A Member paid tribute to Wiktor Daron, the former Head Teacher of St Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe who had passed away.  He highlighted some of Mr Daron’s many achievements, including improving the school’s Ofsted judgement from inadequate to good with outstanding features, securing new sports facilities for the school, improved academic results and becoming one of the best schools in the country for pupil progress, as well as being awarded the Papal Medal for Services to Catholic Education.

The Committee held a minute’s silence in his memory.

To consider any items which the Chair has agreed to have submitted as urgent.

The Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) informed Members that this had been considered at the meeting of the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee the previous day and would also be considered by the Executive on 17 January 2024.  He reported that, while the action plan was awaiting feedback from Ofsted and would also be adapted in light of Members’ comments, the work stemming from this was already being progressed and he suggested that the Committee might want to scrutinise some elements of this work in future.

The Chair reported that she had submitted her comments to the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee, focusing on the need for child-centred, trauma-informed policing and for closer multi-agency working, and that this was likely to be something that the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee would consider at a future meeting. 

Decision

To note the verbal update.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2023.

To receive the minutes of the Ofsted Subgroup meeting held on 22 November 2023.

Decisions

1.             To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2023.

2.             To receive the minutes of the Ofsted Subgroup meeting held on 22 November 2023.

Report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services)

This report sets out what the Fostering Service has achieved over the past year and what its priorities are for the coming year.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) which set out what the Fostering Service had achieved over the past year and what its priorities were for the coming year.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·       Background information;

·       Successes for 2022-2023;

·       Main issues; and

·       Priority actions for 2023-24.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People reported that there was an improving picture in relation to fostering and he highlighted the role of Councillors in promoting fostering.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·       Whether there were any particular communities where there was a shortage of foster carers;

·        That some people were wary about the process to become a foster carer and how long it took;

·       The management of allegations against foster carers, including allegations which were found to be unsubstantiated;

·       Trauma-informed training;

·       Roll-out of the Mockingbird Model;

·       Placement stability; and

·       Sharing experiences of being a foster carer.

The Service Lead (Fostering) informed Members that at present 18% of children in care were Black (including Black African, Black Caribbean and Black British) and 10% of foster carers (excluding kinship carers) were Black so this was the main group from which more foster carers needed to be recruited.  In response to a further question, she reported that housing was a significant barrier, particularly for kinship carers and people in central Manchester, including many black families, and that her service was looking at ways to address this.  She acknowledged that trust of government institutions was also an issue in some communities and reported that her service was working to build relationships with those communities and help them to understand the process.  She reported that her service took a trauma-informed approach across its work but also offered specific trauma-informed training.  She informed Members that the first Mockingbird Constellation had been launched in south Manchester and that work was taking place to develop the next one in north Manchester, after which one would be developed in central Manchester.  In response to a Member’s question she reported that a lot of preparatory work had taken place to prepare for the refugees from Ukraine but that, as yet, no children from Ukraine had required fostering services.  She informed Members that the process to become a foster carer took on average 12 weeks, stating that the service carried out regular information evenings for people interested in fostering and would be happy to come and speak to any groups that Members suggested.  A Member stated that he would speak to officers outside of the meeting to arrange this.

The Assistant Director (Provider Services) advised Members that the process for recruiting foster carers needed to be rigorous to ensure that the people coming forward had the right motivation for fostering. 

A Member shared her personal experiences of being in foster care and the impact of this.  She emphasised the importance of having a rigorous process to recruit the right people and thanked officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services

This report outlines the progress in planning and placements for children, assessment, and approval of prospective adoptive parents, and in offering adoption support.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which outlined the progress in planning and placements for children, assessment, and approval of prospective adoptive parents, and in offering adoption support.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·       Performance (children);

·       Quality of children’s reports;

·       Marketing recruitment and assessment of adopters;

·       Practice developments;

·       Adoption Panel; and

·       Adoption support.

Alice Taylor from Adoption Counts delivered a presentation which outlined the highlights for Manchester from the Adoption Counts Annual Report.  This included children’s data, timescales, early permanence, report quality, adopter data, adoption support and achievements in 2023 beyond the service’s core work.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·       The quality of Child Permanence Reports (CPRs);

·       Reasons for delays in adoption and what was being done to expedite the adoption process; and

·       Staff retention and supervision.

The Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services informed Members that the CPR was the profile and story of the child which could assist with the matching of a child for adoption and, although the quality of some CPRs presented at the first stage (Should Be Placed For Adoption – or SHOBPA - meeting) needed to improve, this did not indicate that poor decisions were being made in relation to the placement of a child for adoption as there was a lengthy, robust process in place.  He reported that there had been delays in the adoption process in 2022 – 2023, partly as a legacy of the pandemic.  He outlined some of the other issues which could cause delays, including relatives coming forward late in the process for alternative care arrangements which then had to be explored, lengthy care proceedings and the complexities of individual children and planning for them.  He reported that the service was involved in the oversight and governance of the family court to influence improvements which could be made and in family group conferencing to identify family members at an earlier point in the process.

Alice Taylor reported that the Council and Adoption Counts held regular tracking meetings so Adoption Counts was made aware of any unexpected delays, for example if a family member had put themselves forward to be assessed, but that a lot of the background work would still be taking place so the agency was in a position to progress to matching with a family if it was then decided that adoption was the right path for that child.  She outlined work that would be taking place over the next year to streamline the adoption process within the agency to minimise delays, while ensuring the process was robust.

The Chair expressed concern about the delays in the process, including court backlogs.  She requested that the next time items on adoption and fostering were considered that adoptive parents and foster carers be invited to the meeting to speak about their experiences.  The Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) requested that consideration be given to this outside of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Director of Education

This report provides an overview of the work that has been undertaken during 2022-23 to promote the education, employment and training of the Children and Young People overseen by the Manchester Virtual School. This includes Children and Young People in the care of Manchester, Manchester Care Leavers, Previously Looked After Children who attend education settings within Manchester, Children and Young People with a Manchester Social Worker and Young People supported by the Youth Justice Service.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Education which provided an overview of the work that had been undertaken during 2022-23 to promote the education, employment and training of the Children and Young People overseen by the Manchester Virtual School. The report stated that this included Children and Young People in the care of Manchester, Manchester Care Leavers, Previously Looked After Children who attended education settings within Manchester, Children and Young People with a Manchester Social Worker and Young People supported by the Youth Justice Service.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·       2022-23 success headlines;

·       Virtual School structure, duties, offer and summary of 2022-23;

·       Overview of Children and Young People;

·       Personal Education Plan (PEP) completion;

·       Ofsted judgements of the schools attended by Our Children and Young People;

·       The views, wishes and feelings of Our Children and Young People;

·       The outcomes achieved by Our Children and Young People;

·       The Virtual School work to promote the Education, Employment and Training of the children and young people it oversaw;

·       The Virtual School work to promote inclusion;

·       School attendance;

·       Exclusions and suspensions;

·       Workforce development overview; and

·       Virtual school priorities for 2023-24.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People highlighted the achievements outlined in the report, including significant improvements in examination results and post-16 participation, and he recognised the positive work of the Virtual School team.  He encouraged Members to attend the next Corporate Parenting Panel meeting to consider the new Corporate Parenting Strategy.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·       To welcome the overall positive picture, in particular the improvement in GCSE results;

·       What was being put in place to support younger children, who were not achieving as well; and

·       Variations in PEP forms and processes between different local authorities, noting that schools and colleges often had children from different local authority areas attending their setting and were having to work with different PEPs.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People reported that a number of discussions had already taken place at previous Committee meetings about the impact of the pandemic on young children more broadly and that for children with any additional challenges the outcomes diverged further, both from where they had been previously and from the rest of the cohort.  He reported that he had written to Government Ministers about this and that the Council was working hard to address this, including setting up a Kickstarter scheme to provide targeted support.

The Chair expressed concern at the impact that the pandemic had had on all babies and young children.  She also highlighted the impact of the forthcoming expansion of the free childcare entitlement.

The Virtual School Deputy Head outlined some of the work taking place to support the progress of their younger children who had been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, working with Early Years and Key Stage 1 providers, closely monitoring progress through the termly PEP process, offering access to Educational Psychologists, ensuring that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

The monthly report includes the recommendations monitor, relevant key decisions, the Committee’s work programme and any items for information

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

The Chair reported that she was discussing with the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee an item on children’s dental health.

Decision

To note the report and agree the work programme, subject to the above comment.