Corporate Parenting Panel
MINUTES of a meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel held at Priory, Room 2F Centre Block, County Hall - County Hall, Lewes on 30 January 2025.
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PRESENT |
Councillors Bob Bowdler, Penny di Cara, Kathryn Field, Sorrell Marlow-Eastwood, Colin Swansborough and Georgia Taylor
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ALSO PRESENT |
Kathy Marriott – Assistant Director of Children’s Services Fiona Lewis - Head of Looked After Children Services - Provider Services Sally Carnie - Head of Looked After Children Service – Operations Meshelle Carmody - Children in Care Council Co-ordinator Dawn Siddens – Designated Nurse, Children in Care and Care Leavers, ICB Atiya Gourlay – Lead - Equality, Participation and Strategic Partnerships, Children's Services (for item 11) Jill Nwokendi – Operations Manager (for item 11) Karen Vinditto – Marketing Officer, Foster Service (for item 10) Georgina Seligmann - Governance and Democracy Manager
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65. Minutes of the meeting held on 23 October 2024
65.1 RESOLVED to agree as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23 October 2024.
66. Apologies for absence
67. Disclosure of Interests
67.1 There were none.
68. Urgent items
68.1 There were no urgent items.
69. My things Matter
69.1 The Panel
received a presentation on My Things
Matter project from a young person representing the Children in
Care Council (CiCC).
69.2 The My
Things Matter project highlights the importance of Looked After
Children’s belongings and personal possessions.
69.3 The
Panel thanked the CiCC representative and noted the details of the
My Things Matter project and confirmed their commitment to
endorsing the project.
70. Exclusion of Press and Public
70.1 RESOLVED to exclude the public and press from the meeting for items 6 and 7 on the agenda (see minutes 50 and 51) on the grounds that if the public and press were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as specified in category 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), namely information relating to any individual. It was considered that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.
71. Regulation 44 Quarterly Summary Report - Quarter 3 (October - December 2024)
71.1 The Panel
considered the Quarterly Registered Children’s Home report
relating to all East Sussex County Council Children’s Homes,
has been developed, including updates from Regulation 44 reports
and relevant Ofsted reports for members of the Corporate Parenting
Panel to consider.
71.2 There were 2 Ofsted
Inspections during Quarter 3: Brodrick House was inspected in
October and maintained a judgement of ‘Good’. The
Bungalow was inspected in December and the final report will be
brought to the April Panel.
71.3 All homes have
received monthly visits from their Regulation 44 Independent Person
including unannounced visits. The visits continue to pose
valuable challenge and constructive reflection for the Registered
Managers.
71.4 There were 49
recommendations made by the Independent Persons across the 7 homes
this Quarter: of these 8 related to Leadership and Management and
12 to the Protection of Children standard. There were no
significant concerns with most issues relating to best practice
around recording and better evidence of children’s views
being gathered. There were no significant concerns with most
issues relating to best practice around recording and better
evidence of children’s views being gathered. In 3 of the
homes there are new managers and two further homes will have new
registered managers shortly. The Independent Persons have been
attentive to new managers.
71.5 Feedback from
parents, carers and professionals gathered by the Independent
Persons continues to be positive.
71.6 The Independent
Persons commented on the positive impact of the introduction of
digital case management (Clearcare) at Lansdowne. This is now being
rolled out across the homes which will ensure significantly greater
management oversight, accountability and improve reporting. Most
importantly, this resource will free up staff time to spend with
children.
71.7 Recruitment and
retention remains challenging in the current market; however the
open homes and Lansdowne Secure Children’s Home now have
almost no vacancies at support worker level and have seen positive
recruitment across senior grades. Overall there has been positive
recruitment and retention performance over the last year and
officers would like to embed this across all the homes and build
resilience amongst staff, additionally there is some excellent
regional work to build career pathways.
