Issue - meetings

(a)       That the details of the report and the developments that had taken place and were underway in relation to the discharge of the Local Authority’s duties in respect of safeguarding and promoting positive outcomes for looked after children be acknowledged; and      

(b)       That an update report be provided to a future meeting of the Committee on improvements to the service that were being considered.                  

The Senior Manager: Commissioning and Performance introduced a report to provide Members with a progress update on the implementation of the key findings after the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) Safeguarding and Care Planning of Looked After Children.  The report also provided an update on the demands on Children’s Services and how these were being managed. 

                        The Senior Manager advised that he was presenting the report on behalf of the Senior Manager Children’s Lead as she was unable to attend this meeting.  He detailed the background to the report and explained that CSSIW had undertaken a national thematic inspection that focussed on Safeguarding and Care Planning of looked after children and care leavers, who exhibited vulnerable or risky behaviours.  All 22 Welsh local authorities had been inspected with the findings of each of these inspections captured in a national overview report.  The final conclusions of the inspection were set out in the report in the form of a number of questions asked about practice and processes within the local authority.  The report provided an overview of the key developments the service had taken in response to those key questions. 

            Question 1 – Did the authority effectively discharge its corporate parenting roles and responsibilities promoting the stability, welfare and safety of looked after children and care leavers? 

                        The Senior Manager explained that a number of key activities had been undertaken by the authority, which were detailed in the report and included Bi-monthly Children’s Services Forum, annual Climbie visits, regular scrutiny reports and the Annual Pride of Flintshire event.  On the role of a dedicated Participation Officer, he said that the service was proud to have been able to retain the role and recruit Gwenan Roberts to the post.  The Senior Manager spoke of the work that had been undertaken and the relationship that the Participation Officer had built up with the looked after children (LAC) and care leavers.  He also spoke of the comments made by the Children’s Commissioner following her visit to the Pride of Flintshire awards about how impressed she was that the children and young people had led the day. 

                        The performance in relation to promoting outcomes for looked after children and care leavers had been positive throughout 2014/15 with a notable improvement in respect of educational outcomes.  The Senior Manager felt that some areas could still be improved and added that a dedicated LAC nurse had now been appointed which would assist in improving the timeliness of health assessments.  He commented on the issue of placement instability which had increased slightly in 2014/15 and explained that this was an area where further work was needed.  The Resources Service Manager advised that a number of key learning outcomes had been identified and processes had been put in place which included working more closely with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) colleagues and also officers being more proactive. 

                        The Senior Manager spoke of the need to strengthen the links with the early intervention service and advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22