Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 2, Shire Hall. View directions

Contact: Helen Barnsley  Senior Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

General

Additional documents:

1(1)

Apologies

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Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Barbara Brown and Marian Humphreys (who was replaced by Councillor Chris Mills). Apologies were recorded for Councillor Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children, Families and Education. He was represented at the meeting by Councillor Izzi Seccombe OBE, Leader and Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate an Culture, who along with Councillor Peter Butlin, Deputy Leader, would be covering Councillor Morgan’s portfolio during his absence through ill health.

1(2)

Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

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Minutes:

Councillor Jerry Roodhouse declared an interest in the item on Children and Family Centres Service Review and Early Help Family Support Services, due to his role on the Rugby Advisory Board for Barnardos.

1(3)

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 218 KB

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Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2021 were agreed as a true and accurate record. There were no matters arising.

2.

Public Speaking

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Minutes:

None.

3.

Question Time

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3(1)

Questions to Cabinet Portfolio Holders

Up to 30 minutes of the meeting are available for members of the Children & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee to put questions to the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Children, Families and Education.

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Minutes:

None

3(2)

Updates from Cabinet Portfolio Holders and Assistant Directors

Cabinet Portfolio Holders and Assistant Directors are invited to provide any updates they have on issues within the remit of the Committee.

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Minutes:

None

4.

ILAC / Ofsted Inspection Outcome and Action Plan pdf icon PDF 214 KB

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Minutes:

The Committee received an update on the Ofsted inspection report into Children Services. This had rated the services as ‘good’ in all areas. Dan Atkins and Anita Lekhi took members through the report, highlighting the key strengths and specific areas graded as good. The inspectors had noted a number of areas of improvement, which were also reported.

 

As a result of the inspection the Council had prepared an action plan setting out the steps that would be taken to address the formal recommendations. The action plan, provided as an appendix would be submitted to Cabinet and to Ofsted. The Council was committed to addressing the areas of improvement identified as part of the inspection within the next six months. Actions and improvements would be monitored as part of the quality assurance and performance learning strategy.

 

Questions and comments were submitted, with responses provided as indicated:

·       Councillor Roodhouse sought assurances that upcoming targets in the action plan were on track. Dan Atkins reported on progress which was as expected. 

·       Councillor Seccombe stated that the Council was pleased to achieve the ‘good’ rating of the service, especially for the children of Warwickshire. However, the aim was to continue to make progress. She also commented on the areas for improvement and the progress made since the inspection on those areas. In particular she mentioned that the Council was now fully staffed for social workers and in a strong position to move forward to seek an ‘outstanding’ rating for this service.

·       In response to a question from the Chair, further detail was provided on the multi-agency joint targeted area inspection, including the other services it was linked to. These unannounced inspections tended to be thematic.

·       Councillor Seccombe added that such partnership inspections were reliant on the achievements of all partners and a proactive approach was taken by the Council.

 

Resolved

 

That the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee: 

 

1.     Comments as set out above, upon the strengths and areas of improvement identified by the Ofsted inspection report, and

 

2.     Endorses the Action Plan and requests that regular updates on the plan be brought to the Committee.

 

5.

Children and Family Centres Service Review and Early Help Family Support Services pdf icon PDF 398 KB

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Minutes:

This item was introduced by Marina Kitchen and Jackie Kerby. At the Council meeting on 16March 2021, a motion was approved, that this Committee keep under review the Family Support Workers' service, as part of its on-going performance monitoring. In response to that motion a report was provided, setting out the current position and performance. Background was provided on the 2019 review of early help and the resultant formation of five

district/borough locality Early Help and Targeted Support Teams across Warwickshire. 

 

The Children and Family Centre (C&FC) Service was part of the County Council’s “stepped approach” to delivering support. Two providers were commissioned to deliver the service, being Barnardo’s and The Diocese of Coventry Multi-Academy Trust (St. Michael’s). There were 14 core sites.

 

The detail of the report included sections on:

 

  • Early Help and Targeted Support Staffing (including Family Support Workers).
  • Overview of service delivery, universal help, face to face consultations, targeted support and parenting offer.
  • Increasing knowledge, capacity, and capability of the network, including practitioner training, locality family support network meetings and network events for safeguarding leads.

·       Continual service development, with focusses around the family support waiting list, developing a dedicated work-flow consultation line and strengthening the knowledge base of family support workers.

  • The core elements of the C&FC service model and its performance.
  • Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on service delivery and the phased approach to recovery.
  • Performance up to December 2021, including the actions taken to increase performance by the commissioned providers and the service issues/challenges faced.

 

The Committee submitted questions and comments as follows:

  • The Chair requested that broader feedback was provided for members to include some that wasn’t as positive. Marina Kitchen agreed to do this, whilst advising that most feedback had been positive.
  • Councillor Gilbert suggested other questions to look at the ‘bigger picture’ of what may not currently be provided at centres and what else the centres could do if they had the resource. Marina Kitchen clarified that the narrative in the report was from families who had received one to one support for a specific issue via a home visit. A related discussion about such services being connected to the C&FCs.
  • Councillor Kerridge sought additional information about the categories used in distinguishing those attending courses, especially those who were ‘identified’. Jackie Kerby explained that this data set was complex with a lot of data extracted and she outlined each of the categories. Where the family was known, they were shown as identified. Councillor Kerridge noted that training was provided in schools and he asked if it was available through other services, such as church outreach workers. It was confirmed that the specific training offer reported was through schools. However other agencies had requested such training, and this was being considered currently. Reference also to pastoral support which was accessed by a number of agencies.
  • Councillor Kerridge spoke about the location of C&FCs and whether it was possible to see where people lived who were using them.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 317 KB

To consider the attached work programme, updated following the meeting of the Chair and Group Spokespersons. The programme includes an update from the Forward Plan showing items relevant to the remit of this Committee.

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Minutes:

The Committee noted and agreed its work programme.

 

7.

Any Other Business

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Minutes:

The Chair reminded that a task and finish group had been agreed previously to look at school places and school sufficiency. Members wishing to participate in the review were asked to confirm to the Chair and Democratic Services. Councillor Jill Simpson-Vince had expressed an interest in chairing the review.

8.

Date of the next meeting

The next meeting has been scheduled for 14 June 2022 @ 10am.

 

The meeting will be held in Committee Room 2, Shire Hall, Warwick.

 

Future meetings for 2022/2023 have been scheduled as follows –

 

·         27 September 2022 @ 10am

·         8 November 2022 @ 10am

·         14 February 2023 @ 10am

·         11 April 2023 @ 10am

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The next meeting had been scheduled for 14 June 2022 at 10am and would be held in Committee Room 2, Shire Hall, Warwick.

 

Future meetings for 2022/2023 were scheduled for:

 

·       27 September 2022 at 10am

·       8 November 2022 at 10am

·       14 February 2023 at 10am

·       11 April 2023 at 10am