Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Stuart Jones.

County Councillor Barrie Yates replaced County Councillor Peter Britcliffe for this meeting only.

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

A non-pecuniary interest was declared by County Councillor Anne Cheetham, as she was a former foster parent for Lancashire County Council and a school governor.

A non-pecuniary interest was declared by County Councillor Nweeda Khan, as she is an independent fostering panel member and a school governor.

To be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2024 be confirmed as an accurate record.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Cosima Towneley, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Jacquie Old, Executive Director of Education and Children's Services, Louise Anderson, Director of Children's Social Care and Georgine Lee, Head of Service, Front Door, Assessment and Adolescent Services to the meeting.

The report and presentation circulated with the agenda pack provided an update on the development and progress of the Contextual Safeguarding Re-Model. It also provided information on the implementation of the EmPower Contextual Safeguarding Multi-Disciplinary Team.

Members were invited to ask questions and a summary is outlined below:

·  Concern was raised by members over anti-social behaviour, specifically knife crime in Lancashire, members queried what was being done to reduce rates of violence and if preventative measures were in place in the community such as knife safety kits. It was explained to members that a strategy for dealing with knife crime was in development and research was being conducted into successful strategies used by other authorities where knife crime was more prevalent. It was highlighted to the committee that the strategy being developed was focused on the complex and early intervention end that Childrens' Social Care was involved in, and that the Violence Reduction Unit took the leading role in serious youth violence and reducing it, and in developing a knife strategy that was evidence informed already.  The committee were informed that regarding knife safety kits, the service was working with Knife Angel, for awareness, and prevention. Furthermore, the committee were informed that the Community Safety Partnership also played a key role in the preventative strategy. It was also explained to members that a representative sat on every local Community Safety Partnership group.

·  Members commented that it would be beneficial to have the contact details for local MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) Teams.

·  It was queried by the committee the likelihood of filling the vacancies in the 7 Contextual Safeguarding Multi-Disciplinary Teams, and what proportion of staff were already in post. The committee were informed that the majority of positions had been filled including all the Parenting Support Worker posts, all the Missing From Home Worker posts, all the Child and Family Practitioners, 2 of 7 Targeted Youth Worker positions were filled and that 3 Social Worker vacancies were currently out for advert with a projection the team would be fully staffed by Summer 2024.

·  The committee raised concern over the effectiveness of a multi-agency system and queried how information from different agencies was managed and communicated. Members were informed that regular communication and meetings with partner agencies were in place, it was also explained to the committee that the same multi-agency training was undertaken by every agency involved and that the multi-agency information sharing arrangements were well established between Childrens Social Care, Health Services and the Police where staff were co-located with the Police in most areas. Daily meetings around exploitation took place with the Police and Health Services and work was ongoing to see how this could be further expanded. Members heard that the use  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Cosima Towneley, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Jacquie Old, Executive Director of Education and Children's Services, Louise Anderson, Director of Children's Social Care and Brendan Lee, Head of Service, Looked after Children Leaving Care.

The report and presentation circulated with the agenda pack provided an update on the Family Safeguarding Service.

Members were invited to ask questions and a summary is outlined below:

·  Members queried why staff retention was poor in social work, it was explained to the committee that social work was a profession that had been on the National Risk List for a prolonged period of time and that social work was renowned for having a high staff turnover rate. The committee heard that over the last 12 months, the turnover rate in Lancashire County Council had decreased to below 12% in children's social work, which was below the national average. A follow-up question was raised by the committee querying  clarification on how the turnover rate was calculated; it was explained to members that the turnover rate was the number of people who left the organisation at any point in their career over a 12-month period, and the formula for calculating this percentage looked at the number of people who had left the organisation and the number of people who joined the organisation over 12 months. Members were informed that in most organisations, the turnover rate for social work was around 15%. It was requested that further information be provided to the committee to explain how the turnover rate was calculated and data to be provided on turnover rates for social workers in Lancashire, benchmarked against local authorities.

·  A query was raised regarding whether there was an active strategy in place to recruit from overseas e.g. South Africa. The committee were informed that there had been 2 recruitment campaigns carried out in South Africa, which had aided recruitment in social care. It was explained to members that Childrens' Social Care did not foresee the need to do any further overseas recruit campaigns in the near future.

·  It was suggested that data from staff exit interviews could be considered to help explain better why staff may choose to leave the service.

Resolved: That the following recommendations be shared with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families:

i.  The committee support the service priorities identified for 2024/25 as detailed in the report / supporting presentation.

ii.  Information to be provided to the committee on the formula and method used to calculate staff turnover. Data on turnover rates for social workers in Lancashire to be provided and for this to be benchmarked against local authorities.

iii.  Data from exit interviews to be considered, if possible, to consider why staff leave the service.

The report circulated with the agenda pack provided an update on the work of the Lancashire Education Strategy from September 2023 to March 2024.

Members raised the following questions to be circulated to and answered by Aby Hardy, Head of Education Improvement, before the next meeting of the committee:

·  Regarding the number of early years children accessing funded 2-year-old places in the last 12 months, it was queried if there was any particular reason why the take up rate was lower in Preston. 

·  It was queried why the number of permanent exclusions in certain divisions had increased significantly from 2022-23 to 2023-24 in particular in Rossendale and whether this was linked to post Covid. 

·  Regarding attendance at schools and the pilot for families to shorten leave during school term, it was questioned whether the new approach would be a blanket policy being rolled out or whether individual circumstances would be taken into consideration. The committee commented it was a significant difference to move from a fine to prosecution after 15 days. 

Resolved: That the queries raised from the Education Strategy Update be shared with the Head of Education Improvement for a response to be provided to the committee.

The committee received a report which provided members of the Children, Families and Skills Scrutiny Committee with the work programme for 2023/24.

A discussion took place on the arrangements for the Deep Dive Session due to take place in April 2024. It was agreed that the Where our Children Live Programme be looked at during a different session. 

Resolved: That the Children, Families and Skills Scrutiny Committee work programme be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the minutes, the chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the chief executive should be given advance warning of any member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Children, Families and Skills Scrutiny Committee will be an informal Deep Dive Session held on Tuesday 23 April 2024 at 2.00pm in Committee Room C – The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Children, Families and Skills Scrutiny Committee will be held on Wednesday 15 May 2024 at 10.30 am in Committee Room 'C' – The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.