Agenda and minutes

No Declarations of Interest were made. 

No members of the public or the press were in attendance. 

·       The Council has agreed that Councillor Currie will leave this Select Commission and that Councillor Elliot will join. 

It was noted that Councillor S. Currie had left the Improving Lives Select Commission and that he had been replaced by Councillor J. Elliot. 

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission held on 23^rd September, 2015, were considered. 

From the matters arising on the previous minutes, 22^nd July, 2015, Councillor Hoddinott asked whether there was any advance in the CSE scorecard.  In July it had been promised in September.  It was now November and it had not been submitted or circulated to Elected Members.  How could the Improving Lives Select Commission scrutinise agencies’ response to CSE without knowing or understanding the CSE profile? 

Councillor Hoddinott asked for an update on Regulation 44 reports.  She had asked at the September meeting how many Regulation 44 reports there had been over the past year, and where they had been reported to.  She had not received a response. 

It was noted that the Improving Lives Select Commission needed to appoint a lead to work with the Rotherham Local Safeguarding Children Board on audit.  Expressions of interest were received from Councillors Hoddinott and Ahmed. 

The Improving Lives Select Commission confirmed that Councillor Hoddinott would be the lead Member for this, with Councillor Ahmed acting as her substitute and receiving full information. 

Resoled: -  (1)  That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23^rd September, 2015, be agreed as an accurate record and the matters arising updates be noted.

(2)  That Councillor E. Hoddinott be confirmed as the Improving Lives Select Commission’s lead Member in respect of Audit of the Rotherham Local Safeguarding Children Board.  Councillor S. Ahmed will act as her substitute member and receive training and information requisite to the role. 

·       David McWilliams, Assistant Director, Early Help and Family Engagement, Children and Young People’s Services Directorate. 

·       Background papers – Early Help storyboard – attached.   

David McWilliams, Assistant Director Early Help and Family Engagement, Children and Young People’s Services Directorate, was welcomed to the meeting to provide an update on Early Help.  David gave a presentation and welcomed Members’ questions and comments. 

David’s presentation covered the following information: -

·       Storyboard;

·       Early Help Vision;

·       Leadership team and structure for Early Help and Family Engagement: -

o   There was currently one vacancy within the structure.

·       What is early help?;

·       Contact and reach of other services;

·       One Family, One Worker, One Plan;

·       ‘Worked with’ – co-production – not ‘done to’;

·       Named worker;

·       Families are encouraged to find their own solutions to their own problems;

·       Ofsted inspections evaluation of the early help offer: -

o   Previous inspection feedback/outcomes had been that early help was not integrated enough.  A scorecard had now been established to target the work;

·       Early Help was working closely with the Multi-Agency Support Hub;

·       Early Help was working on step down / step up arrangements for families entering the service and withdrawing from it;

·       Re-referral rates were monitored;

·       Wider workforce implications – investment in people working differently and an investment in permanent staff;

·       Savings and efficiencies.  Early Help provided cashless savings, it was important to know unit costs;

·       Early Intervention Foundation (EiF);

·       Interactive social media was planned, including self-help guides;

·       The service included youth work, and so encompassed statutory duties;

·       The aim was to provide consistency across the Borough;

·       The drop in the ‘Not in Education, Employment, or Training’ rate to 6.4% had been due to Early Help teams getting in touch with members of the community to find out destinations. 

Discussion and questions followed David’s presentation.  The following areas were covered: -

·       Councillor M. Vines asked whether the delay in inspections of Children’s Centres was a good thing?  - David agreed that the additional preparation time was a good thing.  Children’s Centres worked to self-evaluation frameworks and knew the criteria that was required.

·       Councillor M. Vines asked whether self-evaluation was the most reliable method of assessment?  Were self-evaluators likely to reveal if they found issues of concern? -  David had witnessed the personal commitment of staff in what was a tough and challenging job.  They wanted to do a good job.  Sixteen people had signed up for the challenge and they had the energy and expertise to do this;

·       Councillor Ahmed asked about the online early help offer that included all agencies?  - David explained that a meeting had been arranged to discuss this proposal;

·       Councillor Ahmed asked about the cost of Early Help.  Did it include working with additional families who were new to the caseload, or were these families part of current caseloads? -  David explained that the Service had many links across the country to other Early Help provision.  He had his own network of peer support.  The Service’s PDR completion rate was at 100% and the next step would be to look at the quality of the completion.  Savings had been identified within the outturn budget;

·       Councillor Elliot  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

·       Ian Thomas, Strategic Director, Children and Young People’s Services Directorate to report.

