Agenda item

The Chairman directed Members to the Safeguarding Audit Report and invited Officers to present the report.

Officers informed the Committee that they were unaware the update was a long waited requested from Members. Members had asked for an update in September 2006 but had not received an update until now.

Officers said that Children and Families social care services had recently put into practice an Integrated Children’s System – an electronic system implemented in the past twelve months. The recent Ofsted inspection commented on the system’s ease of use and easy data retrieval system. The inspection stated that the system was a model for other Local Authorities to follow.

The Integrated Children’s System was constantly regulated internally. The Director of Education and Children’s Services and the Chief Executive were able to access the system from their own desks, allowing them to retrieve any necessary files. It also allowed for a degree of supervision. Paper files had nearly all been transferred onto the Integrated Children’s System. Each case file included all important information such as case chronology and family trees – two aspects which were continually changing in many social care cases.

Officers said the Integrated Children’s System was an excellent management tool which would be used to scrutinise the quality of records and evidence kept. The system was easy to navigate and therefore retrieving data was not a problem.

Members asked Officers how quickly data could be transferred onto the system. Officers informed the Committee that the timeliness of updating and recording case work is good. The time lapse needed to be kept as short as possible whilst keeping the information as accurate and detailed as possible. 

Members asked Officers how long paper files were stored for and where they were kept. Officers informed the Committee that files were kept for 80 years in an offsite archiving facility. Files could be retrieved fairly quickly, with urgent files being more expensive to retrieve.

Members asked Officers how frequently they performed a random check of the Integrated Children’s System. Officers said some managers performed it more frequently than others. The Integrated Children’s System was able to manage performance which was useful when measuring the performance of officers and their work.

The Committee requested regular updates regarding child social care and educational attainment. Members asked that the update reports included the following:

·        specific figures regarding the number of cases audited

·        number of files which did not meet the standard required

·        when data was audited

·        How often files are scrutinised

·        How often do random checks take place

·        How feasible it would be to access files  dated pre-1965

·        Whether files go missing

·        Information regarding the security of the file storage facility

Officers were asked to circulate a very short update report to Members which would be considered at a special meeting on 11^th January 2009.

Noted:

The Committee noted the update.

Agreed:

1.      That Officers would provide the Committee with Child Social Care and Education Attainment reports and present an update at a special meeting on 11 January 2010.

2.      That the Committee would meet again on 11 January 2010 at 6 p.m. to discuss Child Social Care and Education Attainment reports.