Agenda item

To inform the Committee of the work undertaken by Children’s Services on a day to day basis and to update on the progress and implementation of developments within the areas.

The Committee considered a report which highlighted key areas of work and progress within the Children’s Services Directorate. The report was presented by Ms Booth, Director of Children’s Services, who began by providing a summary of the main content of the report. She explained that currently, the service was experiencing high levels of demand across all of its areas. This was described as a cause for concern on a number of counts, including the additional levels of scrutiny that such demand attracted from Ofsted and the Department of Education, as well as concerns around children currently placed in care, some of whom it was considered need not be there. In terms of overall numbers of looked after children, the number stood at 571 at its peak earlier this year, but had now reduced to the current figure of 546. Ms Booth explained some of the detail around the current Improvement Programme that was underway, including the need for decisions to be made timely, the discharging of children from care and the stepping down of children from care. Considerable efforts were also underway to return children currently placed in care outside of Blackpool, to more appropriate arrangements within the town.

Ms Booth responded to a number of questions from the Committee. Asked to explain more about the Review of High Needs Provision that would be undertaken, she explained that children within the category had a number of different needs and requirements. The review would be carried out independently and would consider questions around the possibility of offering services in a different way.

In relation to the high levels of demand across Children’s Social Care, the Committee questioned the apparent reasons given to scrutiny in the past for the levels being as high as they were, quoting ‘children with complex needs’ as the usual answer that had been given. The Committee suggested that the organisational support should be adequate to deal with the situation and questioned whether the current approach adopted within the Directorate was correct. Ms Booth responded that the end to end review that was currently underway would be completed by the end of the first week in July. Following that, a plan for operational change would be developed that would be considered by the Priority 2 Board. It would then be made available for scrutiny by the Resilient Communities and Children’s Scrutiny Committee. She stressed the importance of the scrutiny process and welcomed the input that the Committee could provide.

The Committee asked for details as to the areas within Blackpool where the greatest numbers of looked after children originated from. Ms Booth explained that a piece of work had been commissioned to determine that. A ‘heat map’ would be produced that would also indicate:

1)                  The numbers of children in need

2)                  The numbers of children subject to Child Protection Plans

3)                  The numbers of children being looked after

4)                  The numbers of children subject to youth offending reports

5)                  The numbers of children subject to family support plans

6)                  The challenges faced by schools.

Ms Booth went on to explain that the intention was to think about social work in a different way, with the work being designed around the needs of the communities and schools. She emphasised that the views of elected members would be sought during this process.

The Committee discussed further the assertion made that not all children currently in care needed to be there and also asked whether schools were doing enough in terms of the support that they provided. Ms Booth explained the desire to deliver more services at family support level and that in future, no child would be admitted to care without her express authority. She further explained that every effort was being made to influence the work carried out within schools and that a school led improvement plan was now in place that covered five key areas.

Members queried the difference in costs between a child placed in care outside of Blackpool, against alternative support services that might be provided closer to home. Ms Booth explained that on average, it cost approximately £3,000 per week to place a child in care in (for example) Cumbria. There could often be additional costs involving other agencies that might increase the total cost to £10,000 per week and possibly even more. She stressed that it was necessary to tailor individual plans for each child but there was no doubt that it was far more cost effective to provide care packages around the home where possible.

The Committee asked about the possibility of creating a residential property within Blackpool for children with extremely challenging behaviour. Ms Booth explained the danger in such an approach, being that it was likely to fill up very quickly and was not necessarily the best solution. Instead, an efficiency approach would be developed in line with future needs.

Asked about the administration process for school places, Ms Booth explained that this process was carried out by the Council who were in full control of it. She agreed to provide an update on the outcome of the school appeals process at the next meeting.

The Committee pointed out that in the past, there had been a number of problems relating to the transition of children from junior to senior schools and requested an update on the current situation. Ms Booth explained that a number of transition days would be taking place during the next few weeks. A transition sub-group had been established which was looking at the production of a passport scheme, which would contain all relevant details of the child to aid the transition process.

The discussion around schools moved onto the topic of inclusion, with Members asking about what happened in relation to certain schools which decided they would no longer provide certain services, particularly in relation to more challenging pupils, resulting in other schools taking a higher proportion of pupils from that category. Ms Booth explained that an Inclusion Strategy was being developed and there would be consequences for schools that were not acting in an inclusive and fair way. Additionally, an in-year access poll was being established regarding children that had been excluded from school in order to determine a fair and equitable approach across all schools, including academies.

The Committee requested that a shortened version of school Ofsted reports be attached to the Children’s Services update report at future Committee meetings.

The Committee agreed:

1. To note the report.
2. To request an update on the outcome of the school appeals process at the next meeting.

3.   To request that a shortened version of school Ofsted reports be attached to the Children’s Services update report at future Committee meetings.

Background papers: None.