Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Social Care introduced a report that provided a review of operational service developments, peer reviews and inspections over the 2014/15 financial year within the Complex Needs and Social Care Division (CNSC) of Children’s Services. The report also provided an overview of the local demand pressures and progress against the Ofsted single inspection improvement plan one year on.

It was noted that the predominant child protection issues the service was currently managing related to emotional abuse and the impact upon children where domestic violence was a factor within the household.  The proportion of children subject to child protection plans due to emotional abuse was around 60% for 2014/15, which was a decline on the 69% reported for 2013/14 but still higher than previous years and higher than in other boroughs.

In 2014/15, referral rates for families with no access to public funds (NRPF) had averaged three per week and family profiles had averaged 3 to 4 children (with implications for accommodation requirements).  As at 20 May 2015, there were 164 children allocated as NRPF cases for support.  The Cabinet Member advised that the continuing rate of referrals along with the length of time taken for the Home Office to resolve cases meant that the total number of allocated cases had increased whilst the number of cases closed had not kept pace.

The Cabinet Member also referred to issues including:

·  The continued impact of case law when considering permanency for children, which had resulted in the number of children earmarked for adoption falling from 46 in 2013/14 to 14 in 2014/15;

·  The impact of increased demand pressures in the past 12 months which had required the recruitment of additional agency staff.  The Cabinet Member clarified that whilst the agency staff support had greatly assisted it was important to reduce the reliance on agency staff and recruit permanent staff to reduce costs, and would be a key project under the Social Care Programme.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Schools referred to a statement in the report that the proportion of children subject to child protection plans due to emotional abuse was around 60% in 2014/15, which was higher than other boroughs.  The Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Social Care responded that he believed that it was related to the borough’s high domestic violence rate, where children lived in an environment where they witnessed domestic violence directly or indirectly and were, as a result, likely to suffer from emotional abuse.

The Cabinet Member for Finance referred to data within the report which showed that the number of contacts fell in 2012/13 but the number of referrals had risen.  The Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Social Care stated that there could be a variety of reasons why agencies felt there was a stronger need to refer children and work was being undertaken by the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) to ensure agencies were aware of the appropriate point to make referrals. The Corporate Director of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35