Toggle menu

Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bridges Room - Civic Centre. View directions

Contact: Rosalyn Patterson - email:  rosalynpatterson@gateshead.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

CP1

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors McHatton, Simcox and S Craig.

CP2

Minutes pdf icon PDF 193 KB

The Committee is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 11 January 2016 and 21 March 2016.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings held on 11 January 2016 and 21 March 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

CP3

Constitution

The Constitution of the Committee and the appointment of the Chair and Vice Chair as approved by the Council for the current municipal year is as follows:-

 

Chair                           Councillor B Oliphant

Vice Chair                  Councillor S Green

 

Councillors                J Adams

                                    B Clelland

                                    S Craig

                                    A Geddes

                                    E McMaster

                                    C McHatton

                                    C Simcox

Non-Voting Members

                                    Anne Page – Foster Care Association

                                    Julie McCartney – The Gateshead Housing Company

                                    Sasha Ban – School Governor

                                    John Wilkinson – Families OSC representative

                                    Jeremy Cripps – Voluntary Sector representative    

                                    1 Vacancy – Care Leaver

 

Minutes:

The Committee agreed the constitution of the Committee and the appointment of the Chair and Vice Chair for the current municipal year.

 

RESOLVED  -

That the information be noted.

 

 

CP4

Looked After Children Improvement Plan pdf icon PDF 717 KB

Report of Service Director, Care Wellbeing and Learning

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the Looked After Children Improvement Plan. It was noted that at its recent inspection Ofsted looked at the whole journey of a looked after child and the outcomes they achieve. Overall the service did well however, some areas were identified as requiring improvement. From these recommendations an improvement plan has been developed to address the issues.

 

The improvement plan highlights a number of key tasks and timescales. Key tasks include; improving the quality of children’s plans, including pathway plans; ensuring child protection conferences and reviews are used to drive forward progress and improving the attendance of education professionals at reviews to ensure focus is on the young person’s educational outcomes.  In terms of health, the improvement plan looks to develop the support to care leavers to understand their health history and ensure they have regular and timely access to mental health services.  It was reported that a Band 6 nurse has now been appointed so there is additional capacity to support care leavers. Through the transformation of mental health services there is additional counselling that LAC and care leavers can access.

 

In terms of educational attainment it was noted that there are challenges in relation to outcomes. It was noted that Gateshead figures are similar to the national picture and work is continuing to narrow the gap in attainment between LAC and other pupils. It was acknowledged that generally there are between 40-60% of the LAC cohort with some degree of special educational need which means that there is a difficult starting point initially. To improve the picture for LAC there is now tighter tracking and this coincides with the new national assessment system that looks at progress made.

 

A Learning Mentor has been appointed to work with those pupils who are at risk of exclusion and to ensure pupils are kept engaged and are sitting exams. It is hoped this appointment will help LAC pupils build self-esteem at a time when they are being challenged. This appointment has been made using Pupil Premium money.

 

Work is ongoing to establish a protocol for care leaver support, meetings have been held with education and training providers to look at what offer can be given to LAC. Bi-monthly meetings are being held between Connexions, REALAC team and LAC services to profile young people and identify what is best for each individual child.

 

Concerns were raised about the attendance at review meetings and what can be done to improve this, for example video conferencing. It was noted that officers are looking at different ways to hold review meetings, there are challenges in terms of teachers attending during the school day. Generally LAC reviews are held within school and discussions are ongoing around telephone conferences for Child Protection Conferences.

 

It was questioned what the issue is with care leavers access to mental health services. It was explained that this is due to care leavers falling into adult services, however the redesign of the mental health service, the EMIL  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP4

CP5

Exclusion of Press and Public

The Committee may wish to pass a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds indicated:

 

Item                                         Paragraphs of Schedule 12A to the Local

Government Act 1972

 

  6                                                        1

Minutes:

RESOLVED  -

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining business in accordance with the indicated paragraphs of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

 

CP6

Regulation 44 Report

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the Ofsted inspection outcomes and regulation 44 independent visits carried out in the Council’s children’s homes. The reports written as a result of the visits are circulated to the Service Director, Social Work, Care Wellbeing and Learning, Service Manager for Looked After Children and the Registered Manager of each Home.

 

RESOLVED  -

That the information be noted.

 

 

Help us improve this site by giving feedback