Agenda item

ORDERED that Executive:

1.    APPROVES a change in approach to focus on prevention

2.    APPROVES that Capital of £3.253m in 2026/27 is no longer required.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services submitted a report for Executive consideration.

The purpose of the report was to seek Executive’s approval to support Children’s Services change in its approach to one which focused on prevention and that the remaining capital funding of £3.253m identified for 2026/27 would no longer be required.

In February 2023, a report was presented to Executive which laid out a plan to make savings in Children’s Services by increasing the number of residential and supported accommodation places provided internally by Middlesbrough Council, thereby reducing the spend on external placements. The report entitled “Revenue Budget, Council Tax, Medium Term Financial Plan, and Capital Strategy 2023/24” submitted to Council on 27 February 2023 provided £4.5m of capital investment funding to help support the achievement of the plan and the associated savings.

By February 2024, it was clear that the delivery of the plan was being hampered by the cost of refurbishment of several identified buildings which were higher than expected and made proceeding unviable.

The report presented to Executive on 28 February 2024 (listed at Appendix one of the report) updated the three workstreams contained in the earlier plan in an attempt to get the savings back on track. Those workstreams were Capital Developments - In-house Children Residential Homes; Partnership Commissioned Arrangements; and Optimising in-house resources.

Workstream one focused on using capital funding to purchase properties allowing the Council to open more homes; workstream two included plans to partner with commissioned providers to complement the residential and supported accommodation placements for Middlesbrough children and workstream three was focused on selling beds to other Council’s in return for income.

In light of all of the information to hand, it was decided to cease work on workstream one. It was also felt the Council was not in a position to progress with workstream three, which meant both associated savings were at risk, and this was subsequently reported in line with the PMO process and budget reporting.

The move to a prevention focus would also review the use of unregulated accommodation for Middlesbrough children and young people, ensuring the Council had sufficiency in other placement opportunities to avoid continued use. It w hoped that Workstream 2 commissioning of more supported placements will offer one route to assist in this matter as well as trying to understand why unregulated placements are being relied on so that changes to delivery models in our homes can be considered.

Members discussed the change in focus detailed in the report and how Children’s Services needed to adapt to changing circumstances. It was also commented that innovative work was being undertaken in Children’s Services which was evident from budget clinic exercises. It was clarified that the provision of residential homes was still part of Children’s Services service offer, and that the change in direction detailed in the report would support this.

The Mayor expressed his thanks to all officers and Members involved in the creation of the report and noted the improvements that had been made in Children’s Services.

OPTIONS

The work detailed in the report was being carried out and future options would be presented once plans were confirmed in order to seek appropriate governance approval.

ORDERED that Executive:

1.    APPROVES a change in approach to focus on prevention

2.    APPROVES that Capital of £3.253m in 2026/27 is no longer required.

REASONS

The Service was now on its journey to embed a focus of working in a preventative delivery model, which in turn would reduce the need for placements especially residential. This in turn meant the plans for internal growth were no longer fit for purpose and capital funding was no longer required. The tables at paragraphs 3.2 I the report detailed placement types for children and young people in care. The table below shows the breakdown of placement type for the 97 children and young people in residential care.

Children in Care Population had reduced from 528 to 500. There had been 28 children less in care during this period.

There had been an increase of one child that was now in residential placements. The Council had seen a decrease of 13 Foster Placement over the 15-month period. The suggested new prevention approach of having a programme of work which would focus on Preventing Care Starts and Placement Sufficiency through the Children’s Transformation Programme would aim to increase the net number of foster carers, which would support the reduction of residential placements needed. This programme of work would also complement the residential placements governance, to support managing the need and future demand of children’s residential home placements.