Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair of the Committee to open the meeting and welcome those present.

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed those present.

To receive any apologies for absense.

Apologies of absence received from Cllrs Sowry-House and Quayle

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 20^th June 2024

The minutes of the meeting held on 20^th June 2024 were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their decision councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit up to two questions or two statements for each meeting. Alternatively, you could submit one question and one statement for each meeting.  

All submissions must be emailed in full to Antony.Nash@Dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Friday 6^th December 2024.   

When submitting your question(s) and/or statement(s) please note that: 

·      no more than three minutes will be allowed for any one question or statement to be asked/read  

·      a question may include a short pre-amble to set the context, and this will be included within the three minute period 

·      please note that sub divided questions count towards your total of two 

·      when submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g. the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder) 

·      Include your name, address and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting. 

·      questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda 

·      all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.   

There was no public participation.

To receive the Corporate Parenting Performance Report from the Head of Service Children in Care .

The Executive Director for Childrens Services presented the Corporate Data Set and spoke to some of the key details.

Following the presentation the committee discussed a few areas;

·       The demographics of children in care including the proportion of unaccompanied asylum seekers.

·       The role of the Harbour Service to provide support before children reach care and the retrospective analysis conducted on those who do reach care

·       The investment in Aspire and the proportion of adoptions in the data set delivered by Aspire and the role of Harbour service in preventing placement breakdown.

·       Initial health assessment and annual health check completion raised as a concern and some of the limiting factors such as out of county placements were shared

The Chair and Cllrs Parry and Somper supported by the Executive Director for Childrens to raise the profile of the issue around health assessments and checks to David Freeman.

To receive the report by Quality Assurance Service Manager

tiaThe report was presented by the Quality Assurance Service Manager and highlighted some of the key data to draw out of the report and positive feedback received and the areas to work on.

Following the presentation the Committee discussed a few key areas;

·       Discussion on the events stated in the report and the impact of them on future practice.

·       Improvements to practice from Childrens feedback

·       Report practice to make sure Risk assessments and other key areas are completed ahead of Cabinet discussion

·       A discussion around the use of Advocates including; how the child’s voice is heard in the processes and expressing their choice.

To receive the report on Advocacy and Independent Visitors by the Strategic Commissioner and Service Manager (NYAS)

The Strategic Commissioner presented the report that focused on advocacy for issue based cases, the matching process, and emphasising the importance of choice.

The committee discussed a few key areas;

·       The availability of advocacy and the engagement with the service.

·       Demographics of those using advocacy services

·       unaccompanied asylum seekers data and use of advocacy including barriers

The committee welcomed a deeper investigation into the issues around unaccompanied asylum seekers and out of county placements.

To receive the report from the Service Manager (Virtual School Headteacher)

Head of Children Thriving in Education presented the report of the virtual school sharing its impacts and summary of the key details in the report.

The committee recognised the value of the virtual school and discussed a few key areas

·       The proportion of children to teachers and staffing changes to provision

·       School exclusions and the impact on services including partnership working with educational psychologists and capacity issues.

·       The importance of early intervention.

To receive the report form the LADO

The Head of Quality Assurance & Partnerships presented the report, which highlighted the changes and improvements in relation to referrals and the impact on timeliness when there is police involvement.

The committee had a discussion around the capacity and staffing of the LADO’s is currently sufficient to meet demand.

To receive the report on Children in Care at Risk of Offending and Custody from the Head of Service, Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service

Head of Service, Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service presented the report and framed the considerations that are considered with the over representation of Children in care in the justice system.

The Committee had a discussion that covered a few areas of consideration

·       The prevalence of Speech and Language needs being unidentified until engagement with the youth justice system.

·       The role of the Harbours service.

·       The correlation between serious absence and the value in tracking young peoples journey

To receive the report Complaints and Representations – Children in Care and Care Leavers from the Complaints Manager

Senior Assurance Manager Complaints presented his report and the committee noted the details described.

To receive the from the Designated Nurse for Children in Care.

This item was declined unanimously by the Committee due to Health Partners being unavailable to attend the meeting. The report will be deferred to a future meeting.

To confirm details and deadlines for papers for the next meeting of the (formal) Corporate Parenting Board which will be held on Thursday 19^th June 2025, the next informal meeting will be held on Thursday 30^th January 2025.

Next formal meeting on 19^th June 2025.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.  

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.  

There was no exempt business.