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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Suite - County Hall

Contact: Stephanie Lewis 01392 382486  Email: stephanie.lewis@devon.gov.uk

Note: Due to Covid restrictions and social distancing measures, members of the press and public must contact the Clerk to book a place should they wish to attend this meeting in person. It will however be live streamed and you can watch by copying and pasting this link into your browser - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTg2MzM0MDktYzAzYS00ZjY3LThjM2MtYWU2NzYzYTNjY2Mx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%228da13783-cb68-443f-bb4b-997f77fd5bfb%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22092932fc-d274-4b6c-91b5-90e690141c3b%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d&btype=a&role=a 

Media

Items
Note No. Item

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1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2021 (previously circulated) and the minutes from the April and July SOG meetings, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2021 and the  minutes from the April and July Standing Over Group meetings, be signed as a correct record.

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2.

Items Requiring Urgent Attention

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no matter raised as a matter of urgency.

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3.

Public Participation

Members of the public may make representations/presentations on any substantive matter listed in the published agenda for this meeting, as set out hereunder, relating to a specific matter or an examination of services or facilities provided or to be provided.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no oral representations from members of the public.

 

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4.

Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

In accordance with previous practice, Scrutiny Committees are requested to review the list of forthcoming business and determine which items are to be included in the Work Programme.

 

The Committee may also wish to review the content of the Cabinet Forward Plan and the Children’s Services Risk Register to see if there are any specific items therein it might wish to explore further.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Scrutiny Officer updated Members as to the Work Programme, noting the items scheduled for the next Committee meeting on 9 November 2021.

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5.

Election of Commissioning Liaison Member

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In line with the recommendations of the ‘Scrutiny in a Commissioning Council’ Task Group Report, the Committee was asked to select a Commissioning Liaison Member, whose role was to work closely with the relevant Cabinet Members and Chief Officers/Heads of Service, developing a fuller understanding of commissioning processes, and to provide a link between Cabinet and Scrutiny on commissioning and commissioned services.

 

The Commissioning Scrutiny Task Group Report can be viewed here:

http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/documents/s1830/Scrutiny%20in%20a%20Commissioninig%20Council.pdf

 

It was MOVED by Councillor Hannaford SECONDED by Councillor Channon and

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Sanders be elected as Commissioning Liaison Member for the ensuing year.

 

 

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6.

Election of Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Member Champion

Additional documents:

Minutes:

At the Cabinet on 9 July 2021, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Public Health, Communities and Equality wished to seek nominations for a Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Member Champion on each of the three Scrutiny Committees in order to better support the Council’s responses across its services.

 

It was MOVED by Councillor Hannaford, SECONDED by Councillor Hellyer and

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Samuel be elected as Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Member Champion for the ensuing year.

 

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7.

Children's Social Care Performance Report pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report of the Interim Head of Children’s Social Care (CS/21/09), attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the Report of the Interim Head of Children’s Social Care (CS/21/09) which provided a performance update on the Service including key data demonstrating levels of demand and response across help, care and protection.  The Report outlined key points such as referrals, the timeliness of assessments, the number of children in need, the number of children subject to a child protection plan, the number of children in care, key outcomes for children’s education and emotional wellbeing, and the number of care leavers.

 

Members raised the following discussion points and questions with Officers in response to the Report:

 

·       Eclipse IT System – Members questioned the robustness and effectiveness of the new system used by Social Workers and how they could understand the problems experienced by them and what Scrutiny could do to help resolve these issues in a timely manner. The Head of Service explained that the capacity to produce management information and an oversight of performance and outcomes had improved.  Practitioners were also able to use the social work dashboard, which was a real time tool to help them keep track on assessments being completed in time, visits being completed in time, and case allocations caseloads. However, there were still many practitioners who stated that the systems functionality took up a lot of their time which could be better spent working directly with families, rather than inputting data. Officers advised that the Eclipse system was working, but that improvements were still to be made to make it more efficient and effective for users.

