Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services.

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the progress made to deliver the in-house children’s residential development, the positive impact for Children in Care and financial efficiencies that will be achieved.

2.    Approve the Care Leavers addendum to the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy 2023 – 2028.

3.    Agree that the LAC and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy Delivery Plan be updated to increase the appropriateness and number of available accommodation options for Care Leavers as per the Care Leaver addendum to the LAC sufficiency strategy (see 2 above).

4.    Note that on 16 October 2023 authority was delegated to the Assistant Director of Housing Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to acquire up to 100 properties in line with the Housing Acquisitions Policy, which includes scope to acquire properties to meet the accommodation needs of Children and Young Peoples Services.

5.    Authorise the Councils Designated Property Officer, or relevant Strategic Director in their absence, to negotiate any additional accommodation required and complete necessary transactions, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, Strategic Director Children’s and Young Peoples Services, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services and the Assistant Director of Legal Services.

Consideration was given to the report which detailed the proposed addendum to the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy 2023-2028 which summarised the needs of Care Leavers. The report also included an update to the LAC Sufficiency Strategy delivery plan to better reflect the needs of Care Leavers.

The Local Authority had a duty to ensure that it had carried out appropriate needs analysis of both its children in care and care leavers’ placement and accommodation needs. It then needed to create a strategy that addressed the

resultant sufficiency priorities and a clear local offer for Care Leavers. The delivery of the residential development programme remained a clear priority within the LAC Sufficiency delivery, but it was also important to focus explicitly on the needs of Care Leavers. The Care Leavers Addendum to the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy (Appendix 1) did that and identified a requirement to further develop provision to meet the needs of young people and young adults. It was also important to ensure that this provision provided positive outcomes and value for money.

The analysis of future need within the Care Leavers addendum suggested that there would be 551 Care Leavers in Rotherham in 2027. This was significantly higher than the 353 Care Leavers in Rotherham in May 2024. In May 2024, 88 Care Leavers were accommodated in externally commissioned accommodation; the forecast number of Care Leavers in externally commissioned accommodation in 2027 was 156.

An update was also provided on the in-house children’s residential development that was agreed at Cabinet on 17 February 2020. Previous progress updates had been reported to Cabinet in June 2020, September 2021, and October 2022.

The four phases of the programme aimed to deliver 20 residential beds and 2 emergency beds across 11 registered settings. So far, the programme had delivered 10 residential beds and 1 emergency bed across 6 registered settings. This included 1 x 4 bed provision, 3 x 2 bed homes and 1 x 1 bed emergency provision. There was a current total in house capacity of 11 beds.

In January 2023, a new judgement for Care Leavers was introduced to the Ofsted Inspecting Local Authority Services for Children (ILACS) inspection framework. In March 2023, the Government introduced new national standards for the registration, regulation, and inspection of supported accommodation for Looked After Children aged 16 and 17 years, to be overseen by Ofsted.

A Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Review took place between 12 to 15 March 2024, at the request of the Council. The Peer Review identified “Services are making a real difference to the lived experience of care leavers, however, the range of accommodation services needed for Care Leavers in Borough is insufficient.”

The Peer Review had recommended the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy 2023 – 2028 be updated to better reflect the needs of Care Leavers in the context of the regulatory changes.

In relation to the Peer Review comment that “the range of accommodation services needed for Care Leavers in Borough is insufficient”, it was confirmed in the meeting that the Service were confident that the actions as outlined in the Strategy would lead to a sufficient range of accommodation.

The challenges of providing appropriate accommodation were outlined in the meeting. This included finding appropriate properties, getting Ofsted approval and hiring qualified staff. It was noted that there was no quick fix, but the Strategy did present a strong, positive way forward.

The report was considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB), who advised that the recommendations be supported. There had been some concerns regarding the target and the budget but overall, OSMB felt that it was a good Policy. An additional recommendation had however been made, relating to ensuring that the local neighbourhood teams and ward members were consulted when identifying properties within their localities. The Strategic Director confirmed that this was already being done.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the progress made to deliver the in-house children’s residential development, the positive impact for Children in Care and financial efficiencies that will be achieved.

2.    Approve the Care Leavers addendum to the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy 2023 – 2028.

3.    Agree that the LAC and Care Leavers Sufficiency Strategy Delivery Plan be updated to increase the appropriateness and number of available accommodation options for Care Leavers as per the Care Leaver addendum to the LAC sufficiency strategy (see 2 above).

4.    Note that on 16 October 2023 authority was delegated to the Assistant Director of Housing Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to acquire up to 100 properties in line with the Housing Acquisitions Policy, which includes scope to acquire properties to meet the accommodation needs of Children and Young Peoples Services.

5.    Authorise the Councils Designated Property Officer, or relevant Strategic Director in their absence, to negotiate any additional accommodation required and complete necessary transactions, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, Strategic Director Children’s and Young Peoples Services, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services and the Assistant Director of Legal Services.

6.    That Cabinet give consideration to ensuring that the local neighbourhood teams and ward  members were consulted when identifying  properties within their localities.