Agenda and minutes

Councillor Clark declared a Personal Interest (Member of the Pause Rotherham Board).

There were no questions from members of the public and the press.

Health Select Commission

Councillor Jarvis reported that the following items had been discussed at the recent meeting of the Health Select Commission:-

-          Intermediate Care and Re-ablement Project

-          My Front Door

-          Implementation of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2018-25

-          Outcomes from Joint Scrutiny Workshop – Transition from Children’s to Adults Services

All the above items were linked to the changes in provision for adults with learning difficulties and the transition in that area.

Corporate Parenting Panel Sub-Group

The Chair reported that the above Sub-Group had commenced a review of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) process.  Feedback would provided to the next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission held on 5^th March, 2019.

It was noted that it should read “Aileen Chambers” and not “Eileen Chambers” at Minute No. 59 (Progress towards Implementation of Phase Two and Phase Three of the Early Help Strategy 2016-2019).

It was noted in relation to Minute No. 58 (Barnardo’s Reachout Service Update and Barnardo’s Reachout Final Evaluation Report) the following text be included:

“Clarification was sought if historic victims or ‘experts by experience’ were involved in training or awareness raising with professionals, or to inform the needs analysis or evaluation. It was confirmed that this was not the case.”

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission held on 5^th March, 2019 be approved subject to the above clerical corrections.

Consideration was given to the report presented by Jenny Lingrell, Joint Assistant Director of Commissioning, Performance and Inclusion, which was submitted to Improving Lives Select Commission for pre-decision scrutiny prior to consideration by Cabinet at its meeting in May, 2019.

The reports set out the proposed second phase of the Council’s plans to increase and develop special educational needs provision in Rotherham and outlined the available capital budget allocated by Central Government to enable these developments to be implemented.

The report, therefore, recommended that the Council consult with providers in relation to new provision to meet the needs identified within the sufficiency strategy with allocation of the capital funds to develop this provision.

Mary Jarrett, Head of Inclusion, gave the following powerpoint presentation on SEND Sufficiency:-

High Needs Budget

-          £36.5m budget - £5.31m pressure

-          Out of Authority provision (£4.4m pressure)

Forecast – EHCP Growth

-          The number of children and young people (CYP) on EHCP was currently 2,095 (as at 11^th February 2019)

-          Forecasting over the next 10 year period would see a potential increase of over 700 EHCPs in the next 2 years

-          Forecast projection for the next 4-5 years would see a potential rise of over 1,000 additional CYP on ECHPs

-          Long term, 8-9 years ahead, the number of CYP on EHCPs could potentially double in numbers to over 4,000

-          Over the 10 year forecast this was an increase of 105%

Forecast – Population Growth Age/Key Stage Groups

-          Children and young people aged 8-11 years old (covering Key Stage 2 phase) and CYP who were of Post 16+ age were the most affected cohort now and would continue to be the most affected young people that required support

-          Aged 5-7 years (Key Stage 1) cohort indicated an increase from 233 to 452 CYP with an EHCP over a 10 year period seeing an increase in need of 93%

-          Aged 8-11 years (KS2) cohort indicates an increase from 523 to 984 CYP with an EHCP over a 10 year period seeing an increase in need of 88%

-          Aged 17-26 years (Post 16) cohort indicate an increase from 535 to 1,679 CYP with an EHCP over a 10 year period seeing an increase in need of 213%

Forecast - Primary Need Growth

-          Visual Impairment

-          Speech, Language, Communication Difficulty

-          Specific Learning Difficulty

-          Social, Emotional and Mental Health

-          Severe learning Difficulty

-          Profound and Multi learning Difficulty

-          Physical Disability

-          Other Difficulty/Disability

-          Multi-Sensory Impairment

-          Moderate Learning Difficulty

-          Medical

-          Hearing Impairment

-          Autism Spectrum Disorder

Primary needs

-          Autism Spectrum Disorder – 651 CYP – 32% of 2019 cohort

-          Moderate Learning Difficulty – 447 CYP – 22% of 2019 cohort

-          Social, Emotional and Mental Health – 373 CYP – 18% of 2019 cohort

-          Analysis on forecasting projections of Primary Needs shows that within the next 10 years the number of CYP with a Primary need of ASD  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

Jenny Lingrell, Joint Assistant Director of Commissioning, Performance and Inclusion, and Lindsey Knight, Pause Practice Lead, presented an update on Rotherham Pause Practice which had become operational in July 2018.  This report followed on from a previous scoping report submitted to Improving Lives Select Commission in October 2017, which prompted the decision to proceed with the project.

