD Trust) was being established to ensure that looked after children had the right mental health support and that extra support was in place for foster carers.   

·         It was queried how many looked after children were placed out of county and whether the rate was increasing. The HLAC explained that 23% of looked after children were placed out of county at the time of writing of the annual report; this compared favourably to the English average of 40%. Some looked after children were just over the border but 13% were out of county and 20 miles away which compared to a national average of 15%. The trend to place looked after children out of county was decreasing and work was ongoing to increase fostering capacity in the county to continue this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive the annual reports from the fostering and adoption services and consider the outcomes and recommendations. To make recommendations to the cabinet member on the operation of the services during 2019/20.

The committee received a report by the cabinet member children and families which provided the annual reports from the fostering and adoption services. The report was introduced by the head of looked after children who explained that the annual reports showed that the two services were performing well. The council’s recent membership of the Adoption Central England (ACE) regional adoption agency was raised as a recent achievement but it was confirmed that the adoption service remained in Herefordshire.

The committee raised those points below in the discussion that followed:

·         The reasons for the decrease in adoption orders was queried? The HLAC explained that it was only a relatively small number of children that were the subject of an adoption order and was therefore prone to fluctuations. There was no one answer regarding a decrease in adoption orders but there were a variety of reasons why an adoption order was not appropriate for an individual child; it may not be appropriate for the child and the possibility of care from other family members was explored. The ADS&FS explained that viability assessments of family members to provide care were undertaken at an early stage.

·         How special guardianship arrangements were deemed appropriate and financial support for family members was queried. The HLAC explained that special guardianship arrangements could be appropriate for a child depending on their care plan. Financial support in line with the level paid to foster carers was provided to special guardians but with respect to adoption it was very unusual for an allowance to be paid and it was more likely that any financial support would assist initial set-up costs.

·         The issue of recruiting sufficient numbers of foster carers was raised and the recruitment and retention strategy currently in place was queried. The HLAC explained that work was ongoing with communications at the council on a campaign which included use of social media to target potential foster carers. The campaign had increased the number of enquiries and applications. With respect to retention the children’s social work manager explained that work was ongoing to investigate the support provided to carers and there was a review of the fees and allowances paid.

·         The training that was provided to foster carers was queried and how training was kept relevant and up to date without over burdening carers. A briefing note covering the training that was undertaken was requested. Themed training was undertaken and online training. Mandatory training was provided in order to keep carers up to date and upskilling was also important with training in areas such as understanding attachment and trauma. The ADS&FS explained that foster carers were caring for the most vulnerable children in the county therefore it was essential that their training was kept up to date.

·         The lack of capacity in the occupational therapy service at the Wye Valley Trust (WVT) was raised and the need for the purchase of private assessments on a case-by-case basis. It was proposed that the scrutiny committee write to the WVT  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider and agree the work programme for the children and young people scrutiny committee for 2019/20.

The committee considered its work programme for 2019/20. In addition to the items of business listed on the schedule it was proposed that a spotlight review concerning peer-on-peer sexual harassment and abuse was convened in the autumn and a scoping document brought to the next meeting of the committee.

It was proposed that a task and finish group concerning child exploitation was convened and a scoping document brought the next meeting of the committee. It was felt that the task and finish group should include child slavery, child sexual exploitation and online exploitation.

The committee proposed and seconded those recommendations below.

RESOLVED: That the committee agrees:

·         The work programme 2019/20 as attached to the agenda;

·         The convening of a spotlight review in autumn 2019 to focus on peer-on-peer sexual harassment and abuse with a scoping document to be presented to the meeting on 16 September 2019.

·         The convening of a task and finish group concerning child exploitation with a scoping document to be presented to the meeting on 16 September 2019.

The next meeting of the children and young people scrutiny committee takes place on 16 September 2019 at 10.15 a.m.