Issue - meetings

The Deputy Mayor and Lead Member for Children’s Social Care and the Executive Director for Children’s Social Care submitted a report for the Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report was to provide an overview of the strategic and operational actions that had been undertaken from November 2020 to February 2021 against the Children’s Services Action Plan 2020/21.

The report covered the period from November 2020 to February 2021 i.e. from the time when Middlesbrough’s Children’s Commissioner carried out his virtual visit to gather information for his second report for the Minister, until the beginning of the focus on reviewing and revising the action plan for year two of the Council’s improvement programme. The submitted report was not exhaustive but covered the most significant issues of improvement work during the named period.

It was important to note that the work represented by the report had all been carried out in a COVID lock down period with the accompanying stresses and strains that brought to the families that Children’s Services were working with but also its workforce.

The submitted report contained details on:

·        Quality and Performance, which included information on social workers’ and social care workers’ caseloads, Futures for Families (FFF), the number of children looked after by Middlesbrough Council, the Children with Disabilities (CWD) Service, vulnerable children’s attendance at school and care leavers (see paragraphs 5 to 16 of the submitted report);

·        Leadership and Management, which included information on the ‘Middlesbrough Children Matter’ website, the Corporate Parenting Strategy, the Children’s Workforce Development Strategy (2021-24) and the Youth Service tender process (see paragraphs 17 to 20); and

·        Governance and Partnerships, which included information on the DfE review and the Ofsted inspection (see paragraphs 21 to 23).

ORDERED

That the overview of the strategic and operational work undertaken between November 2020 and February 2021, in line with the Children’s Services Improvement Action Plan 2020/21, be approved.

REASON

It was crucial that members of the Executive had a line of sight into the strategic and operational work being undertaken in line with the Children’s Services Improvement Action Plan 2020/21.