71.8 Ofsted inspection of Lansdown Secure Children’s Home – 17 – 19 September 2024
A full, three-day inspection of Lansdown in
September rated the home Good across all areas. This was a
significant achievement for the home’s first inspection
following reopening. There was one recommendation relating to
staff consistently following policies and procedures, and a second
relating to the importance of all staff promoting children’s
education. The new manager has put excellent routines in place and
has high expectations of staff.
71.9 Ofsted inspection Brodrick House – 21-22 October 2024
A full inspection of Brodrick House in October
found the home Good in all areas. There was one requirement
in relation to safer recruitment and three recommendations relating
to accessing independent scrutiny, supporting children to make
positive choices and ensuring best practice in
recruitment.
71.10 Ofsted are demonstrating a focus across all homes on recruitment practice which falls outside of our current corporate processes. The service is looking at options to align regulatory expectations and practice.
71.11 Officers will take the panel through the detail of the visit reports at the next meeting following concerns raised by the Panel that only Lansdown achieved a green rating. Officers confirmed that the concerns do not relate to the safety of children but to the recording of information in each appropriate place and at the level expected.
71.12 The Panel RESOLVED to note the report.
72. Looked After Children Statistics
72.1 The Panel
considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services
which provided an update on Looked After Children (LAC) statistics
introduced by Sally Carnie, Head of Looked After Service.
72.2 The Panel heard
that in the last quarter there has been an increase in LAC from 691
to 698 (increase of 7). There were 61 children admitted to care and
44 children discharged from care which impacted the overall number.
This was made up of several large sibling groups, increased numbers
of children being accommodated and a group of unaccompanied
asylum-seeking children (UASC) being transferred via the National
Transfer Scheme (NTS).
72.4 As part of our
approach to enabling more children to live safely with their
families the service has been focused on supporting children to be
reunited with their families or wider network where it is possible
to do so. In the last quarter 25 children were supported in
being successfully reunified with family/friends.
72.5 A total of 435 children were living in foster care at the end of December 2024, this is 62% of the total number of looked after children. Of that number, 259 (60%) were living with approved ESCC carers which includes 23 who were placed long term with fully approved family and friends’ carers. 5 children were placed with foster carers who were also approved adopters as part of the Fostering for Adoption pathway which includes 1 child placed in a Foster to Adopt placements with an agency adopter that is not part of the Regional Adoption Agency. 101 children were living with external agency carers. In addition, there were 2 children placed with Other Local Authority foster carers. At the end of the quarter, the number of children who were living with temporary approved family and friends foster carers was 68.
72.6
There were 16 children placed for adoption at the end of December
2024 which is an increase of 4 since the previous quarter. This is
2% of the total number of looked after children.
72.7
There were 95 young people living in supported accommodation and
unregistered provision which is a decrease of 4 since the previous
quarter. This is 14% of the total number of looked after children.
This figure of 95 includes 17 children placed in unregistered
provision, the majority of these unregistered placements are where
the providers are in the process of registering with Ofsted. Of the
17 unregistered placements there are 4 children that are under 16
years old. These placements are only used in exceptional
circumstances where no suitable alternative regulated provision is
available. In these circumstances robust risk assessments and
monitoring plans are made to ensure children are cared for
safely.
72.8 At the end of
December 2024, the number of children living in regulated
residential children’s homes decreased from 122 to 120. This
represents 17% of all looked after children. Of these 120 children,
23 were living in ESCC run children’s homes, and 97 were
placed in external residential homes. This represents a downward
trend in using external placements which is very positive
72.9 The improved financial offer that ESCC made to support the recruitment of local foster carers is continuing to drive up our recruitment success. The number of fostering enquiries for Q1 to Q3 is up to 202, as compared to 171 from the same period in 23/24. The number of initial visits increased to 64 this year compared to 34 in the same period last year. The number of approvals rose to 24 at the end of Quarter 3 already exceeding last year’s 4 Quarter figure. There are nine potential households to approve in Quarter 4 which if achieved will mean we have recruited 33 households in total.
