Issue - meetings
Looked After Children Placements - Outcome of the review and impact on FCC local policy
Meeting: 27/06/2024 - Joint Education, Youth & Culture and Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Item 4)
4 Care Closer to Home: Placement Commissioning Strategy for Looked After Children 
PDF 165 KB
To outline the outcome of the review and impact of FCC Local Policy.
Additional documents:
- Enc. 1 for Looked After Children Placements - Outcome of the review and impact on FCC local policy, item 4
PDF 1 MB
- Webcast for Care Closer to Home: Placement Commissioning Strategy for Looked After Children
Decision:
(a) That the committee support the progress made in delivering phase one of our ‘Care Closer to Home’ strategy.
(b) That a workshop for Elected Members was arranged in the Autumn 2024 to outline the new legislation, the context of current placement commissioning (often referred to as Out of County Placements) and to explore options for developing our strategic approach for placement commissioning and further development of in-house placement provision.
Minutes:
In presenting the report the Senior Manager (Children’s Services) commented that the draft had identified the current and projected population of looked after children. It provided an assessment of the support which was required and identified the Authority’s ambition to further develop in-house fostering and in-house residential children’s homes in Flintshire. Welsh Government (WG) were committed to eliminate private profit from the care of looked after children and the Authority had been clear in discussions with WG that there had to be a timeline with a funded programme which would ensure that it would be possible to deliver this under the requirements set out in legislation. The next phase was to work with Members to set out our ambition, establish what we want to provide as an Authority and to work with WG to ensure the revenue and resources were provided to support this.
In response to a question on agency foster carers, the Senior Manager agreed to take this back as an action and circulate the information to Members.
The recommendations within the report were supported.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the committee support the progress made in delivering phase one of our ‘Care Closer to Home’ strategy.
(b) That a workshop for Elected Members was arranged in the Autumn 2024 to outline the new legislation, the context of current placement commissioning (often referred to as Out of County Placements) and to explore options for developing our strategic approach for placement commissioning and further development of in-house placement provision.