Agenda item

This was the first report for an item which would become a regular feature of future agendas; a quarterly update was specified in the Joint Parenting Panel’s (JPP) terms of reference. The overall context of the JPP was the Corporate Parenting Strategy (comprising of 6 priorities, with an action plan for each), the Joint Care Leavers’ Strategy (which outlined what care leavers could expect in care and afterwards) and the Pledge (19 promises for children in SBC’s care). The terms of reference were being refreshed, and would be confirmed on 13^th December 2017.

The JPP was a private meeting held by SBC. It was designed to ensure that Councillors and Non-Executive Directors of the Slough Children’s Services Trust (SCST) could demonstrate their commitment to delivering better outcomes for children in care. Central to this was ensuring that the voice of the child was at the heart of deliberations.

Meetings were themed. The meeting in June 2017 focused on children in care developing positive relationships; the increased stability in social worker allocation to children was a vital element of this. In addition, the Reach Out! Helpline allowed children to speak to a trusted person at any time, including evenings and weekends. July’s meeting was centred on education, employment and training and securing the best access to opportunities. September’s meeting looked at keeping children in care safe and the role of early help and intervention in that. Lastly, the workshop in October 2017 had compiled a balanced scorecard for the service, including qualitative and quantitative measures. Ofsted’s views on the JPP had been positive; whilst it had highlighted some disaffection with the previous format of the meetings, this had been altered to put children’s concerns at the heart of proceedings.

The Panel raised the following points in discussion:

·  The transition from school to adulthood was a key concern. A Transition Protocol had been signed by the Director of Adults and Communities to ensure corporate backing from senior management dealing with both children and adults and the involvement of all relevant services. Preparation for independence after education was co-ordinated and focused on employment as the route towards free choice. Accommodation and the use of apprenticeships had been supporting these efforts. Ofsted had also noted the positive impact of SBC and SCST pooling their resources in this drive.

·  Personal Assistants had also now been appointed to support children in all elements of their lives. In particular, the extra emphasis on personal contact (e.g. checking they were OK during the Christmas period, asking about outcomes on GCSE results day) had helped with ensuring that children felt part of a community.

·  The first JPP meetings had been deemed to be somewhat formal and alienating. As a result, JPP had agreed to attend their forums so that children could feel comfortable in a more familiar surrounding. The National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) were acting as independent chairs to further counteract any feelings of distance from JPP and allow greater opportunity for children to challenge service providers.

·  SCST also had a Participation Officer whose role centred on building relationships between the organisation and children. All children in care also had Independent Reviewing Officers; this was a separate system which was designed to ensure that the wishes and views of children were included in service provision.

·  SCST used the national Bright Spots programme to conduct a survey on care leavers’ views. The results of this were shared with JPP.

·  There was a statutory duty to keep contact with care leavers up to the age of 21. The Care Leavers Forum was part of this duty; SCST had learned much from this body and used this information to make significant changes. Take up from care leavers in the Forum had also increased drastically since SCST assumed responsibility for the service, despite some individuals remaining unwilling to engage. Staff were constantly reminded that the level of care expected would mirror the level of care staff would provide if the children involved were part of the officer’s own family.

·  SCST had investigated the potential of mentoring schemes. However, the rapid changes in the lives of young people as they moved into University education or employment made this difficult. This was recognised as a major area for future SCST efforts; in addition, ensuring that reporting on progress used responsible rather than judgemental language was vital in building effective relationships.

·  Whilst life skills had received significant emphasis, members asked if emotional skills were as prominent in service planning. Foster carers and other key individuals were advocating for children in care and ensuring that they were well looked after. In addition, the Virtual Head was proving to be a tenacious and determined worker on behalf of children in care, and was committed to ensuring that they got the life chances and support they required. Relationships with key people such as teachers was vital in providing the rounded care package required.

·  SCST was emphasising continuity of relationships as another key aspect of emotional wellbeing. Offering children in care a greater sense of permanence was key to boosting the feeling of being valued.

·  The proportion of children in care who did not enter education, employment or training (NEETs) after school was not available for the meeting. However, it was a KPI on the balanced scorecard. Employability Passports and work experience was also key parts of the package aimed at mitigating the risk of children in care entering the NEET category. Opportunities to use the links with SBC (e.g. apprentice schemes) could also be explored.

(At this point, Cllr Matloob joined the meeting).

·  JPP was committed to offering a genuine forum for engagement, commitment and challenge.

Resolved:  That future updates from JPP include a summary of recent meetings.