Cabinet Member decisions

Proposed decision

The Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services is asked (subject to selection by the DfE as an appropriate Pathfinder region) to:

A)   Agree to become a member of the Fostering Recruitment and Retention programme.

B)   Agree to enter into relevant agreements with the DfE to join/ a Pathfinder Region for the delivery of the creation of end to end improvements in the Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme (Agreements to include the acceptances of relevant Memorandums of Understandings and associated funding, and partnership agreements with other local authorities in the assigned regional cluster)

C)   Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to, finalising the terms and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Reason for the decision

The DfE has confirmed that, following an Expression of Interest in joining the Fostering Recruitment and Retention programme, KCC has been accepted at Stage 1 of the process. The service is required to develop a full proposal for submission in the second week of September 2023. KCC will need to work with their assigned improvement partners, and in line with the funding allocation (to be advised) to develop a fully costed proposal which is to be implemented by April 2024. At this stage no LA is bound to be part of the bid, however from when the fully costed proposal is submitted in September, final membership will need to be confirmed. 

Currently, it is proposed that the cluster will be include Portsmouth, (Lead LA), Brighton and Hove, Kent, Oxfordshire, West Berkshire, Achieving for Children, Brighter futures, Medway, Wokingham,  Slough, Bracknell Forest, Surrey,  Hampshire, Southampton, Isle of Wight, West Sussex and East Sussex which equates to 16 LA Partners.

There will be funding for successful Local Authorities that become part of the programme; no allocations have yet been announced.

Background

The Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy published by the Department for Education set out a vision to re-balance children’s social care away from costly crisis intervention to more meaningful and effective early support.

As part of the Strategy, the government has pledged to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it, investing over £27 million over the next two years. After two years the strategy will be refreshed, scaling up the new approaches that have been tested and bring forward legislation (subject to parliamentary time).

DfE are looking to run two regional pathfinders to test creation of end-to-end improvements in the Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme. The regions taking part will play a key role in shaping future delivery.

Pathfinders are voluntary and confirmation of interest is required. Financial support will be provided to support Pathfinder regions to get started.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

To not put KCC forward to contribute as a Pathfinder for Fostering – this was decided against because of the significant pressures and challenges in recruiting and retaining in-house Foster Carers requiring action..

How the proposed decision supports the Strategic Statement:

The proposed decision supports Framing Kent’s Future Our Council Strategy 2022-2026, Specifically Priority 4 New Models of Care and Support

1.Explore all opportunities to integrate our commissioning of services to improve health and care outcomes.

It also supports delivery of the Kent Sufficiency Strategy 2022-2027

As Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

A) Agree to become a member of the Fostering Recruitment and Retention programme.

B) Agree to enter into relevant agreements with the DfE to join/ a Pathfinder Region for the delivery of the creation of end to end improvements in the Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme (Agreements to include the acceptances of relevant Memorandums of Understandings and associated funding, and partnership agreements with other local authorities in the assigned regional cluster)

C) Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to, finalising the terms and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Proposed decision –

The Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services is asked (subject to selection by the DfE as an appropriate Pathfinder region) to:

A)   Agree to become a Regional Care Co-operatives Pathfinder authority (if selected)

B)   Enter into relevant agreements with the DfE to join/lead a Pathfinder Region for the delivery of a Regional Care Co-operative (Agreement to include the acceptances of relevant Memorandums of Understandings and associated funding and partnership agreements)

C)   Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to, finalising the terms and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Reason for the decision

The Department for Education (DfE) is seeking Local Authorities (LAs) to engage in designing and piloting the Regional Care Co-operatives (RCCs), as set out in their strategy Stable Homes, Built on Love.

There is funding for successful Local Authorities that wish to be Pathfinders; no LA’s have been identified yet so no potential financial amounts have been allocated. However, we are seeking approval to engage in progressing these projects, identifying the funding that would be allocated and implementing the requirements, including spending the money in line with the conditions.

