Agenda item

(a)       That the contents of the report be noted;

(b)       That the Service Manager, Resources provide the summary report of updated statistical information to the Committee.

The Director of Community Services introduced a report to seek views on the plan to establish a National Adoption Service for Wales, supported by regional adoption collaboratives and the proposal for Wrexham to continue to act as the lead authority for the North Wales Adoption Service (NWAS).  The Chair pointed out that as the recommendations had already been approved by Cabinet, the Committee was being requested to note the report.

Councillor W.P. Shotton welcomed the proposals and commented on the value of adoptive parents, more of whom were in great demand.  In response to a query on meetings of the North Wales Heads of Children’s Services, the Service Manager, Resources clarified that Wrexham was the host authority for all six North Wales authorities and would continue to hold quarterly meetings of the NWAS Board.

Councillor H.J. McGuill commented on good adoption rates in the county historically and whilst accepting the benefits of providing a single point of contact for anyone seeking information about adoption, questioned whether the proposals would add value in speeding up the process and improving outcomes for children.  The Director of Community Services said that there was a Ministerial expectation to improve standards of adoption with the national agreement of a single point of contact and monitoring of performance data.  The aim was to maintain good performance in Flintshire with the potential for further improvement through the sharing of good practice across authorities.

The Service Manager, Resources stated that children in Flintshire were receiving a good quality service with positive outcomes and referred to the important roles carried out by adopters and kinship carers along with the complex matching-up process.  He drew attention to the ‘current situation’ statistics at the end of March 2013 within the report and gave examples of updated information which would be circulated separately together with explanatory narrative.  The aim of the NWAS was to speed up the adoption process to improve outcomes for all involved.  In response to comments on Flintshire’s high performance in recent years compared with other authorities, there was an average eight month processing time for adopters and between 8-12 months for children awaiting adoption.

The Chair remarked on a judge’s comments reported in the national press which suggested that the best place for a child was to remain with the birth parents.  The Service Manager, Resources explained that these comments were in favour of slowing down the process to ensure that outcomes were in the best interests of the child in what was a crucial life-changing decision.  Following remarks made by Councillor McGuill on determining outcomes of failed adoptions, he said that the effects of adoption could take a lifetime to understand.  The range of support services available to those affected by adoption had never been so extensive compared to previous generations.  The Director added that the performance of NWAS would continue to be reported over time.

Councillor A.I. Dunbar hoped that the single point of contact would enable interested parties to receive all the necessary information and improve the assessment process.

The Service Manager, Resources believed that the NWAS would give greater scrutiny into how targets were being met.  The Director echoed this and said that the single point of contact would assist with consistency of information and that links to regional networks would help to improve the service.

Councillor D.I. Mackie thanked officers for their responses but expressed concern about a lack of Member involvement if issues needed to be raised on such a regional project.  The Service Manager, Resources said that such representations should be made to the Minister.  However, it was his view that an effective regional working system was in place and gave assurance that Members were able to raise issues with him, in his operational role, which he would then pass on to the Board.

In response to comments from Councillor M. Lowe on changes to the funding formula, it was reported that the NWAS was subject to independent review and that a working group reporting to the Board was currently giving consideration to a possible review of the formula.

Officers noted Councillor V. Gay’s request that future reports include important evaluation information on actions and costings rather than adding as embedded documents.

The Chair reiterated her comments from the start of the item and asked that the Committee note the report.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the contents of the report be noted;

(b)       That the Service Manager, Resources provide the summary report of updated statistical information to the Committee.