Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Corporate Affairs meeting held on 15 October 2020 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Chair requested an update on the Statement of Accounts 2020/2021 which were scheduled to be presented at the next meeting on 9 December 2021.  The Head of Finance explained that due to an increased number of queries and additional work the Accounts had not yet been completed.  It was now envisaged that the Statement of Accounts 2020/2021 would be presented to the Committee in January 2022.

The Head of Human Resources (HR) presented the HR Assurance Report, the purpose of which was to update the Committee on activities taking place over the last twelve months and particularly in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic period.  A brief overview of sickness absence and the next steps going forward was also included.

Additional funding had been secured through the Covid Support Fund to employ a dedicated Health and Wellbeing HR Business Partner to support staff through the pandemic.  This twelve month fixed term post was taken up in July 2021.    The purpose of the role was to support Covid recovery and transition to a new normal for employees.  The Council was ambitious to develop its wellbeing culture and drive sustainable changes to improve employees’ wellbeing in the long term. 

Work undertaken by the post-holder to date included:

• Development of a Working From Home (WFH) best practice guide (to be launched with new Blended Working Policies) which aimed to support employees to continue to prioritise their wellbeing and develop good WFH practices for self-care.

• Development of a dedicated Mental Health Awareness intranet page, available to all staff, with specific resources for line managers on how to support employees’ mental health.

• Distribution of promotional material for the Employee Assistance Programme, including electronic posters, utilising the staff portal and the distribution of ‘wallet’ sized contact cards.  This was available to all staff 365 days a year.

• Purchased Suicide Prevention Kits and placed these at different venues for

any staff who might need them to access. The kits contained lots of information to help people in a crisis situation.  They would be placed in discrete locations.

An unexpected piece of work that had to be prioritised was the implementation of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021, which came into force on 11 November 2021.  The government had announced plans for expanding these requirements into health and wider social care.   Further clarity as to who was covered by the legislation was awaited and it was anticipated this would require further work.  It was confirmed that all Council staff working in the affected settings were double vaccinated.

In respect of the Occupational Flu Vaccine scheme, 250 vaccines had been secured and front line workers in direct contact with vulnerable service users/clients were being prioritised to receive those vaccines.  Three clinics took place in October and November and all the vaccines were used.

A 7 day free gym pass for all employees to access any Everyone Active gym free of charge had been negotiated.  The aim was to encourage physical wellbeing and activity in the wake of WFH and the impact of pandemic on physical activity habits.

The Council’s 2020 submission for the Better Health At Work Award was deferred due to the pandemic, and the team was currently working on a submission for 2021 assessment.   Despite the pandemic, the Council was optimistic that its current status of Maintaining Excellence would be retained.

The pandemic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/27

A report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services was presented to provide the latest update with regards to progress made in Legal Services, following the Ofsted report of the Inspection of Children’s Social Care Services in 2019.

Following on from the decrease in case levels reported to the Committee in April 2021, case levels had continued to fall, with care cases currently at around 70, which was half the number of cases at this time last year.  There were a number of contributory factors, including changes to gateway panel, a more effective use of the Public Law Outline (PLO) process, and Court increasing hearings further to the covid issues, meaning more cases had concluded.

In terms of the resources to meet the ongoing demand, there had been some changes to the team since the last update, following the completion of the Legal Services’ Review, which came into effect on 1 October 2021.  An additional Legal Assistant post had been recruited, with the successful candidate taking up that post on 8 November 2021.  Two additional solicitor posts were created which were currently being advertised.  Historically these posts had been difficult to recruit to, however, given the success of the last recruitment campaign it was hoped that the suitable candidates would be attracted to the posts.  One interview had taken place but unfortunately the candidate was not suitable.  It was important to get the right person for the post and more time was available to make sure that the best appointments were made.  It was suggested that it would be useful to have a copy of the Legal Services’ Structure available online.

The Review had also introduced the role of Senior Lawyer to lead the Children’s Team and be the specialist lawyer and first point of contact for the team and for the client department.  This appointment provided the Head of Legal (People) with additional time to be involved in the strategic discussions and projects that supported the improvement journey.

By way of general team update, two permanent Solicitors took up their posts in March and April 2021.  The appointment to these roles had been a great success, and the feedback from both our internal and external partners, had been unanimously positive.   The Designated Family Judge for Teesside had stated that there had been a ‘huge difference with the new lawyers’, namely being more responsive to issues, filing orders within timescales, and that she was pleased with the improvements made to date.  Further feedback received yesterday indicated that there had been huge improvements in presentation, communication and the conduct of cases in Court.  In relation to Children’s Services there was more confidence in case planning and this was being done in a timely manner and where issues were encountered, solutions were forthcoming.

The Court Progression Manager (CPM) had been in post for five months. This post was in the Legal Services Children’s Team and acted as the lead officer, liaising between Legal Services and Children’s Services, to ensure the timely  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/28

A report of the Director of Finance was presented to inform the Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee of the spend in Children’s Services, in particular Children’s Care, over the last five years and the number of Children Looked After (CLA) for each year.

Details of the expenditure in Children’s Care for each of the past 5 years and the projected amount for 2021/22 were provided in a table at paragraph 3 of the submitted report.  Information about the numbers of CLA each year was also included.  The outturn expenditure figures included related to Children’s Care only and not the whole of Children’s Services.  The figures were end of year positions (ie as at 31 March each year).

It was noted that the services included within Children’s Care might have varied over the years due to various service reviews within Children’s Services, and therefore a direct comparison of expenditure between years might not be fully accurate.  In order to provide a more accurate comparison between years; the 2021/22 projected outturn figure excluded approximately £1.8m of expenditure relating to a number of budgets that transferred from Education and Partnerships to Children’s Care during the first quarter of 2021/22.

In addition, the number of CLA each year did not include some children (currently 291) who were under placed with friends and family under Special Guardianship Orders and received allowances, but who were not classified as Children Looked After.

The table at paragraph 7 of the submitted report provided information regarding external residential placement costs for the past 5 years, along with the number of children these related to.  It was noted that these figures were part of the figures in the table in paragraph 3 of the submitted report, and were not additional to those figures.  At the end of March 2020 there were 74 external residential placements and this had now reduced to 47, which was a large reduction. 

It was also highlighted that the 2021/22 projected outturn figures in the tables in paragraphs 3 and 7 of the submitted report, only included part year effects of the reductions in expenditure, and in future years there would be the full year effect of these.  It was confirmed that an update would be provided in the Quarter Three Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report to Executive, to check whether there had been any fluctuations in the projected figures.

Whilst the expenditure was on a downward trajectory, this had been achieved alongside improvements in practice and outcomes for children, including a significant number of children securing permanence.   This had been externally validated in the latest Department for Education (DFE) Commissioner’s report in July 2021.   The improvements had led to overall CLA numbers decreasing by over 24% from a peak of 702 in September 2020, to 533 currently.  By the end of 2023/2024 it was anticipated that this figure would be 416.  Middlesbrough’s CLA rate per 10,000 children aged under 18 had decreased steadily month on month from a high of over 200 in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/29

None.