Agenda item

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

5.1      Lucie Heyes introduced the report. She acknowledged that when she took up her post in late 2018 there had been an Ofsted inspection that highlighted issues with the front door. She reported that even with a 15% increase in demand at the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) front door, performance had not been affected by Covid-19. Even without additional staffing to deal with the increased pressure, recent performance had been consistently good and of improved quality.

5.2      The following was noted in discussion:

1.    Members were pleased to note the improvements.

2.       Demand had followed the opening and closure of schools. The service anticipated an increase in referrals after 8 March, due to greater visibility of children generally, not just in school. As more families are experiencing financial hardship, demand will increase. Not all contacts will require a statutory service - many will be signposted to early help - but demand will be higher.

3.       One Member commented that regarding the figures stated in the report - 333 Children in Need are Children With Complex Needs, of which 45 are Children Looked After – 45/333 seemed like a high number being looked after by the local authority and was wondering if this was due to a failing in support for families with children with complex needs. Officers agreed to look into this as no benchmark was readily available. It was noted that there is also a large number of children with complex needs who are not Children in Need ACTION

4.       The quality of Child In Need (CIN) plans was identified as an issue by Ofsted. CIN Plans are the lowest level of intervention and do not have a statutory basis, therefore there is less in-built external scrutiny and review. Work had been undertaken to introduce different layers of scrutiny for CIN cases and plans by introducing independent audit/ case mapping discussions triggered at a certain point for every CIN. The service was developing a practice development programme to improve the quality of workforce development and improving plans. The municipal year 2020-21 was going to be a year of focus on practice development. Covid-19 caused the programme to be paused, however the vaccination roll out was going well and it was hoping that recovery planning would begin shortly.

5.       Members noted that 67% of young people in Lewisham are BAME compared with 46% of the whole Lewisham population, therefore using the comparator of the under 25s population would give a better gauge of disproportionality.

6.       The Safe Space Team conducts return home interviews. Previously this had been outsourced but bringing it in-house made connections to young people and local intelligence gathering easier. The service had improved and was being further developed. Soft intelligence was always stronger where children go missing from home than when Children Looked After go missing. The service was looking to strengthen that area where children go missing from their placement.

7.       Rates of children and young people going missing have fallen during lockdown.

5.3      RESOLVED that

1.    The report be noted.

Officers look into the reasons for the seemingly high number of looked after children with complex needs.