Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Hall
Contact: Hannah O'Brien, Governance Officer 020 8937 1339, Email: hannah.o'brien@brent.gov.uk
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Exclusion of the Press and Public The committee is advised that the public may be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely in view of the nature of the proceedings that exempt information would be disclosed. Meetings of the Corporate Parenting Committee are attended by representatives of Care In Action (CIA), the council’s Children in Care Council. The committee is therefore recommended to exclude the press and public for the duration of the meeting, as the attendance of CIA representatives necessitates the disclosure of the following category of exempt information, set out in the Local Government Act 1972: - information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual. Minutes: RESOLVED: that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the duration of the meeting, on the grounds that the attendance of representatives from the council’s Children in Care council, necessitated the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act, namely: Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.
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Apologies for absence and clarification of alternate members Minutes: None. |
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Declarations of interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant disclosable pecuniary, personal or prejudicial interests in the items on this agenda. Minutes: None. |
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Deputations (if any) To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67. Minutes: None received. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 246 KB To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record. Minutes: RESOLVED: that the minutes of the last meeting held on 28 April 2021 be approved as an accurate record. |
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Matters arising (if any) To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes: None. |
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Update from Care In Action and Care Leavers in Action Representatives This is an opportunity for members of Care In Action (CIA) to feedback on recent activity. Minutes: C (Care Leavers in Action) advised that the Care Leavers in Action (CLIA) sessions were now in person on a socially distanced basis but with hybrid options, and expressed it was great to see everyone face to face again. The previous session had been focused on public speaking to practice for the care leaver inspection presentation to the Strategic Director of Children and Young People and councillors. The aim of the session was to help those with less experience of public speaking to do so more comfortably and fluidly. C expressed that the care leaver inspection CLIA members had been involved in was interesting to be a part of and all involved had done 2 months of training before undertaking the inspection. He added it felt that the group’s comments had been taken on board well by senior members of staff and councillors and he was looking forward to seeing what the next steps would be.
S (Care Leavers in Action) had started attending CLIA sessions following the encouragement of another care leaver. S was also part of the care leaver inspection and felt they had done a really good job. The findings had been presented the previous day and a discussion was held about what had been put in place for future progress.
A (Care in Action) highlighted that at the last Care in Action (CIA) session they had spoken about the Brent Promise and consulted on what it should include. A was heavily involved in sport and had won many gold medals. A (Care in Action) felt the CIA sessions made her feel welcomed and warm. The first session she attended had focused on goals and how to reach them, which had made A nervous to talk about the future. A enjoyed attending the sessions to find friends in care and to give opinions and advice on how to improve the service for other children.
The Committee thanked the representatives for the updates, noting that a common theme from the speeches was how the children and young people had chosen to get involved in order to help other young people like themselves. It was RESOLVED:
That the updates by the representatives of Care in Action/Care Leavers in Action be noted.
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Brent Care Journeys Programme: year one progress update PDF 524 KB To provide the Corporate Parenting Committee a summary of activities undertaken by the Brent Care Joruneys Programme since its inception in 2020 to date. The report also draws attention to key acheivements, challenges within the Covid-19 context as well as areas of priority for 2021/22. Additional documents: Minutes: Onder Beter (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) introduced the report, which was a joint report prepared by Brent Council and Barnardo’s charity. Two colleagues from Barnardo’s were also in attendance to present the report; Rajinder Nagra (Assistant Director Children’s Services, Barnardo’s London) and Anna Willow (Children’s Services Manager, Barnardo’s London). Onder Beter advised that the recommendations were set out in paragraph 2 of the report, which asked for comments on the content of the report, and for the Committee to consider what support could be provided to the strategic alliance by elected members in order to achieve best outcomes for Brent children and young people. The programme was a 5 year programme listening to children and young people, and bringing their voice into shaping services and creating system change so that children and young people could influence decisions and end up with better destinations. The definition of ‘destination’ was not just about being employed or attending school but was defined by young people around what would make them happy and fulfil their potential. For example, a care leaver may have a goal to be able to parent their child without the involvement of social workers for their child. In terms of the joint working with Brent and Barnardo’s, several themes to work on had been identified. The major theme was around the challenge of young people coming into care late, as adolescents, and what could be done to create system change to ensure positive destinations for the cohort. A qualitative piece of work would be undertaken by young people who were designing 2 projects as detailed in the report. There was a group of 35 young people known as ‘the Movement’ who were supporting the work with participation, engagement, voice and influence. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the case study at the end of the report which showed the impact of the programme on the lived experience of young people.
Anna Willow advised that a partnership between the statutory and voluntary sector would always be organic and there would be a need to learn as they went. The programme was not delivering pre-determined outcomes of what they thought was best for young people, but instead working with young people to create their best future with them. She advised that the programme aimed to work in equal partnership with young people, going into situations together. For example, the young people had co-designed training for key workers who worked in semi-independent provision, and that training had been delivered equally with young people and Barnardo’s.
