Agenda item

To inform scrutiny 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 area in order to allow effective scrutiny of services.

Mrs Del Curtis, Director of People, presented the Children’s Services Improvement Report and the Chairman invited questions from the Committee.

The Committee discussed the significant increase in work being experienced by Children’s Services and queried how staff were coping with the additional pressure and if any reasons or trends for the increase had been identified. In response, Mrs Curtis advised that the number and complexity of cases had been increasing since December 2015. She advised that all data and information was being considered in order to redesign services, where appropriate and to alleviate pressure on services and staff. She also advised that Accident and Emergency Services and the Police were experiencing similar increases in volumes of work in Blackpool, but that the same increases were not being experienced across the whole of the North West region.

Members queried the success of the recent foster carer recruitment drive and were advised by Ms Amanda Hatton, Deputy Director of People (Early Help and Social Care) that there had been a lot of initial interest but a limited conversions. It was requested that the number and percentage of conversions be included in the next report to Committee. In response to further questions, Ms Hatton advised that Blackpool Council remunerated foster carers in line with the national pay framework, with additional payments made for carers with key skills supporting more complex cases and that a large amount of support was provided to carers, including a good training offer. Councillor Cain added that provision of incentives to foster carers had not been considered to date and that celebration events were held to commend the work of foster carers.

Members went on to discuss the application process to become a foster carer and queried the impact of the process on the number of conversions. Ms Hatton reported that many applicants found the process helpful as it demonstrated the complexities of the role and allowed applicants to consider if it was right for them to become a foster carer.

It was noted that 11 foster carers currently had exemption certificates to allow them to look after more than three children in care. Ms Hatton advised that exemption certificates would only be signed by Senior Managers within Children’s Social Care, following consultation with the children already being looked after by the foster carer and if there was a specific need for the exemption, for example a large sibling group.

The Committee requested that further details of the consultation event to be held regarding the review of Speech, Language and Communication across Blackpool and the strategic group established to implement the transformational plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder, be circulated to Members following the meeting.

Members commended the recent ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted inspection result at St Nicholas Church of England Primary School and queried the reason for the significant improvement from the previous rating of ‘Requires Improvement’. In response, Mrs Curtis advised that the new leadership at the school had been responsible for the significant improvement and that the good practice was being shared across all primary schools through improvement clusters.

The Committee discussed Pupil Premium uptake by early years settings and requested that the data be drilled down further to demonstrate uptake at settings attached to Children’s Centres in comparison to other settings.

Members went on to discuss the Restorative Justice programme whereby a young offender was introduced to their victim in order to apologise and noted that there was no specific cost attached to the scheme. The Committee considered that a large number of improvements had been made to the Youth Offending Team and requested that a thematic discussion be held on Youth Offending and Restorative Justice at a future meeting of the Committee.

In response to a question, Mrs Curtis advised that once a child had been removed from mainstream education in order to home educate it was unlikely that they would be returned to mainstream education at a later date. She advised that the number of children being educated at home was a concern, but that there was a national drive to ensure parents were aware of the choice. She added that the introduction of an online learning platform was being considered in addition to an education pack designed for young people receiving an education at home.

The Committee agreed:

1. To receive additional data regarding the convergence of foster carers at the next meeting.

2. To receive further details of the consultation event to be held regarding the review of Speech, Language and Communication across Blackpool and the strategic group established to implement the transformational plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder following the meeting.

3. To receive a comparison of the uptake of Pupil Premium by early years settings attached to Children’s Centres and settings unattached.

4. To hold a thematic discussion on Youth Offending including Restorative Justice at a future meeting of the Committee.