ACTION: The Head of Service to provide a briefing note to Members setting out the improvements that were planned and the time scales for those improvements to Eclipse and associated developments.

·       MASH - Members raised questions over the current state of the Service, whether it was a thorough system or if over intervention was an issue as there were a number of referrals that did not progress any further.  The Head of Service advised that there was a high proportion of referrals from the MASH that progressed to needing an assessment from social care that didn't then remain open within social care for support from a social worker.  Some cases related to concerns raised by other professionals where it was deemed necessary for social workers to determine if further support was needed. Many families currently received assessment from a social worker, which was intrusive, where better or different support from Early Help services could have been provided, to ensure families were appropriately supported.  Services were working through Children’s Centres and in localities to ensure they were appropriately targeted at children who had complex needs with emerging risks to ensure those families were better supported.

·       The Service was also looking at reviewing and refocusing its Early Help services to make sure they impacted and prevented children from needing social workers unnecessarily.  Professionals could also ring for advice and support and the team could help them to signpost families to other services.

·       Referrals – further analysis  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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8.

SEND Performance Report pdf icon PDF 745 KB

Report of the Head of Education & Learning (CS/21/10), attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Education & Learning (CS/21/10) which provided an update on current SEND projects and SEND

High Needs Block funding as well as the new SEND Scorecard.  The Report outlined key projects including the SEND Transformation Programme, the Babcock In-Housing Project, the SEND Local Offer Website, the Funding for Special Education Needs through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) High Needs Block, the Timeliness of EHCPs and issues raised through the complaint processes.

 

Members raised the following discussion points and questions with Officers in response to the report:

 

·       Timeliness of EHCPs – Members questioned what communication or signposting families were given where their EHCP was delayed in order to find further help and support, and the timescales for the Service to improve the number of Plans which did not meet the Statutory 20 week deadline.  The Head of Education and Learning advised that the EHCP process was part of a graduated response that started with SEN support from schools through to LA provision.  Families would have been working with schools and other providers such as an Educational Psychologist (EP) – to start the formal assessment process which had very tight timelines to deliver within 20weeks.  This included receiving all advice from partners in Health and Care within 6 weeks of the SEN 0-25 Team receiving the request for assessment, which had been significantly impacted by the Pandemic.  There was a Statutory requirement to have an EP input on every single assessment, however the timeliness of their reports had been the most affected during the past 18 months, and the national lockdowns had impacted on all health assessments coming through on time. During the Pandemic, there had been limited access to children when they were not at school to be able to carry out assessments, as well as the isolation of staff had affected the timeliness of cases and caused a backlog of cases. The School holidays also caused further delays, as the SEN Team could not conduct assessments whilst schools were closed, however the 6-week deadline did include the holidays if an assessment was received on the last day of term.

ACTION – the Head of Education and Learning to circulate the SEND Action Plan to Members, once completed.  

·       SEND Team Workforce – Members raised questions following previous sign off from Cabinet to increase the numbers of staff within the 0-25 SEND Team, how these staff had been deployed, what impact this had made on workloads and whether a further staff survey had been conducted to monitor staff morale and wellbeing.  The Head of Service responded, stating there had been two successful bids for additional staff to reflect changes to the SEND code of practice and increase in the numbers of EHCP requests.  Six permanent staff were recruited in 2017 and funding was secured for an additional 12 Temporary staff on fixed term contracts for 18months – however it had been difficult to recruit appropriate people with experience to these posts.  There was now 8  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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9.

Early Help Spotlight Review Progress Report pdf icon PDF 401 KB

Report of the Head of Service for Public Health Nursing-Strategic Lead for Early Help (CS/21/11), attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee noted the Early Help Spotlight Review Progress Report.

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10.

Bridges (Edge of Care) Progress Report pdf icon PDF 1004 KB

Report of the Interim Head of Children’s Social Care (CS/21/12), attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee noted the Bridges (Edge of Care) progress Report.


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