72.10 ESCC fully participates in the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) for separated children. The number of separated children was 77 at the end of Q3, a reduction of 7 from the previous quarter. In addition, there were 153 asylum seeking young people who were Care Leavers during this period which is an increase of 4 from the previous quarter (125 18 - 21 year olds and 28 21-25 year olds). The numbers of children being referred through the NTS has reduced during this quarter with no referrals being received in November at all. Separated children’s asylum claims appear to have been processed more swiftly in Q2 and 3.
72.11 The Panel approved the new report format and would welcome mental health data as part of the revised format.
72.12 The Panel noted that officers will be formalising a reunification support plan to provide great help to families particularly unplanned reunifications where comprehensive plans are required at pace.
72.13The Panel RESOLVED to note the report.
73. Fostering recruitment
73.1 The Panel
considered a report and presentation by Karen Venditto which
provided an update on the Fostering recruitment activities.
73.2 The initial
enquiry process has been revised and a home visit is now offered
following the first enquiry which mirrors the practice of private
agencies and the conversion rate has increased accordingly.
73.3 The payments
uplift has made a significant difference in attracting and
retaining foster carers and also has allowed carers to focus on the
children rather than needing to seek part time work to boost
income.
73.4
The East Sussex Fostering Service has performed well against local
and national benchmarking. In 2023/24 East Sussex was the second
most successful local authority in the Region for converting
initial enquiries into applications, and fourth for converting
enquiries into approvals. East Sussex has maintained an in-house
foster carer rate of 76% compared to 60% national average (against
use of Independent Fostering Agencies).
73.5
Local Authority Fostering South East (LAFSE) region hub will be
launched in July 2025. This will allow for a closer working
practice with neighbouring LA’s within our regional
‘sub cluster’. Funding received by East Sussex County
Council has contributed to operational costs.
73.6
The LAFSE have appointed an advertising agency whose campaigns, on
platforms beyond individual budgets, went live in Q3 in order to
raise awareness of the internation need for more carers.
73.7 As part of the regional fostering pilot, East Sussex received funding to deliver the Mockingbird programme in partnership with The Fostering Network. The programme nurtures the relationships between children, young people and foster families supporting them to build a resilient and caring community of six to ten satellite families called a constellation. Each constellation is led by a hub home carer and liaison worker; the constellation offers vital peer support and guidance alongside social activities and sleepovers to strengthen relationships and permanence.
73.8 The panel RESOLVED to note the report.
74. Recognising care experience formally as an 'additional category' in equality considerations.
74.1 The panel considered a report about recognising care experience formally as an additional category in equality considerations at ESCC introduced by Atiya Gourlay and Jill Nwokendi who drew the Panel’s attention to the following points:
· Neighbouring Council’s that have made a public commitment to care experienced people and the proactive steps the Councils have taken to align with public sector equality duty.
· The amendment to the Equality Impact Assessment template to include care experience.
· The launch of the communications plan initially from February 2025.
·
The outcome of the 2023 Children’s Commissioner consultation
with care experienced people, as set put in the report. Adding that
the law has yet to change, and Children’s Services will
advise the relevant local authority boards and panels of any shifts
in government policy and/or new guidance.
74.2 Corporate Parenting Panel RESOLVED to agree to a half-day summit bringing together key internal and external stakeholders to:
· Provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to hear what work is already happening to support care experienced people in East Sussex. This will help to clarify gaps in support.
· Hear the voice of young people with care experience.
· Make a call to action to initiate the work of the partnership working group going forward (pending confirmation that there is capacity and resource for any additional work which arises from it).
75. Independent Reviewing Service Annual Report 2023/2024
75.1 The Panel considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services which provided an update on the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) Annual report for the period 2023/2024.
75.2 Dawn Price, Operations Manager – Safeguarding Unit, introduced the report updating on the contribution of the Independent Review Officers to Quality Assuring and Improving Services. This included details on My Voice Matters, and an increase on the level of meetings, Looked after Children and details of consultation and feedback for Child Protection Conferences and My Voice Matters meetings.
75.3 The Corporate Parenting Panel RESOLVED to note the report.
The meeting ended at 12.04
Councillor Kathryn Field
Chair