Agenda item

To inform Scrutiny Committee of the work undertaken by Children’s and Adult Services on a day to day basis and to update on the progress and implementation of developments within the areas in order to ensure effective scrutiny of services.

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

The Committee considered the update provided on the Emergency Duty Team and queried the ratio of agency to permanent staff on the Team. In response, Ms Karen Smith, Deputy Director of People (Adults Services) reported that the Team heavily relied on casual staff to fill the rotas around the core of permanent staff. Members welcomed the proposal to submit a final update of the review of the Team to the Committee in July 2016.

In response to questions regarding Head Start delivery and framework, Mrs Curtis advised that the Head Start programme was a pilot programme and would be externally evaluated. She added that the Council would be informed on 15 June 2016 if it had been successful in securing further funding for a substantive programme by the Big Lottery.

The Committee discussed the New Models of Care schemes developed to provide care to people in the community and queried whether the funding for social workers at Moor Park Health Centre would continue. Ms Smith reported that the funding would cease as the Extensive Care Service the positions were providing had not grown as expected. She added that the Enhanced Primary Care approach had demonstrated the need for social workers and that it was important to place social workers in the right areas.

The Committee went on to discuss the projects provided by Better Start and queried the extent to which projects would be provided universally. In response, Mrs Curtis advised that Better Start had been funded based on the provision of projects within the seven identified wards. However, where permitted by the Big Lottery, Better Start was providing universal services and Mrs Curtis would circulate a full list of universal services following the meeting.

Members noted the engagement programmes on offer for young people at risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) and requested data on the outcomes of the programmes. Mrs Curtis advised that an outcome report had been finalised and she would arrange for it to be circulated.

Concern was expressed by Members of the Committee that Montgomery Academy had not improved as quickly as it might have been hoped, with a recent Ofsted inspection moving the school from Serious Weaknesses to Requires Improvement. In response, Mrs Curtis advised that the School Improvement Team monitored and projected improvement across all schools, providing support where appropriate. She added that the Ofsted Inspection Report had been particularly positive around the effectiveness of leadership and management.

Members queried whether the Montgomery Academy inspection outcome was a further indication of an increasing gap between the quality of primary and secondary education in the town and were informed by Mrs Curtis that the Blackpool Challenge Board considered the transition between primary and secondary schools as a priority and was investing in a number of pilot schemes to target transition. She added that a key concern was the number of high achieving children leaving Blackpool to attend secondary schools in Lancashire. In response to further questions, Mrs Curtis advised that the transition pilot projects were in the early stages and impact could not yet be determined.

The Committee considered the recent inspection of effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational need and/or disabilities in Bolton and queried what could be learned from the inspection that could be applied in Blackpool. Mrs Curtis reported that the full outcome from the inspection was not available yet, but that the learning would be shared through regional network meetings. She added that Blackpool was viewed as a beacon of good practice, but that weaknesses regarding collection of some data and the required establishment of a Children and Young People’s Board had been identified as areas for improvement, which the service was working on in advance of an inspection in Blackpool.

Care at Home was discussed by the Committee and a thematic discussion paper was requested for consideration at a future meeting focussing on the areas causing concern within the sector. In response, Ms Smith advised that a number of key concerns had been raised and had been discussed with providers. She added that progress was being closely monitored and that the Care at Home sector was a key focus for the Blackpool Adults Safeguarding Board. In response to a further question, Ms Smith advised that there was an equal balance in the number of people receiving Care at Home and Residential Care provision.

Members noted the eight care homes ‘requiring improvement’ and queried the length of time it would take them to improve. Ms Smith advised that the length of time would vary dependent on the issues to be resolved. She reported that all care homes requiring improvement would be expected to provide an action plan for improvement including timescales to the Care Quality Commission.

The number of safeguarding alerts from The Harbour was discussed by the Committee and Members were informed by Ms Smith that work was being undertaken with the Safeguarding Lead at The Harbour to identify the reasons for the alerts. She added that Lancashire Care Foundation Trust was responsible for investigating the alerts and that measures had been put in place to support staff to manage challenges and behaviours in order to provide safe levels of care. Furthermore, all work by the Trust must be undertaken within Blackpool Safeguarding Adults Board multi-agency procedures.

Mr Adam Bowater, Commissioning Manager was invited by the Chairman to provide a presentation on the Sufficiency Statement, which was a duty on all local authorities to provide placements for Looked After Children.

Mr Bowater highlighted that the number of Looked After Children was increasing and that 10% of all Looked After Children in Blackpool required residential placements, compared to only 2% nationally, highlighting the complexity of cases. He added that the majority of placements were in foster care and that one third of Looked After Children in Blackpool were aged 11 to 15 years, which was consistent with national averages.

Mr Bowater went on to provide an overview of the type and number of placements available to Blackpool highlighting the high average weekly costs of the more specialist placements required. In response to a question, Members were advised that the high cost was due to a combination of the intensive, often therapeutic service required and that demand for placements was higher than supply. Mrs Curtis added that some children in care required bespoke packages of care due to their complex needs.

The Committee was informed by Mr Bowater that Post 16 Leaving Care was an unregulated sector and that ‘Staying Put’ was a young person’s choice to remain with their foster carer after turning 16. In response to a question, Mr Bowater advised that a consultation had been undertaken with children and young people and responses would be included within the final version of the sufficiency statement.

The Committee agreed:

1.        To receive a list of universal services being provided by Better Start following the meeting.

2.        To receive an outcomes report on the engagement programmes on offer for young people at risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment or Training following the meeting.

3.        To receive a thematic discussion paper on Care at Home to a future meeting of the Committee.