Agenda and minutes

Mr A D Allen proposed and Mr L B Ridings seconded that Mr M J Vye be elected Vice-Chairman of the Board.

Agreed without a vote

RESOLVED that the Minutes of 12 February 2009 be noted, having already been agreed and signed at the Board’s March meeting, and the 20 May 2009 extract be noted as an update on progress since the February meeting.

The Board is asked to note that the following dates in 2009 and 2010 have been reserved for its regular meetings, to consider the subjects shown:

Wednesday 23 September 2009   (Child Protection)

Wednesday 2 December 2009   (Looked After Children)

Wednesday 10 March 2010   (Child Protection)

Wednesday 19 May 2010   (Looked After Children)

Wednesday 15 September 2010   (Child Protection)

Wednesday 1 December 2010   (Looked After Children)

All meetings will start at 2.00 pm at County Hall.

A date for a meeting to consider phase 3 of the ‘Protecting Children in Kent’ Review will be announced separately.

RESOLVED that dates reserved for the Board’s meetings for the remainder of 2009 and 2010 be noted.

(1)       Mr Gilroy introduced the report by reminding Members that the present national review had arisen from the Joint Area Review following the death of Baby Peter in Haringey in 2007.  He emphasised that the review team was independent of the CFE Directorate.  The review was being conduced in three phases and included Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) and a review of the Integrated Children’s System (ICS).  SCRs had looked at more cases involving under 5s than any other age group as this was the main area of concern following the death of Baby Peter.  Phase One had been reported to the Children’s Champions Board in February 2009 and today’s report included the further work which had arisen from Phase One.  Phase Two, on partnership working, would be reported to the Board and CFE POCs in September 2009 and Phase Three aimed to be completed in September 2009 and would be reported to full Council later in the Autumn.

(2)       Mr Thomason presented a series of slides setting out the findings of the self-assessment questionnaire and the case audit of Kent’s Children Social Services (CSS), and compared these to what had been found by Haringey’s Joint Area Review.  A copy of the slides is appended to these Minutes.

(3)       Mr Gilroy added that, since the February meeting of the Board, the Government had allocated £1.5 million to Kent and this had been used to employ 33 more Social Workers as well as 11 new Social Work Support Officers to cover the recording work, thus freeing up social workers to concentrate on front line work.  He added that Kent needed to be sure it had done its best to address the issues, and be seen to have done its best.  He said he was very pleased with the quality of the review undertaken and congratulated the review team.

(4)       Ms Turner thanked the review team and all those who had taken part, as the review outcomes would be very helpful for everyone involved in Child Protection and Safeguarding.  The review offered a good chance to take stock and it was a credit to social workers, management and support staff that the services had shown up so well, given the difficult and sensitive nature of the issues they had to deal with on a daily basis.  The findings of the review had reinforced that good services needed both good social workers and good business support staff.  The Directorate had a good peer review system run by the teams of Kay Weiss and Bill Anderson.  Ms Turner welcomed the training and staff development moves that had come out of the review.  Following Haringey’s Joint Area Review, there were now “no notice” inspections, performance figures were prepared monthly and vacancies monitored regularly.  Members also had a role to play by serving on Adoption Panels and the Children’s Champions Board, as Members’ judgement and input was important.  The Board’s role in raising the profile of Members’ Corporate Parenting responsibilities was also an immense help.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.