Agenda and minutes

Apologies received from Cllr Kauffman, with Cllr Stead substituting.

None.

None.

It was confirmed that all items were in Part 1 and would be heard in public.

The minutes from 11 May 2017 were confirmed as an accurate record.

The minutes from 12 June 2017 were confirmed as an accurate record, subject to the addition that there were currently unfillled 150 secondary school places in the Borough.

The Independent Chairman of the Hillingdon Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) introduced the Annual Report 2016/17. He gave an overview of the report and the LSCB's current state of play.

The following key points were made in discussion:

·         Overall there was positive progress in the LSCB's work. There were currently strong partnerships in place.

·         Child safeguarding was meeting the standards expected.

·         The LSCB had developed progressive training packages for all agencies and provided administrative and project management skills to move the LSCB forward. This included the development of audit and performance processes. 

·         There were concerns raised around the Metropolitan Police and how safeguarding was managed. Recent disappointing reports had resulted in the appointment of a new commissioner and a restructuring of services. The London Borough of Hillingdon was well served by the commissioner as he was engaged with services. In summary, if there is limited police engagement there is a risk that children are at danger.

·         Other concerns raised were the pressures around health and training around child safeguarding. A recent restructure had taken place which focussed on early help and intervention.

·         Over a two year period there was a steady marked improvement in services.

The LSCB performance management framework had four key priorities which focussed on:

·         Neglect - dealing with early intervention and early help. For example tracking unborn children in Hillingdon.

·         Partnerships working together- in an environment where resources are limited, emphasising on the need to work together to ensure that everyone remain engaged with the process to protect children from identified risks in order to ensure their safety and welfare.  The level of attendance in core group meetings has improved and many agencies have been buying into this service. Steps taken included alone meetings between social care workers and children and changes to the current electronic recording system.

·         Overseeing the implementation of early help and early intervention programme in Hillingdon - a new programme had developed which focused on the engagement of safeguarding partners. The programme included the implementation of a scorecard which contained the right performance indicators and outcome measures to assess the difference.

·         Safeguarding arrangements in Hillingdon - Strong governance arrangements and a monthly audit program were now delivered by the Childrens Services Quality Assurance Teams and the findings were reported to senior managers. Recommendations from serious case reviews and domestic homicides were monitored through the case review subcommittee. There was also a focus on ensuring adequate training for front line staff.

The following key points were made in discussion:

·         There had been good voluntary engagement in training sessions although it was difficult to fully engage voluntary organisation as there was no one place to go to. For example, although there was engagement with the youth council, it was not always easy to reach the children who were at risk.

·         The Childrens Act 2004 does not make it clear what organisations are responsible for dunging.

·         Known agencies that are known as inadequate are worked with in order to improve.

·         Although it was unclear how long  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Report to follow.

Officers introduced the scoping report entitled, 'Giving the Youngest Children the Best Start in Life: To consider the identification, intervention and transitions for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the early years, to support preparation for later life'

The Committee gave consideration to the detail contained in the draft scoping report. A member questioned what would be achieved from the review, given the recent positive Ofsted inspection outcome. The Committee was keen to undertake a review that would make a difference.

Officers highlighted that the review would focus on the importance of early intervention of children with SEND between the ages of 0-5. The review would specifically focus on families who required support.  Although there was good work in this area, there was still a large scope for improvement.

Officers explained that identification, intervention and transition were the key themes within the review. Identifying needs at an early stage, considering the support amiable, how to support the transition into school and with the increase in demand especially with autism how to better manage the support.

The Committee asked what success looked like and how it was measured. Officers advised that a key consideration was how the Council was ready and prepared to deliver good services. This was outcome focussed within a demographic increase and changing the culture of the wider people involved ranging from GPs and hospitals and empowering services from early on.

RESOLVED -

1)    That the Committee agreed the title report, scoping report and witnesses required to conduct the review; and

2)    That the report be noted.

Report to follow.

Officers presented the 2016/17 Budget Planning Report for Children, Young People and Learning Services. This was the first opportunity to consider issues relating to budget planning for 2018/2019 and the report focussed on the broader financial position of the Council and signposting major issues within Children, Young People and Learning Services budgets.

Officers explained that another report would be presented to the POC in January 2018 which would set out detailed budget proposals. These proposals were due to be presented to Cabinet in December 2017.

The following key points were made in discussion:

·         The current forecast for 2017/18 was for a Council savings requirement of £22.2 million.

·         There was positive progress being made. The Council remained in a strong position to deal with the challenges ahead.

·         The Council had a good track record of coming in or under budget each year and had retained balance of 38.7m by the end of 2016/17, although 14.5 m of that was expected to being drawn down from 2017/18 to smooth the impact of Government funding reductions.

·         The development of savings fell into five broad themes including service transformation, effective procurement, income generation and commercialisation, preventing demand and zero based reviews.

·         Social worker recruitment continued to be a national challenge. There had been success in overseas recruitment and converting agency contracts into permanent contracts. There had also been success at a senior level recruitment with many permanent contracted positions now being filled.

·         Although there had been significant improvements in residential placements, the Looked After Children population was expected to grow and the service was dealing with more complex cases.

·         The number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children was reducing and this would impact the amount of funding the Council received from the Home Office.

·         Home to School Transport services were being reviewed and the Council had employed EDGE consultants to undertake a transformation of the service.

·         As the Children and Social Work Act 2017 was imbedded into practice, there would be an impact on the cost of service. This is due to the fact that the Act made a number of changes to the way in which the Council provided support and advice to care givers.

·         There are pressures on school funding and there is an increase in the demand of high needs placements providing support for those children that have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

·         The introduction of the 30 hour free child care entitlement starts on 1 September 2017 however it is discretionary for providers. The Council is working with providers to ensure that there is a reasonable level of capacity.

·         There are projects underway to expand local schools in the Borough. There is an increased demand for school places and it was forcasted that the number of SEN children would also increase.

·         The Committee asked for further information on how the Fair Funding Formula would affect the Borough's individual schools when it becomes live next April

RESOLVED -

1.    That officers be thanked for the comprehensive overview of the budgetary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

RESOLVED -

(1)  The Cabinet Forward Plan was noted.

Further to previous requests to incorporate the service improvement plan into the work programme, the Committee asked for an update. Officers advised that this matter would be looked into further.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the work programme be noted.

(2)  That officers look into the status of the service improvement plan and liaise directly with the Chairman about putting it back onto the work programme.