Background

The Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy sets out a vision to re-balance children’s social care away from costly crisis intervention to more meaningful and effective early support.

The DfE states it will reform in phases, investing £200m over the next two years. After two years they will refresh this strategy, scaling up new approaches that have been tested and bring forward legislation (subject to parliamentary time).

DfE are looking to run two regional pathfinders to test Regional Care Cooperatives. The regions taking part will play a key role in shaping future delivery. DfE want the region to be big enough to start seeing savings through economies of scale and anticipate an appropriate size would be eight to 12 LAs, although LAs with large Children in Care populations, the number of LAs might be smaller.

Pathfinders are voluntary and confirmation of interest is required. Financial support will be provided to support Pathfinder regions to get started.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

To not put KCC forward to contribute as a Pathfinder for RCC – this was decided against because of the significant pressures and challenges finding affordable placements for Children in Care.

How the proposed decision supports the Strategic Statement:

The proposed decision supports Framing Kent’s Future Our Council Strategy 2022-2026, Specifically Priority 4 New Models of Care and Support

1.Explore all opportunities to integrate our commissioning of services to improve health and care outcomes.

It also supports delivery of the Kent Sufficiency Strategy 2022-2027

As Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

A)   Agree to become a Regional Care Co-operatives Pathfinder authority (if selected)

B)   Enter into relevant agreements with the DfE to join/lead a Pathfinder Region for the delivery of a Regional Care Co-operative (Agreement to include the acceptances of relevant Memorandums of Understandings and associated funding and partnership agreements)

C)   Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to, finalising the terms and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Reason for the decision:

Kent County Council’s (KCC’s) Strategic Headquarters requires significant investment to address building condition issues and deliver accommodation which is fit for purpose. This decision supports the Councils considerations in making best use of its resources and estate whilst remaining options are assessed. 

Background:

An options appraisal was previously undertaken based on the pre-pandemic working styles during early 2020. This appraisal was then revisited, taking into account the changes in the way that KCC need to work post the COVID-19 pandemic and a new accommodation model was developed which allowed a number of new options to be considered.  

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services then took decision 21-00064 on 13 August 2021 to progress with the marketing of Blocks A, B and E of Sessions House for disposal and to develop an option for the refurbishment and modernisation of Blocks C and D predominately for civic uses and Invicta House as a staff hub.

In October 2022, given the Council’s significant financial challenges, the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member instructed officers to pause design work for the 2021 option and revisit the scope and present lower capital cost options. The £35m capital budget allocated to the project was reduced to £20m and endorsed by full Council in February 2023.  

Four lower cost options were considered and developed in further detail with both the qualitative and financial assessment. Two options failed the assessment with two options progressing passing the evaluation process.

Given the significantly lower overall Net Present Value (NPV) associated with one option in comparison to the other, further market testing is required to establish the market viability of a disposal of the whole or part of Sessions House that would satisfy the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) covenants requirements.  This remains a key project risk and is a determining factor which informs the next steps and the deliverability of either option.

Given that both options include the continued occupation by KCC of Invicta House, it is proposed to progress with the urgent maintenance works at Invicta House, including the required roof works. £3.4m will be allocated from the £20m approved capital budget in order to progress the design and completion of these works. 

How the proposed decision supports the Interim Strategic Plan:

SHQ and its future direction is a key strand of the office strategy as part of the Future Assets programme of the Strategic Reset Programme and the delivery of the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) savings.   

As the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services I agree to:

1.    AGREE to discontinue with the Preferred Option as set out decision 21-00064;

2.    NOTE AND AGREE the current business case and Value for Money assessment recommendations and that a further market test of Sessions House will be progressed to enable the next steps and approach to be agreed;

3.    ALLOCATE £3.4m from the 2023-33 approved capital budget to enable the essential and urgent backlog maintenance works at Invicta House to be completed; and

4.    AGREE to delegate authority to the Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services to authorise the execution of necessary contractual and land agreements required to implement the above with authority to take other relevant actions as required to implement the decision.