The Pause model kept the women at the centre and enabled them to address a number of complex and intersecting needs.  As of March 2019, the team were working with a cohort of 24 women and of these 16 were fully engaged with the Pause Practice had which meant that the women agreed to use an effective form of long-term reversible contraception, which gave the gave them the chance to pause and take control over their lives with the aim of preventing repeated pregnancy. The 24 women in the cohort  had had 78 children removed between them, an average of 3.3 children removed per woman.

Pause Rotherham had been extremely effective at identifying and engaging women on the programme achieving 87% appointment attendance last quarter.  The women identified what areas they would like to focus on with the highest priority being relationship with children.  It had been successful in supporting women to engage in the court process and complete Life Story work

During the last quarter Pause Rotherham had:-

-          supported 8 women with their housing needs including supporting 3 to access new properties and working in partnership with Housing colleagues to avoid an eviction

-          supported 3 women to access a GP surgery, one to go to hospital for an operation, 4 to access Mental Health Services and 3 to access support from the Sexual Health Clinic

The Pause Rotherham Board had been established and included a broad multi-agency representation including a Councillor.  It had also undertaken joint work with the National Team including the Practice Lead being elected to sit on the Pause National Practice Board to help shape and drive forward practice nationally.

However, whilst the evidence suggested that Pause Rotherham was implementing the model successfully and partners were supportive, it was necessary to start work to explore if Rotherham wanted to sustain the practice and how it would be funded.  The final figures in April 2018 showed 270 women who were eligible for Pause equating to 720 children who had been removed.

A Pause Success Event was to be held in July 2019 to celebrate the first year of the practice.  It was hoped by that time further plans would be in place to address the sustainability of the project including the Practice Lead submitting a sustainability report and meeting with all agencies involved to look at the overall cost benefit analysis.  Work was taking place with the South Yorkshire Police looking at cost savings related to crime and domestic abuse within the cohort.

Over the course of the next 6 months the women would continue to work on their goals and benefit from the 1:1 sessions with their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

Ailsa Barr, Acting Assistant Director Safeguarding, gave the following powerpoint presentation on the recent Ofsted Focussed Visit (21^st-22^nd  March, 2019), and the outcome thereof:-

What’s Working Well

Improved practice in respect of children coming into care:-

-          Most recent S20 Audit (February 2019) evidenced appropriate use or a clear rationale for Section 20 placements and thus minimal drift

-          Of the 33 children subject of Section 20, 6 where Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children, 10 by virtue of receiving short breaks, 6 were 17+, 8 in PLO/legal process and 3 with a plan for reunification

-          All admissions presented to Public Law Outline Panel including emergency admissions so that:

·           Opportunities for reunification fully explored

·           All family options exhausted and viability assessments appropriate front loaded

·           Adoption planning including (early permanence) considered at earliest opportunity

Improving Placement Stability

-          Long term placement stability tracker

·           Process managed within Performance Clinics

·           21 long term matches achieved in 2018/19

·           13 more with Panel date already booked (7 x IFAs)

-          Better use of Special Guardianship Orders/Child Arrangements Orders

·           Early use of Interim Supervision order/CAO at initial hearings

·           28 Looked After Children stepped down to SGO/CAO in 2018/19

·           83 children made subject of SGO/CAO not previously Looked After over same period

·           273 SGO/CAO placements financially supported by CYPS

·           Post-SGO Support Worker to encourage greater sign up by carers

·           Letterbox co-ordinator

A ‘Good’ Adoption Service

-          32 adoptions successfully completed – 22 of these children in the ‘Hard to Place’ categories

