Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Cllr Ahmad and Cllr Bance attended as substitute.

The Portfolio Holder also submitted apologies.  The Committee noted that it was regrettable that the Portfolio was not in attendance but noted that the Executive Assistant was in attendance.

(Following the meeting it transpired, from discussions between the Chairman and Portfolio Holder, that there had been a misunderstanding regarding the need for the Portfolio Holder to attend the sub-committee's meetings.)

Councillor Stephen Wells declared that he was a Member of the Foundation Court of St Olaves and St Saviours School.

There were no additional declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Chairman of this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting and must relate to the work of the scrutiny committee.  Please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 24^th October 2018.

There were no questions

The minutes of the meeting held on 18^th July 2018, excluding exempt information, were agreed and signed as a correct record.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Children, Education & Families Portfolio Holder must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting and must relate to the work of the Portfolio.  Please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 24^th October 2018.

There were no questions.

The Sub-Committee to consider the following reports where the Children, Education, and Families Portfolio Holder is recommended to take a decision:

Report ED18073

The Sub-Committee considered the budget monitoring position for 2018/19 based on activity up to the end of September 2018.  The position reflected in the report was an overspend of £2,030k. This position assumed that further management action would be taken throughout the year to maintain the current position.

An element of the Education Budget was classed as Schools’ Budget and was funded by the dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Grant conditions required that any over or under spend be carried forward to the next financial year.  The Schools budget was predicted to overspend by £354k in year. This would be deducted from the £1,180k carried forward from 2017/18.  £188k of the brought forward balance had been allocated to support the central DSG services in year. In addition £166k of the carry forward figure had been set aside for a clawback of Early Years funding. This gave an estimated DSG balance at the end of the financial year of £472k.  The High Needs element of the DSG received additional funding of £1m in 2018/19 from Council resources and the overspend included this contribution.

The Children’s Social Care division was overspending by in excess of £1,996k (net of management action of £700k).  For the budget in 2018/19 growth of £2,206k was given. This was partially offset by agreed 2018/19 management actions of £1,088k, leaving a net budget increase of £1,118k. The management actions had not all been found in year (about £500k remained) and this had contributed to the overspend position.  Placements for children continued to be a pressure area. The overspend before management action stood at £3,085k.  The number of placements had increased above budgeted levels, particularly in Residential homes, independent fostering arrangements and special guardianship arrangements. This was in part due to the increase in the number of children reaching the threshold for secure placements and no secure placements being available.  Another risk area for placements was the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children cohort. Bromley were experiencing higher levels of children entering the Borough.  Whilst there was grant available, it did not cover the costs of the young people being looked after.  There was also a small overspend predicted on staffing across the division of £75k (excluding BYSP and EIFS). This was being monitored closely and it was hoped that further strides would be made to move away from agency staff social workers during the year.

The Chairman noted that in the previous day’s budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer had allocated further funding for Children’s Social Care.  It was expected that this would result in an additional £2.2m funding for the Local Authority.  Capital funding for Schools had also been announced which equated to an additional £10k for each primary school and an additional £50k for each secondary school.  It was noted that the Comprehensive Spending Review was still to come and this was likely to affect the Local Authority’s funding.

In response to a question the Head of ECHS Finance confirmed that if more children that were high  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24a

The Sub-Committee considered a report seeking authorisation to apply the formal extension option to the contract with Bromley and Croydon Women’s Aid for the delivery of a range of support services to women and girls at risk of, or who had suffered, domestic violence, at an estimated cost of £179k, subject to confirmation of the supporting grant.  The Contract commenced in June 2017 at an annual value of £179k.  The contract was due to end in March 2019 and had a formal one year extension option.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 placed a statutory requirement on local authorities to monitor the level of domestic abuse in their communities and establish partnerships, in order to reduce the problem as well as work together with other agencies to highlight the issue and coordinate a response.  Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) came into effect on 13 April 2011.  They were established on a statutory basis under Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004).  The Safer Bromley Partnership had the responsibility for establishing domestic homicide reviews within Bromley.

VAWG services were commissioned and approved by the Executive on 14^th September 2016, to deliver an Independent Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocate (IDSVA) service, Community Domestic Abuse Projects and a Perpetrator Program. These services were delivered through a single contract of two years (2017/18 to 2018/19), with an option to extend for one more year (2019/20).  These services were funded by MOPAC as part of the London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF).  The LCPF also funded projects across Community Safety.  In Bromley there were 13 victims per 10,000 of the local population in terms of recorded domestic offences from September 2016 to September 2017. This equated to 4426. There had been an increasing prevalence of incidents in Bromley.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Head of Early Intervention and Family Support confirmed that an announcement about MOPAC Funding was expected in the next month however it was likely that any funding would be for two years.

It was noted that the increase in the number of referrals for domestic violence was concerning, especially in light of the fact that it was acknowledged that most victims of domestic violence did not report the first 30 instances of violence.  The Head of Early Intervention and Family Support confirmed that Early Intervention services were used to support families and provide an opportunity to refer instances of domestic violence.  It was hoped that in the long run this would reduce the burden on the contract.

A Member suggested that affected parties needed to be encouraged to pursue issues through the Court and that when the contract was re-tendered KPIs around encouraging individuals to approach the Police at an earlier stage should be included.  Whilst acknowledging the points that were being made the Head of Early Intervention and Family Support highlighted that the current emphasis was on making victims feel safe however, when the tender documentation was being drawn up the KPIs would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24b

The Independent Chairman of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board had been unable to attend the meeting due to a recent bereavement.  It was agreed that the item would be postponed to the next meeting and the Sub-Committee extended its condolences to the Independent Chairman of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board.

The Director of Children’s Social Care reported that just over 80% of staff within Children’s Social Care were now permanent.

30 Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) had recently joined the Service.  There had been an intensive induction period and the NQSWs had joined their teams within the last two weeks.  Handovers were currently taking place as some interim staff were being replaced by NQSWs but this required careful management as NQSWs were on protected caseloads.

In January 2019 there would be a further drive to encourage interim staff to convert to permanent.  Ofsted, through both the Monitoring Visits and the Annual Conversation, had indicated that they were impressed with the progress that had been made in terms of recruiting permanent staff.  The ambition was to have 90% permanent staff.

In response to a question concerning the number of interim staff in a senior position, the Director of Children’s Social Care highlighted that she was interim.  In addition to this there were two interim Heads of Service but the remaining 6 Heads of Service were all permanent; all Group Managers are permanent and the majority of Team Managers therefore the interim roles in her service were mainly social work roles.  Bromley had developed a Manager Accreditation Programme for front line managers in order to encourage retention.

The Director of Children’s Social Care also reported that Bromley was seeking to develop a Social Work Academy to support staff development.  Heads of Service would lead faculties and staff would be able to train to be a developer for students.  It was felt that this would be a cost effective way to encourage staff recruitment and retention and grow internal talent.  In order to encourage staff to stay at Bromley social workers were also offered work shadowing opportunities as well as being able to transfer between services if there were appropriate opportunities available.  The view was taken that Bromley would rather not lose good social workers therefore if a social worker had indicated that they were seeking a new opportunity, where possible these opportunities were provided within Bromley.

In response to a matter being raised in relation to social worker retention, the Director of Children’s Social Care reported that one issue commonly cited as a reason for social workers leaving Bromley was the fabric of the building.  It was noted that this issue had been raised and discussed at the recent meeting of the Children’s Service Improvement Governance Board.  In the Breakout Room staff were provided with access to up to date reference material in the form of books and computers.  Staff were also offered ‘no quit’ interviews either face-to-face or they were given the opportunity to provide feedback anonymously.  In conclusion, a great deal of effort was being put in to recruiting and retaining a permanent work force within Children’s Social Care.

Report ED18074

The Sub-Committee considered the Bromley Virtual School Annual Report 2017/18.  Local authorities had a duty under the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child looked afterby them. This included a particular duty to promote the child’s educational achievement, wherever they lived or were educated. The Authority must therefore give particular attention to the educational implications of any decision about the welfare of those children, including children who had been placed for adoption until the court made the adoption order giving parental responsibility to the adoptive parents.  Every local authority was required to ensure that a Virtual School Head Teacher was in place, giving that officer responsibility for arrangements which ensured that looked after children had access to a suitable range of high quality education placement options and that there were robust procedures in place to monitor the attendance and educational progress of the children in its care.  Reporting on the progress, performance and development of the Virtual School was a key activity and the Annual Report of the Virtual School Head Teacher was a requirement of Ofsted during an inspection.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Virtual School Head Teacher reported that she had very limited power to require Academies to accept children looked after, and any action that could be taken would need to be through the Secretary of State.  Placements in Kent were a particularly challenging and Officers were awaiting the outcome of a court case relating to Lewisham concerning placements in Kent.

In response to a question concerning the retention of pupil premium plus funding, the Virtual School Head Teacher confirmed that she did have an element of discretion to retain some funding however she felt that it was her job to direct as much of the funding as possible into schools.

Turning to the issue of apprenticeships, the Virtual School Head Teacher stated that she felt that the Local Authority should be doing more in terms of offering opportunities to its Children Looked After.  More also needed to be done to encourage children looked after to submit applications for the positions that were available.  The working relationship with London South East Colleges was positive although many children looked after preferred a work based setting rather than an academic setting.

Training and support for applying for jobs was being addressed on a number of levels.  The Leaving Care Team undertook specific pieces of work around writing CVs, using The Hub as a base, and providing allowances for an interview suit if required.

The Sub-Committee noted that Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children generally performed well educationally and were often very aspirational.  The young people were usually encouraged to access the English as a Second Language course within two weeks.  The Sub-Committee requested that Members be provided with a report on Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, including their country of origin, ages, how the Local Authority helped them, and where they were placed.

Action Point 5: That Members of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report ED18083

The Sub-Committee considered a report on the activity of the adoption service which fulfilled obligations in the Adoption National Minimum Standards (2011) and Adoption Service Statutory Guidance (2011) to report to the executive side of the Local Authority.  The report included performance and developments in Bromley’s delivery of adoption services; how the Council was compliant with key national minimum standards and the service offered to those seeking to adopt and those affected by adoption through the provision of adoption support. The report detailed the work of Bromley Council Adoption Service from 1st April 2017 to end of March 2018. 

There had been a noticeable change in the pace of improvement delivery from April 2017 to date which included increased management capacity and oversight, an established early permanency scheme and much improved timescales for children.  Adoption performance had significantly improved in the last financial year, both in terms of timescales, number of children placed for adoption and adoption placement support.  There were 22 looked after children placed for adoption in the year 2017/2018, compared to 8 children placed for adoption in 2016/17.  The Scorecard had also improved and performance was better than the national average.  Bromley had also been the first London borough to be awarded the ‘working towards Quality Mark’ in Early Permanence.  Fostering-to-adopt was also becoming an established Early Permanence practice in Bromley and five such placements had been made in the past two years.

In January 2017 agreement to move forward with the London Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) had been reached and all parties involved were ambitious for adoption across London.

In opening the discussion the Chairman noted that the majority of children that had been placed for adoption were 6 years old or younger.  In response the Head of Fostering and Adoption confirmed that generally the older children became the harder it was to identify suitable adoptive placements.  A number of other London Boroughs did not place children above 4 years old however, Bromley considered all children for adoption and had no such bar.  Nationally there were more children waiting for placements than there were approved adopters.  It was hoped that more adopters could be approved so that placements could be approved more quickly.

In response to a question concerning inter-country adoption, the Head of Fostering and Adoption explained that the situation was complicated as each country had its own legislation.  Bromley Adoption Service would help to direct specific adopters.  However one of the first actions would be to established why the adopters were considering inter-country adoption and see whether a suitable child could be identified nationally in the first instance.  Inter-country adoption had become very difficult and as a result of this there had been a significant reduction in the number of inter-country adoptions.

Turning to the issue of the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA), the Head of Fostering and Adoption explained that the advantages of regionalisation were that best practice could be shared and that a number of agencies were working together under  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

Report ED18084

The Sub-Committee considered a report giving an overview of activities in relation to privately fostered children in the London Borough of Bromley from April 2017 to March 2018. The report detailed how the London Borough of Bromley had complied with its duties and functions in relation to Private Fostering. This included how the welfare of privately fostered children had been safeguarded and promoted over the past 12 months.  Bromley’s Private Fostering Statement of Purpose had been updated and outlined the definition of Private Fostering and the expectations on the Local Authority to meet this. The report also outlined the activities, which had been undertaken to promote awareness of the notification requirements regarding children who were living in Private Fostering arrangements.  The London Borough of Bromley had, over the past year, continued to promote local understanding and awareness of Private Fostering and sought to improve how the needs of the children and young people concerned were met. This included using audits to review performance and to identify where improvements needed to be made. Bromley gave consideration of all examples of good practice regarding Private Fostering and demonstrated, where possible, innovative practice as well as aiming to exceed the National Minimum Standards.

The Head of Fostering and Adoption reported that in terms of notifications the Service was doing well in comparison to its statistical neighbours.  The need to notify private fostering arrangements had been promoted through schools, education and health services and an app had been developed to support this.

In response to a question, the Head of Fostering and Adoption confirmed that the position in relation to language school placements had improved in the last year and the Service had received notifications prior to children embarking on their journey to the UK.

A Member highlighted that the framework that had been developed was a useful tool and meant that people were more willing to seek help.

In response to a question, the Head of Fostering and Adoption confirmed that the Service was doing everything within its power to promote and encourage people engaged in private fostering arrangements to come forward.  The profile for private fostering was being raised and schools were making an increased number of referrals.  However, there was always more that could be done and the Service would need to continue to do more in terms of marketing and promotion.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Report ED18079

The Sub-Committee considered a report which contained an update on the activity and performance of the Local Authority Designated Role (LADO) for 2017/18. The report provided evidence of the effectiveness of LADO services provided to and on behalf of the Bromley’s children in care between April 2017 and March 2018.

The Local Authority Designated Officer reported that awareness of the LADO role was increasing and people were now actively seeking advice which in turn meant that it was possible to provide support.  A great deal of training had been provided in Bromley and it was noticeable that the timeliness of referrals had improved.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the LADO explained that there had been no increase in referrals as a result of the work with faith groups however there was a greater awareness as a result of the support and it was clear that there was now better communication and contact from the faith groups.  It was also noted that there had been improvements in communicating with partners in the health service.  Further training would be provided to Sporting and Leisure providers in November and in addition the LADO had been working closely with the Football Association.  The issue of Police Officers making referrals about themselves was national issue and work to address this was ongoing.

RESOLVED: that the report be noted.

Report ED18080

The Sub-Committee considered a report which provided evidence of the effectiveness of IRO services provided to and on behalf of the Bromley’s children in care between April 2017 and March 2018.  The Group Manager described the report as ‘a picture of continuous development’, reporting that the Service was now focusing on further developing the ‘4 hats’ of IROs as outlined in the report.  Over the past year the team had become more child focused and were ensuring that children had good outcomes.

The Group Manager reported that 75% of children attended their LAC review meetings.  For those children that did not attend the voice of the child was considered as part of the process.  The Service was currently looking at how to make the LAC reviews more appealing to the children.

In response to a question from the Chairman , the Group Manager confirmed that in terms of staffing the team was a full strength and that there was consistency for children in terms of the IROs they were allocated.  However it was possible that a child could have more than one IRO as a result of staff turnover.

Responding to a question concerning the 18 children at risk of children exploitation, missing or gangs that were currently being tracked by the Missing, Exploitation and Gang Affiliation (MEGA) Panel; the Group Manager confirmed that prior to being tracked, the children would have been risk assessed and depending on the level of risk involved would then be tracked by the MEGA panel.  The Director of Children’s Social Care confirmed that the MEGA panel currently tracked around 63 children, not all of whom were looked after children, in order to identify how risks could be mitigated.

In response to whether a protocol had been developed in relation to foster carer participation in LAC Reviews, the Director of Children’s Social Care confirmed that the Local Authority was raising its standards for its in house foster carers and was vigilant around consistency of participation.  In-house foster carers were clear about what they should do and the expectations of the Local Authority.  This was more difficult with Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAS).

Highlighting the importance of the IRO Role, a Member who also sat on the Joint Fostering and Adoption Panel reported that for a number of years the Fostering Panel had been disappointed with the level of challenge from IROs.  The Member highlighted that the annual report before the Sub-Committee had identified a number of the concerns previously raised by the Panel which was pleasing.  The Group Manager confirmed that annual fostering reviews now sat in the quality assurance in seeking more independence and reviews were being carried out.

The Member further expressed concern as a Corporate Parent around the issues of the transference of money when children moved placements.  The Children sometimes had significant levels of savings as it was a worry when it was not possible to trace the savings as they moved placements.

A Member sought assurances that the IRO  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Report ED18075

The Sub-Committee considered a report setting out statistics on the complaints received by the Council in 2017/18.  The report also provided oversight of the annual Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman letter which summarised complaints and queries received by the Ombudsman and the decisions made about the London Borough of Bromley for the year ending 31 March 2018.

The Committee noted that the report would also be considered by the General Purposes and Licensing Committee at an upcoming meeting.

The Sub-Committee noted that 44% of complaints were upheld by the Council and this reflected the evolving culture of honesty and transparency whereby the Council acknowledged when it had made a mistake.  Members also noted that the relationship with the Ombudsman was positive. 

In response to a question from the Chairman the Head of Service for Customer Engagement & Complaints reported that it was very difficult to draw comparisons with other Local Authorities as each authority categorised complaints in a different way.  Discussions with London local authorities in relation to aligning categories were ongoing.

The Sub-Committee discussed issues surrounding acknowledging and responding to complaints.  A Member noted that sometimes it was not clear whether something was a complaint because of the language that was used.  It was also noted that often ward councillor involvement prevented an issue from escalating into a formal complaint.  In response, the Assistant Director for Strategy, Performance and Engagement confirmed that action was being taken to reduce the number of Council email addresses relating to complains and streamline the process for initial contact.  Opportunities for earlier resolution were also being considered in order to resolve issues outside of the formal process where possible.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

It was agreed that this item would be deferred to the next meeting.

Report ED18070

The Sub-Committee considered a report presenting an extract from September 2018’s Contracts Register for detailed scrutiny.  The report was based on information covering all Portfolios, which was produced on 29^th August 2018 and presented to Contracts Sub-Committee on 16 October 2018.  The Contracts Register contained in ‘Part 2’ of the agenda included a commentary on each contract to inform Members of any issues or developments.

The Sub-Committee sought updates on two contracts that had appeared to expire:

• No. 123 - Children’s Network Services inc. childminding, buddy and a sitting service for children and young people with learning and/or physical disabilities
• No. 313 – Children’s – Support Services to Children at Risk of Sexual Exploitation. The contract for the support services had been tendered and was due to commence on 1 December 2018.  The current provider was completing work with vulnerable children who were in a therapeutic relationship with the provider.  Any new referrals would be sent to the new provider. The Director confirmed there was no gap in the service and all her children that required this service received it.

The Director of Children’s Social Care agreed to provide an update following the meeting.

A Member also noted that the Bromley Y contract should also appear on the database but had not been included in the list.  The Director of Children’s Social Care agreed to follow up after the meeting.

A Member reported that there appeared to be a large number of contracts within the ECHS Department that were experiencing delays.  In response the Director of Children’s Social Care confirmed that the Departmental Leadership Team regularly reviewed contracts and ensured that appropriate plans were in place. The Director of Children’s Social Care was unable to answer further questions in relation to the contracts as the paperwork to which the Member had been referring did not form part of the agenda papers and was therefore not available to the other Members and Officers present at the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Report ED18077

The Sub-Committee considered a report which outlined risks that had been identified and the actions taken to control them in line with Audit Sub-Committee recommendations.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

It was agreed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Education, Children and Families Select Committee would review the recommendation and any responses receive in advance of the next meeting.

This item has been withdrawn

This item was withdrawn.

Report ED18081

The Sub-Committee considered a report providing a regular update on the performance of services for children.  The Sub-Committee noted the management commentary on indicators performing below expectation.

In relation to EHC Plans, a Member suggested that representations should be made to the DfE to the effect that there should be a focus on the quality of the plans rather than simply meeting tight statutory timescales.

The Assistant Director of Strategy, Performance and Engagement provided assurances that business processes were correct and that there was now a need to ensure (1) the right level of engagement with parents and, (2) time to reflect on the quality of the plans.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.