Agenda item

To receive an update and monitor progress of the Q1 performance for Children’s Services.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Graham Hinchey (Cabinet Member for Children and Families), Sarah McGill (Corporate Director, People and Communities), and Deborah Driffield (Director, Children’s Services) to the meeting.

Councillor Hinchey was invited to make a statement during which he paid tribute to Officers and staff in Children’s Services for their performance during the pandemic, noting that the number of children being returned home had increased. There are still pressures and work has continued on remodelling the service.

Members were asked to comment or raise questions on the information received. Those discussions are summarised as follows:

·         Members discussed whether it would be possible to expand Cardiff Works into a recruitment agency for social workers as an alternative to using external agencies. Members were advised that the possibilities of Cardiff Works had not been fully utilised. The Council had begun to use the service in relation to care workers but there was no reason why that could not be expanded to cover a range of other staff where there are difficulties recruiting. The concept of developing the Council’s own staff requires that they be recruited pre-qualification, which will necessitate apprenticeships and traineeships. There need to be opportunities for support workers and social work assistants. These are crucial if the Council is to have a pool of people for development and training. 

·         Members sought clarification as to whether face to face visits with children had returned to the level they were pre-pandemic, and what had been learned from the experience of virtual visits. Members were advised that face to face visits should soon be at pre-pandemic levels but there was some delay due to demand. Members were further advised that a significant amount had been learned from virtual visits. What matters is what suits the young person most. Some young people were very happy with remote contact whereas others were unhappy. Different ways of using the technology have been explored. At the start of the pandemic when it was only possible to visit children most at risk, there was concern that without being in people’s houses it was difficult to be certain of the real situation for many young people. For some young people it might be important to have first-hand knowledge of their home situation.

·         Members sought information on any changes in practice in relation to strategies for prevention, such as improved performance and review conferences for children on the Child Protection Register. Members were advised that during the pandemic social workers were still visiting children when it was necessary or safe to do so. Children were not at school and Early Years centres were not open. The numbers of children on the Register escalated such that it became difficult to ensure that they were seen. An additional Child Protection Conference Coordinator was brought in to review decisions at an early stage. As a result there was a significant decrease in the number of children going on the Register.

·         Members were further advised that a reviewing hub is being introduced which will allow staff to better understand where children are on the pathway and step them up or down in a timely way. Work is underway on developing intervention hubs to provide support internally. Wraparound support is being increased to prevent children coming into care or step them down more quickly. While significant pressures remain the Council is moving forward with innovation and development, which will help attract social workers.

·         Members sought information on evidence of a relationship between increasing youth violence and child sexual exploitation, and whether there was sufficient cooperation from partners in addressing it. Members were advised that the Council has developed the Safe Model for safeguarding adolescents from sexual or criminal exploitation. The Safe Model seeks to understand what is happening within different communities and provide wraparound support for children rather than seeing them as a problem. It allows the sharing of information about Police activities that might have an impact on children. Internal management reviews are underway into serious violent incidents and the results will be shared across the partners.

RESOLVED:

That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations during the way forward.