Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2016.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 21 July 2016 had

been circulated to Members with the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

(a)       That the commitment to recruit additional Foster Carers be endorsed; and;

(b)       That the proposals to develop a National Fostering Service and seek a report on the implications  of the Service for Flintshire once these are known be noted.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to provide an update on the Corporate Parenting and Fostering Strategies.  He introduced, Karen Edwards, Team Manager Children’s First Contact,  and Janet Bellis, Service Manager, to the meeting.  The Chief Officer referred to the  Authority’s commitment to develop a unified Corporate Parenting Strategy and advised that the starting point would be to establish what was important to looked after children.  He also advised that the Welsh Government (WG) had endorsed a principle to develop a national framework for the delivery of fostering services to ensure the best quality foster care placements are available to all children and young people who need them.  He explained that the approach to developing a National Fostering Framework recognised the benefit of delivering some fostering services on a national and regional level whilst retaining the advantages of localism and local accountability.  

The Chief Officer invited the Senior Manager Children and Workforce to give an overview of the main considerations as detailed in the report.  The   Senior Manager Children and Workforce reported that during the Autumn the Authority would work with the Participation Forum to develop a range of approaches to establish what looked after children expect from their Corporate Parents and how they would like this to be delivered.  He said that Members would be invited to attend a Task and Finish Group in early 2017,  as Corporate Parents themselves to input directly into the development of the content of the Strategy document.

The Senior Manager Children and Workforce referred to the positive inspection of Flintshire’s fostering service which had taken place in 2015 and advised that whilst Flintshire does well to attract foster carers there are challenges in ensuring a sufficient number of skilled foster carers to support older children and teenagers, including those with challenging behaviour.  He explained that Flintshire was proactively working at a local, regional, and national level to maximise the number of foster carers to meet local need.  The Senior Manager Children and Workforce explained that as part of the strategy to increase foster carers proposals are being developed for Flintshire County Council to become a ‘Foster Friendly Employer’.  He also commented on the collaborative work being undertaken between the 6 North Wales authorities to develop joint working between Local Authority fostering services.   Referring to the WG principle to develop a National Fostering Framework, the Senior Manager Children and Workforce explained that a national briefing note was  appended to the report which set out the aims, and work programme for 2016-17.

The Chairman invited Members to raise questions.

Councillor Hilary McGuill asked what training and support would be provided for people interested in fostering older children.  She also commented on the need to provide information and support to older children to prepare them for independent living and cited money management and  employment ‘skills’ as examples.  The Senior Manager Children and Workforce acknowledged the points made and advised that the ICF fund had been extended to include children with complex needs.  He also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

That the Committee is content with the progress made in delivering a response to the CSSIW Inspection Report including progress in reducing and managing repeat referrals.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to provide an update on progress concerning the key actions in response to the CSSIW Inspection of Children’s Services, including progress in reducing and managing repeat referrals.  He invited the Senior Manager Children and Workforce to report on the main considerations.

The Senior Manager Children and Workforce referred to the four key actions planned in response to the CSSIW Inspection and progress to date.   He confirmed, as detailed in the report, that a revised structure was now fully operational with an enhanced focus on early intervention, a new assessment framework had been developed, re-referrals were reducing,  and the quality assurance framework was being taken forward.

Councillor Hilary McGuill  referred to paragraph 1.13 in the report and raised a query relating to  the same incident being counted as a repeat referral.  The  Senior Manager Children and Workforce advised that steps were being taken to move away from the current process whereby he same incident was counted more than once.  Councillor McGuill also commented on the need to strengthen communication links with schools around safeguarding children.  The Senior Manager Children and Workforce advised that he would be attending a meeting of the Intervention Hub with the multi agency partners and he would raise the issue of improving communications between partners.  The Chief Officer commented on the importance of early intervention and good communication  links between Health, Education, Police  and Social Services.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee is content with the progress made in delivering a response to the CSSIW Inspection Report including progress in reducing and managing repeat referrals.

That the Quarter 4 Improvement Plan Monitoring Report be received. 

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to present the monitoring of progress for the fourth quarter/year end 2015/16 focusing on  areas of under performance.  The Chief Officer referred to the detailed sub-priority report which was attached as appendix 1 to the report.  He advised that only one risk had increased slightly in significance during 2015/16 in concerning Living Well.

Councillor Paul Cunningham congratulated the Chief Officer and his team for the positive work being undertaken by Flintshire in developing ‘dementia friendly’ support services.

RESOLVED:

That the Quarter 4 Improvement Plan Monitoring Report be received. 

That the Performance Report 2015/16 be received. 

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to provide an analysis of the Council’s progress towards the national indicators that are set by Welsh Government.  He advised that initial indicators were positive and that the Annual Performance Report would be produced in September for Cabinet and Council approval.  All national data will have been validated by this time and the Council’s comparative performance position in Wales would be known.

The Chief Officer referred to the trend analysis from last year and reported on the progress against targets for the indicators relevant to the Committee which were appended to the report.  

In response to the concerns raised by Councillor Arnold Woolley with regards to performance around Disabled Facility Grants the Chief Officer advised that this area of work came under the remit of the Community and Enterprise Overview & Scrutiny Committee. 

RESOLVED:

That the Performance Report 2015/16 be received. 

Purpose: To receive a verbal report from Members of the Committee.

There were no reports on visits undertaken by Members.

That the Forward Work Programme be updated in accordance with the above.

The Social & Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator presented  the current Forward Work Programme for consideration and referred to the items scheduled for the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 20 October 2016.  It was agreed that the meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 22 December 2016 be cancelled and the item on Quarter 2 Improvement Plan Monitoring Report be moved to the meeting of the Committee on 13 December 2016. 

Councillor Matt Wright suggested that a letter be sent to BCUHB to request a response to the outstanding issues raised by Members at the meeting of the Committee held on 9 June 2016. 

RESOLVED:

That the Forward Work Programme be updated in accordance with the above.

            There were no members of the press or public in attendance.