Report and presentation of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services)

This report and presentation provide an overview of the Government’s strategy for the reform of children’s services and the implications for Manchester.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) which provided an overview of the Government’s strategy for the reform of children’s services and the implications for Manchester.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·       The six strategic pillars of Stable Homes, Built on Love and the phased approach to reform;

·       The National Kinship Care Strategy;

·       The Children’s Social Care National Framework;

·       The multi-agency statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023; and

·       The national digital and data strategy, which included a proposed National Children’s Social Care Dashboard.

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

·       Concern that there was no certainty of funding for these reforms;

·       How much confidence was there that Manchester could implement these reforms on time;

·       Kinship Carers and private fostering, including ensuring that families were getting the support they needed; and

·       The selection of eight Local Authorities to take part in the Kinship Care pilots.

The Chair informed Members of the work of MP Andrew Gwynne on Kinship Carers.  She highlighted the role of multi-agency working, including the police, in relation to complex safeguarding and informed Members about place-based multi-agency work in her ward to address complex safeguarding concerns.

In response to the Chair’s comments, the Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People advised that Ward Councillors for an importance source of intelligence on what was happening in their ward and he encouraged Ward Councillors to share any concerns they had so that they could be addressed.

The Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) reported that, while the Council was still awaiting further details of the reforms from the Government, it had already invested in some of the key areas and would respond innovatively and creatively to meet these new challenges.  He advised that the Council should be provided with funding from central Government for new burdens placed upon it.  He reported that there had been no announcement from the DfE as yet on the eight Local Authorities which would participate in the Kinship Care pilots and that Manchester already paid its Kinship Carers comparable rates to Foster Carers.

The Head of Service Provider Services reported that approximately 20% of Looked After Children in Manchester lived with Kinship Carers, under the current definition of this term.  She reported that 666 children were subject to Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) and 236 lived in kinship fostering arrangements.  She outlined the support that was now available for Special Guardians including training, designated support groups and access to the Adoption Support Fund and highlighted the benefits for children of living with extended family.  She reported that the disruption rate was lower for Kinship Carers and had decreased further as the support offer had been improved.  She informed Members that the Council had achieved Fostering Friendly Status as an employer.

In response to comments from the Chair about having ‘great’ Social Workers, the Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services suggested that the Committee receive a report on the updated Children’s Services Workforce Development Strategy at a future meeting, to which the Chair agreed.  The Chair reported that Members would be visiting frontline Social Workers to ensure that they had an accurate understanding of the situation.

Decisions

1.             To note the report and seek further updates on progress for each specific area of reform, to be included in the Committee’s work programme for 2024/25. 

2.             To receive a report on the updated Children’s Services Workforce Development Strategy at a future meeting.