Agenda item

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 Children’s Services suggested further reasons for the increase such as the publication of serious case reviews impacting upon agencies’ decisions to make referrals, the practices within certain agencies (for example the use of Police Protection powers in the borough in 2013/14) and the confidence held by agencies in Children’s Services.  She added that it was common for a spike in referrals to occur when a local authority introduced a MASH and the latest data suggested that the numbers had started to decrease.

The Corporate Director of Children’s Services took on board the Cabinet Member’s suggestion that sessions be set up to give all councillors the opportunity to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by Children’s Services and the successes achieved.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the service improvement and challenges set out in the report, and the actions taken last year in response to local demand, the OFSTED inspections of services and the financial pressures experienced by the service;

(ii)  Note the following key priorities for 2015/16, determined after analysis and review of 2014/15:

·  Improving services and outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and their families.

·  Earlier intervention and prevention through the Prevention Service and via close operational relationships with colleagues providing targeted and universal support, to reduce the demand on social care and drive down referral rates and the need for child protection plans.

·  Reducing the numbers of children in care and the cost of their provisions.

·  Minimising the duration of Child Protection Plans.

·  Strengthen means of engagement with young people and their families so that they can ‘shape’ future services to improve effectiveness and reduce the number of families needing social care support.