-          Time limited searches by exception only and in accordance with identified needs of the child

-          RMBC acknowledged as regional Early Permanence leads – 6 EP placements in 2018/19 with 7 more in process

-          Only 1 disrupted adoption

-          35 more children already in adoptive placements, 25 of whom were in ‘Hard to Place’ categories

-          Post-adoption support

·           Rotherham Therapeutic Team

·           Adoption Support Fund – 136 applications

-          A collective commitment to ensure the Regional Adoption Agency does not impact on performance and adoption outcomes for our children

Innovative Practice

-          Intensive Intervention Programme using predictive analytics to identify and support the most vulnerable towards increased placement stability

-          Right Child Right Care – providing targeted and performance managed interventions to support more Looked After Children to permanent arrangements

-          Edge of Care Service – significant investment in a range of Edge of Care Services )PAUSE, MST, FGC, Edge of Care Team) to support children to remain living with birth/extended families and to support Looked After Children to return home

-          Life-Long Links (2^nd wave) to re-establish long term social and family connections using Family Group Conferencing model and social mapping processes to improve placement stability

-          The House Project – contributing to the ‘coming Home’ objectives in supporting 16 and 17 year olds to move for Out of Authority placements and towards semi-independent living

Areas for Further Development

-          Although the quality of Life-Story had significantly improved, it could be produced too late and was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

Caroline Webb, Senior Adviser (Scrutiny and Member Development), presented the outcomes of a workshop held by members of the Health Select Commission and the Improving Lives Select Commission on 19^th March, 2019.

The purpose of the workshop was to seek assurance that young people and their families/carers would have a positive transition from Children’s to Adult Services, through clear pathways and a strength based approach that sought to maximise independence and inclusion.

Evidence comprised of briefing papers, case studies, a presentation and the refreshed draft Education, Health and Care Plan.

Membership of the sub-group included Councillors Evans (Chair), Cusworth, Elliot, Jarvis, Keenan and Short.

The findings were set out in the report and fell within the following headings:-

-          Understanding the cohort – numbers and main presenting needs of the children and young people

-          Strategic alignment

-          Voice and influence

-          Shared approach to assessment and strength-based practice

-          Demonstrating outcomes – short and long term

It was noted that the follow-up actions for scrutiny outlined in Section 10 of the report would be considered in the work programme for the new municipal year.

Resolved:-  That the report be noted and the following recommendations be forwarded for consideration:-

(1)  That the PfA (Preparing for Adulthood) Board develop a range of outcome measures during 2019-20 to supplement output measures such as the number of EHCPs completed in time in order to:

-          Understand the impact of the new pathway

-          Capture achievement of individual aspirations in EHCPs and in the longer term

(2)  That the PfA Board develop measures of satisfaction during 2019-20 for young people and families/carers with regard to the transition/PfA process and new pathways.

(3)  That quality assurance processes are in place to monitor the consistency and quality of EHCPs when the new template is introduced.

(4)  That Adult Social Care continue to develop its Information, Advice and Guidance offer in 2019-20 for all customer cohorts including young people transitioning from Children and Young People’s Services and for people aged 25 who may face a second phase of transition.

(5)  That training and workforce development continues to embed taking a strengths-based approach fully with staff across Children and Young People’s Services and Adult Care, Housing and Public Health, and with health partners.

(6)  That representatives from the PfA Board, including Rotherham Parent Carers Forum, provide Scrutiny with a further progress update during 2019-20.

Tuesday         11^th June, 2019

                        9^th July

                        17^th September

                        29^th October

                        3^rd December

                        7^th January, 2020

                        10^th March

Resolved:-  That meetings take place during the 2019/20 Municipal year as follows:-

Tuesday         11^th June, 2019

                        9^th July

                        17^th September

                        29^th October

                        3^rd December

                        7^th January, 2020

                        10^th March

all commencing at 5.30 p.m.