A young person who had been involved in the project shared their experience, expressing that the programme had helped them a lot and they had become the young person they wanted to be. They were now more confident and a better speaker. They joined to help other people and better themselves along the way. Another young person had been involved in the training designed and delivered to semi-independent providers. He advised that between 5 and ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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Corporate Parenting Annual Report 2020-21 PDF 875 KB To provide the Corporate Parenting Annual Report for 2020-21 to the Corporate Parenting Committee. Additional documents:
Minutes: The purpose of this report was to present an annual update to the Corporate Parenting Committee on outcomes for Looked After Children, in line with the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations (2010).
The Committee heard that the number of children in care currently looked after by Brent Council was 298, and officers were expecting a slight increase as the country moved out of restrictions. The current number of care leavers being supported was 440 compared to 330 pre-pandemic, and cases had not been closed for young people struggling with isolation and loneliness even if normally those cases would have been closed. There had been a significant increase in the number of referrals and contacts to the Front Door with Covid-19 associated reasons. There was also an impact on young people waiting for decisions from the Home Office regarding their immigration status, as the Home Office had not made decisions. This meant young people had been left without clear status, therefore Brent was required to continue supporting those young people in semi-independent provision.
Onder Beter informed the Committee that, as discussed at a previous Committee meeting, the Home Office had placed a large number of adults seeking asylum within 3 different hotels in Brent, which had resulted in a number of those coming forward to claim to be under 18 years old and therefore classed as children. By law, if someone claimed to be under 18 years old then as a local authority Brent would be expected to accommodate them, in some cases with any dispute about age needing to be assessed. Onder Beter explained this put a lot of pressure on capacity and they had received 27 referrals within the past 7-8 months from those seeking asylum claiming to be children. Some of those had been accommodated where the Council had agreed with their claimed age after initial screening or a full age assessment. Due to the financial implications, 2 locum lawyers had been recruited to assist the Council through potential judicial reviews, and there was agreement to recruit 2 additional social workers to conduct age assessments. When those who were judged to be children became looked after they were often 16-17 years old and therefore soon to become care leavers, and the Council had around 130 young people who they supported as care leavers who were former unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC).
The Committee queried the communications process between the Home Office and Council when those seeking asylum were placed in the Borough. Onder Beter confirmed that the Council were being told now, but when the first hotel had been commissioned they had not been informed. The Council now had weekly reports detailing all young people and families placed in the Borough, including children of families who would need school places. It was important to inform health colleagues also.
In terms of the Home Office policy, Nigel Chapman (Operational Director Integration and Improved Outcomes, Brent Council) explained the Home Office were trying to find space for adults ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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Fostering Service Quarterly Report, Quarter 1 (Apr 2021 - Jun 2021) PDF 775 KB To provide the Coprorate Parenting Committee information about the general management of the in-house fostering service and how it is achieving good outcomes. The report details the activity of Brent’s fostering service from 1 April – 30 June 2021. Minutes: The purpose of this report was to provide information to the Corporate Parenting Committee about the general management of the in-house fostering service and how it was achieving good outcomes for children, in accordance with standard 25.7 of the Fostering National Minimum Standards (2011).
In relation to the Joint Fostering Project and Hounslow being interesting in re-joining, Onder Beter (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) explained that conversations were ongoing but it was not definite. The way the piece was being marketed focused on creating more local placements for children in West London, and a competitive package for foster carers in London who could take more challenging children.
The Committee were pleased there would be a hybrid option to provide sessions for foster carers, and asked for the next report to include a breakdown of sessions attended and the gender make-up of the sessions. Onder Beter agreed they had observed significantly more uptake in the online offer and would provide both online and in person training for the future, while taking government guidelines on Covid-19 into consideration.
The Committee highlighted section 7.2.1, which mentioned the effect Covid-19 had on the lived experience of Brent foster carers, asking what type of effect it had. Onder Beter advised that the primarily it was a negative impact, for example residents had lost loved ones due to Covid-19, some had Covid-19 themselves, and some had looked after children with Covid-19. The reason it had been included in the report was to highlight that Brent had been responsive to those experiences and supported foster carers accordingly. He reassured the Committee that they were acutely aware of the need to support foster carers. A number of foster carers had increased anxiety, particularly around social workers and professionals entering homes, and the Council were thinking about how they could best support foster carers through that anxiety including making testing mandatory for professionals entering homes or having had both Covid-19 vaccinations. The Committee noted that foster carers had been very resilient and committed during the pandemic.
RESOLVED:
i) To note the contents of the report.
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60. Minutes: The Committee queried where Brent Council was at with the EU resettlement scheme. Onder Beter (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) confirmed Brent had done well and received corporate financial support to recruit a part time worker on the issue. The department were communicating with families, children and care leavers. By the deadline of 30 June 2021 Brent had made applications for all Looked After Children, which the Strategic Director Children and Young People, Chief Executive and Lead Member had sight of. The Council were also clear about the process for new children coming into the system and were in regular communications with the Home Office Vulnerability Team. They had also linked with 8 care leavers whose cases had been closed as the Council saw they would usually be eligible, to check they had made applications.
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