Agenda item

North Wales Adoption Service

Decision:

(a) That the report be received;

(b) That the composition of the report be reviewed; and

i. a report comparing the last year of Flintshire’s Adoption Service with the first year of North Wales Adoption Service

ii. a copy of the improvement action plan

iii. further information on travel expenses

iv. a detailed breakdown of the budget

v. a copy of the final version of the Partnership Agreement.

Minutes:

The Head of Social Services for Children introduced a report to provide Members with details of the current operational activity for the North Wales Adoption Service (NWAS).

The background to the report was detailed and the Head of Social Services for Children explained that the project was currently hosted by Wrexham County Borough Council but overseen by the six North Wales Heads of Children’s Services who met quarterly as the NWAS Board. She also provided details of the challenges for the service which included the use of ex-consortium placements for certain circumstances such as for children with special needs or where there were threats from the birth parents. There were plans to establish a National Adoption Service in Wales and she commented on the possibility of hosting an All Wales register. The Head of Social Services for Children introduced Mrs. Somerton-Edwards who was the Head of the Corporate Parenting Service at Wrexham County Borough Council and Peter Robson who was the Service Manager link for the NWAS and a member of the NWAS Operational Management Group (OMG).

Councillor D.I. Mackie explained that the draft version of the NWAS Partnership Agreement had been submitted to Executive in March 2010 and to Social and Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee in October 2010. However, he queried whether the final version of the Partnership Agreement had ever been scrutinised. The Head of Social Services for Children said that the agreement had been seen by the Legal Department and that copies of the final version had been circulated to Members following the Overview and Scrutiny meeting in October 2010. Councillor Mackie raised concern that Members were not aware of the standards that the NWAS was working to. He was also disappointed to see that a number of comparisons had been made with the first year of the service which he did not feel was valid and said that he would have preferred to see comparisons against the standards which had been set which the Committee had not seen.

The Chair asked if the NWAS was as good as the service that had been provided by the Flintshire Adoption Service. She said that the Committee was concerned that standards dropped when collaborations took place and referred to the percentage figures reported in the performance indicators, which were poor. The Head of Social Services for Children said that the standards were the national minimum for adoption and that robust discussions about performance indicators had taken place with the
NWAS Board to ensure that the service had not worsened in the first few months of the new arrangements. Mrs. Somerton-Edwards said that in future, the service planned to report on national minimum standards and local indicators. The Head of Social Services for Children said that a report comparing the last year of Flintshire’s Adoption Service with the first year of NWAS could be provided for Members.

Councillor H.J. McGuill queried whether the £30,000 to place a child outside the consortium was reciprocated if a child came into Flintshire from another area; the Head of Social Services for Children confirmed that this was the case. In response to a question from Councillor McGuill, Mrs. Somerton-Edwards said that in some cases it could take 12 months to place a child depending on the availability of suitable adopters. The length of time that the 30 children who were currently on the waiting list had been waiting to be adopted varied but for some it would have been a long time; Councillor McGuill felt that this was unacceptable. The Head of Social Services for Children detailed the review arrangements which were in place and spoke of the nationally recognised challenges to place sibling groups or older children.

Councillor S. Jones said that the staffing structure showed that Wrexham office had a large number of staff but that there were only three staff for Flintshire which she felt was unfair. The figure for approved adopters for Flintshire was also lower than Wrexham and Councillor Jones asked if this was due to a lack of staff. Mrs. Somerton-Edwards reassured Members that the staff were used across the region to undertake assessments as required. The Head of Social Services for Children added that the social workers were all part of the North Wales team and that assessments would be allocated to whoever had the capacity to undertake them. Following comments from Members, Mrs. Somerton-Edwards agreed that the composition of the report needed to be reviewed and that further detail on the budget could be provided.

The Director of Community Services said that it was important to ensure that the quality of the adoption service was as good as it could be and that Flintshire got value for its contribution to the service. He added that the final partnership agreement could be circulated to Members.

Following a question from Councillor C. Hinds about whether a medical condition could prevent someone from adopting, Mrs. Somerton-Edwards said that it depended on the condition. She added, in response to a question from Councillor McGuill, that she hoped that those who had used the service would give negative feedback if they felt that it was appropriate as it could lead to improvements in the service.

Councillor D.E. Wisinger queried details reported on the budget for the service and it was agreed that Mrs. Somerton-Edwards would provide a written response which would also give details of travel expenses. The Chair also requested a copy of the Improvement Action Plan for the Adoption Service in relation to the recent inspection.

RESOLVED: