Agenda and minutes

Amanda Hatton

To note that County Councillor Ian Brown has been appointed at Full Council to the role of Chair of the Corporate Parenting Board (CPB) for the municipal year 2017/2018.

The Board noted that County Councillor Ian Brown was the Chair of the Board for the municipal year 2017/2018.

County Councillor Ian Brown

The Board to appoint a Deputy Chair for the municipal year 2017/2018.

The Board agreed that County Councillor Phillippa Williamson would be the Deputy Chair of the Board for the municipal year 2017/2018.

County Councillor Ian Brown

To note who is attending and any apologies for absence.

All were welcomed to the meeting and apologies were received and noted from County Councillor Julie Gibson, Debbie Ross, Andreas Feldhaar and Annette McNeil.

CC Brown thanked the previous Chair, on behalf of the Board, for her dedication and commitment to the young people and contribution to the Board.  He also thanked Sam Gorton for all her hard work for the Board also.

County Councillor Ian Brown

To agree for accuracy the notes of the meeting and receive any matters arising.

The minutes were agreed as an accurate record and there were no matters arising from them.

County Councillor Ian Brown

To review the current membership and terms of reference.

The Board felt that the membership was sufficient and the terms of reference were clear and precise.  The Board needs to establish how it takes business forward and who to ask – establish authority and how to link in with other Committees ie Children's Services Scrutiny.  It needs to have a clear route when taking concerns forward and clear outcomes.

Action:  County Councillors Brown, Williamson and Amanda Hatton to meet and discuss ways forward for the Board, reporting mechanisms, who to approach and which Committees the Board needs to link in to and update County Councillor Charles, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools on what the Board are doing.

CC Brown informed the Board that if there were any issues around corporate parenting, these should be raised with himself as Chair of the Board and that he would follow them through to a conclusion.  County Councillor Brown's contact details can be found here.

All Elected Members

Each Elected Member to give an introduction to the Board about themselves.

The new elected members gave a brief introduction about themselves to the Board.

County Councillor Brown reiterated the importance of linking in to other bodies and that he will be meeting with the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools and reporting on the work of the Board.

LINX and POWAR had developed a profile for social workers for the benefit of the young people and it was felt that a profile for members of the Board would be useful.

Action:  Amanda Hatton agreed to amend the social worker profile and make one for the CPB.  This will then be shared and members of the Board will be requested to complete one.

Young People and Barnardos

To receive feedback on the work our young people have been doing including the:

·  Performance Report

·  Role of CPB from a young person's perspective including roles and responsibilities

What LINX Have Been Doing

LINX tabled the attached document to inform the meeting what they had been doing since the last CPB meeting.

With regards the Social Work training, they are informed about the Corporate Parenting Board and what they do.

Action:  Mia Leyland agreed to share the video that has been produced by LINX for training the Social Workers with the Board.

Young Inspectors Update

LINX presented the attached powerpoint to the Board.

It was noted that there is a further training session arranged for the Summer holidays to train up more young people.  The Board raised as to whether these reports are sent to the LCC Procurement Team and the Assessment and Referral Team.  It was agreed that a copy of the questions asked on the inspection visits be shared with the Board at the next meeting.

Actions:  i)  Amanda Hatton to ensure that future reports are sent to Heads of Service in all areas of Children's Social Care and Health partners.

ii)  LINX to bring a set of questions from their inspection visits to the next meeting to share with the Board.

Regulation 44 Visits

It is a requirement that an independent person visits the residential homes either in-house or private where our children are placed.  Every month somebody visits a residential home and looks at a range of things and reports back to Ofsted and the Head of Service for Residential Services.  The Director of Children's Services also receives a copy of the reports too.

The Board agreed that they wished to continue undertaking visits to residential homes and that if young inspectors wish to accompany them, then they would welcome that too.

Amanda Hatton reported that Trafford Council carry out Governance Visits for in-house and private residential and fostering placements and agreed to look into this further.

Actions:  i)  Amanda Hatton will research further into Governance Visits carried out by Trafford Council and see if these could work for Lancashire.

ii)  LINX to look at an approach as to how young inspectors and County Councillors can carry out some joint visits.

Feedback on Performance Report

The powerpoint presentation given on the CPB Performance Report is attached.

The key comments from young people on the report are as follows:

There are a number of reasons as to why there has been a big increase in the number of CLA in the last two years:

i)  Need to ensure that the right support is in place at the right time.

ii)  There is a new Residential Strategy to make homes smaller and look at respite to prevent young people coming into care, however look at different care/support.

iii)  Nationally there is also a big increase and this needs to be looked as to where Lancashire are a comparable.

There are less referrals than the previous year which is good however, the young people are concerned that there is a rise in contacts:

i)  More contact is good as this turns into less referrals which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Amanda Hatton/County Councillor Ian Brown

To note the role of the CPB and its' responsibility around quality assurance of children in our care.

Amanda Hatton presented the attached powerpoint to the Board.

It was agreed that the Lancashire County Pledge for looked after children will be revised and piece of work will be done at a future meeting of the Board.

The Board agreed that there should be some statements about what it expects for our children in care.

The Boards priorities need to be reviewed.

The A-Z Guide for Children and Young People Looked After needs updating.

Actions:  i)  To revise the Lancashire County Pledge at a future Board meeting.

ii)  To agree collectively some statements about what it expects for our children in care.

iii)  To review the Boards priorities at a future meeting.

iv)  Amanda Hatton to speak to officers re updating the A-Z Guide for Children and Young People Looked After.

County Councillor Ian Brown

To receive any other business.

Facebook for Care Leavers

This will be launched at the end of June and will be called Staycentred (Central Area), Go East (East Area) and Up North (North Area).  Information for care leavers will be shared on there along with events and jobs.  It will be managed by the areas Leaving Care Teams and will increase the ability to keep in touch with young people and the services they are involved with.

Coventry City Council have a leaving care app and this is something that could be looked at for Lancashire.

The Emergency Duty Team (EDT) is not available out of hours, however it would be useful if there could be an out of hours care leavers team.  Possibly look to see if there is any downtime during weekend hours when the EDT are working and see if some support could be given then to care leavers.  Also, look at using residential services for out of hours support.

Action:  Amanda Hatton to speak with colleagues with regards providing some out of hours support for care leavers.

County Councillor Ian Brown

Thursday, 27 July 2017 at 1.30pm in the Duke of Lancaster Room – Cabinet Room 'C', County Hall, Preston.  This meeting is the young people's meeting and will be chaired by them.

Thursday, 27 July 2017 at 1.30pm in the Duke of Lancaster Room – Cabinet Room 'C', County Hall, Preston.