Questioner:

Eddy Parkinson

Scrutiny Meeting:

September 2023

Supplementary Question:

I draw attention to the last sentence of the response. 

‘Everyone with significant contact with children’. 

I ask the council to define ‘significant’ in relation to contact with children. Is this based on hours? Is there a policy the council uses? 

Thank you 

Response: Delivered by Councillor Ivan Powell during the meeting.

Councillor Powell thanked Mr Parkinson for his original and supplementary questions and stated:

“Significant in the context of the question refers to those members of staff who would have direct face-to-face contact with children. Many children’s services colleagues do have indirect contact with families, where an enhanced DBS (disclosure and barring service) check may not be required. The numbers of hours worked is not a factor in this process and the requirement for an enhanced DBS is written into all job descriptions for members of staff who are expected to have direct face-to-face contact with children.”

Questioner:

Rachel Gallagher

Scrutiny Meeting:

September 2023

Supplementary Question:

"On the 18th August 2023, CJ, an information governance officer for Herefordshire Council responded to a Freedom of Information request regarding a Reunification Policy. She confirmed that there is NO policy currently in place and no timescales for when it will be completed.

Without a policy, procedures lack clarity and consistency. Without this policy, parents do not know what's expected of them, social workers don't know when to use the procedure and no one knows why it should be implemented and when. Therefore, children are not being returned to their parents and remain in care.

With no policy in place to ensure this procedure is used, even when recommended by independent social workers, how are you reducing the number of children in care?"

Response: Delivered by Councillor Ivan Powell during the meeting.

Councillor Powell thanked Ms Gallagher for her original and supplementary questions and stated:

“In response to the original question we referenced our reunification practice guidance and that forms part of the overall permanence policy for the council. The freedom of information request referred specifically to the reunification policy, we acknowledge that we should have referred specifically to that reunification practice guidance, we would like to apologise for any misunderstanding that many have been caused by that.

Children in care have an independent review officer, who chairs children looked after reviews, where the care plan, including the plan for permanency is considered. There is an a established permanence panel, which ensures that there is an appropriate permanence plan in place and this includes children who are potentially suited to a plan of reunification. There is also a permanency champion in post, who has a dedicated team of social workers, specifically focusing on the discharging of care orders and supporting children to go home to the care of their parents and or family members where this is in their best interest and is in line with their care plan.”

Questioner:

Hannah Currie

Scrutiny Meeting:

September 2023

Supplementary Question:

To quote from your response to my original public question:

“An Independent Visitor is a volunteer who befriends and visits a child or young person living in the care of the Local Authority. Independent Visitors can provide support, advice and guidance as well as positively engaging with the child or young person in activities.”

Therefore, it is fair to assume that Independent Visitors are very beneficial to children and young people in care.  Arguably, they have a safeguarding role as they are independent of foster parents etc.  It is disappointing to hear that of the 396 children in care (at 18/9/23), 372 (94%) do not have an Independent Visitor.

The council has responsibilities as a Corporate Parent.

How will you be recruiting for more Independent Visitors and by when will all children and young people in its care who are mature enough (usually from age 5) be offered and encouraged to have an Independent Visitor?

Response:

Written response to follow.

Questioner:

Ms Reid, Herefordshire

Scrutiny Meeting:

September 2023

Supplementary Question:

The Team around the Family (TAF) seems a positive approach and I welcome the roll out of Family Group Conferences (FGCs).  I suggest you do “market research” on them fairly soon.

Prioritising use of FGCs (eg children “in need”) is sensible.

From the website of the council’s improvement-partner, Leeds City Council:

“Referrals for FGCs are mainly made through the child or young person’s social worker or Early Help Lead Worker.”

When will the council extend the use of FGCs to children (and families) supported by Early Help?

Also from Leeds’s website:

“Each FGC is coordinated by an accredited FGC coordinator, who is independent from the social work service or other services. The coordinator is neutral, with no case management or decision making responsibilities.

I hope the council’s FGC Coordinators are truly independent?

Response: Delivered by Councillor Ivan Powell during the meeting.

Councillor Powell thanked Ms Reid for her original and supplementary questions and stated:

“We do not yet, as a council, have a firm timeline to extend the use of family group conferences to children and families supported by early help. Our priority as we expand our service at this stage, is to focus on children and families on the edge of care and for whom reunification is a possibility. We’ve spoken to our partners in Leeds and they have explained it did take them a number of years to get to the position that they are now in and that is where family group conferences are being offered as widely as they are in Leeds. We are working closely with them to learn from their experience and obviously to try and speed up our expansion efforts. Our family group conference coordinators are independent of the case management, as they are in Leeds, and that future service redesign - expected early next year - will further reinforce that position.”