Councillor Hamilton welcomed Ian Thomas, Strategic Director, Children and Young People’s Services Directorate, and Michelle Whiting, Interim Looked After Children Adviser, Safeguarding Children and Families’ Services, to the meeting. 

Ian and Michelle, with reference to the submitted reports, informed Elected Members about the current situation relating to Rotherham’s residential homes.  Ian started his presentation with an apology to Elected Members for the very disappointing outcomes that had been reported.  Ian expected progress and knew that there was much more to do. 

Ian and Michelle covered the following areas in their presentation on Rotherham’s Woodview and Saint Edmund’s residential homes: -

·       Regular independent Regulation 44 Visits had been conducted.  Copies of the reports were submitted to the Assistant Director for Safeguarding Children and Families and Ofsted;

·       The material condition of the homes;

·       Practices in the homes;

·       Culture and that fact that homes were not child-centred;

·       None of the children living at the homes were being abused whilst in the Local Authority’s care, but the mechanisms in place at the homes did not show that staff were curious about the comings and goings of the young people living there;

·       The Local Authority had taken the decision to close Woodview.  The children who had lived there were moved to provision that was Ofsted judged to be Good or better;

·       Management actions following the close of Woodview would be appropriate;

·       In relation to Saint Edmund’s, an improvement plan had been issued and submitted to Ofsted;

·       Educational outcomes had been found to be good at Saint Edmund’s, although there were still areas of concern.

Ian described a future options appraisal process that would take place in relation to Rotherham’s current offer of residential homes.  The process would look at value for money and outcomes. 

The role of Regulation 44 visits was considered, along with the enhanced involvement that Rotherham’s Corporate Parenting Panel would have.  This included ensuring that there were strong protocols around the visits so that they were conducted in a controlled way that did not encroach on the young people’s homes.  It had also been agreed that elected members would act in roles as ‘Champions’ for issues relating to looked after childrens’ lives. 

Discussion followed and the following questions were raised: -

·       Councillor M. Vines described the Ofsted outcomes as embarrassing. He asked what the hold-up was in progress being seen? – Ian explained how the improvement journey would take three to five years.  Progress had been made in the developing Mash and tackling CSE.  The negative outcomes in relation to the residential homes were set-backs.  The Local Authority was committed to its looked after children and had launched the nine Promises to them setting out what they could expect and what they were entitled to from Rotherham Council; 

·       Councillor Hoddinott asked why issues at the homes had not been tackled based on the reports provided by the Independent Visitor?  It was really disappointing to learn that staff at Saint Edmund’s awareness of CSE was found to be low.  –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

·       Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager, Legal and Democratic Services, Resources and Transformation Directorate, to report.

Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager (Legal and Democratic Services, Resources and Transformation Directorate) introduced the report that outlined the Improving Lives Select Commission’s proposed work programme for 2015/2016.  The report outlined what would be covered in each meeting. 

Members of the Improving Lives Select Commission were asked to state any other areas that they felt should form part of the priorities to be considered.  The following topics were raised: -

·       Survivors;

·       Survivors with children;

·       Parents and carers of survivors;

·       Supporting the workforce in the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate: -

o   Key competency framework;

o   Appraisals and monthly supervision, along with direct supervisions/observations;

o   Performance management;

o   Training requirements;

o   Capability procedures.

Resolved: -  (1)  That the proposed Improving Lives Select Commission work programme for 2015/2016 be accepted, along with the suggested additions received in the meeting. 

·       Wednesday 16^th December, 2015, to start at 1.3 p.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall. 

Resolved: -  That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Wednesday 16^th December, 2015, to start at 1.30 pm in the Rotherham Town Hall.