To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Clare Davies, Councillor Rob Williams and Jan Frances.

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

Councillor Richard Thomas substituted for Councillor Rob Williams.

To receive declarations of interests 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 receive the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 12 March 2024.

[Papers to follow]

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Questions received and responses given are attached as appendix 1 to the minutes.

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

No questions were received from members of the council.

For the Chair to communicate or receive updates on any work and activity relevant to the committee’s remit.

The Statutory Scrutiny Officer provided updates on:

-       a scrutiny working day for 30 May 2024 to look at and consider the work of the council over the next 12 months.

-       a thematic work programming meeting on 26 June 2024

-       a visit to the MASH with dates to be confirmed.

The Service Director for Corporate Parenting gave an overview of the report and presented a series of slides providing an introduction to fostering. The key areas covered during the presentation were:

·         Introduction to Herefordshire Fostering Service

·         Staffing in the Service

·         Service Re-Alignment

·         Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team

·         Fostering Recruitment Developments

·         Connected Persons and Special Guardian Team

·         Fostering Support Team

·         The Home Finding Team

·         Herefordshire Fostering Panel

The Chair invited comments and questions from The Committee, the principle points of discussion are summarised below:

1.       The Committee explained it had invited comments from foster carers, a sample part of a statement was read out, which highlighted the frustration of a foster carer couple who had handed their notice in due to their concerns about the handling of children’s care not being listened to or acted on.

2.       The Committee raised concerns about approved carers with no placements being ready to go, but not getting any placements, and raised the question of who was responsible for placement allocation and how the process worked.

3.       The Committee suggested that the voice of the carer was not always heard and that there were historic instances involving complaints where the word of children and social workers had been believed over foster carers with 30 years of fostering experience.

4.       The Committee emphasised the need for additional fostering support workers.

5.       The Committee highlighted a need to ensure that the system for council tax exemption for kinship carers treated existing carers fairly and that kinship carers were paid a fair amount for the work they carried out.

o   The Service Director for Corporate Parenting explained that the issues around council tax exemption for kinship carers had been brought to their attention two days after starting in the role on 8 April 2024. Meetings regarding how to address the differentials between kinship and foster carer council tax exemptions had taken place with the chief executive and cabinet member and a report on the matter was expected on 16 May 2024.

o   The Service Director expressed disappointment at the negative feedback the Committee had received from foster carers. A number of consultation groups had been held during the drafting of the improvement plan and it was acknowledged that improvements and developments were starting from a very low base.

o   The Service Director pointed out that the previous Interim Head of Service had met with as many foster carers as was possible in order to hear directly from them. This information had been escalated and it was acknowledged that there was a real need to rebuild trust and confidence within the service.

o   Rebuilding trust and confidence in the service was an ongoing process and feedback would continue to be invited. Assurance was given that when difficult truths were highlighted the service would listen to and respond to them.

o   Supervising social workers who are qualified social workers were expected as a national minimum requirement, but the service had and was looking to recruit additional support workers.

6.       The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 203.

To consider the work programme for the committee.

The committee would be holding a work programming session on 26 June 2024.

Thursday 13 June 2024 2.00pm

Thursday 13 June 2024, 2pm