Agenda and minutes

Issues Raised by the Committee:

Responses Received:

What has been developed in the last year to reduce numbers of Foster Carers leaving.

Foster carer feedback on the changes in particular in relation to children’s Social Workers was challenging, progress has been made within the Service to  create workforce stability, and strongly evidenced in the Grow our Own model, with a more permanent management and a stronger workforce. These challenges appeared to have reduced through the Foster Carer feedback, catch up session and Panel

Has support when allegations made against Foster Carers ever been raised as a theme in feedback.

Foster Wales and the region had raised, there has been specific training supplied. The Fostering Network also supply support and all foster career are  encouraged to access. With the LA whenever allegations were made Foster Carers were always supported  by Social Work staff.

After a Foster Carer left the LA were there any follow up discussions 6-12 months later to establish reasons.

As no longer Powys staff after deciding to leave the LA do not have any ongoing established relationship. We gain a good understanding through the supervision process of reasons, and these would feed into the Panel process. Any themes would be addressed within the Service.

Foster Network will undertake exit interviews moving forward

Would information for potential Foster Carers that start  the process but may  drop out part way through prior to panel. The process can appear overwhelming, was assurance and support given.

Monthly meetings through the Not-For-Profit Board tracked all enquiries and processes as moved through the system. Reasons why an interest may not be pursued is captured, any gaps in assessments completed prior to proceeding to the mainstream Supervising Social Work staff.

The Skills to Foster training was encouraged and provided beforehand to offer a broader perspective and provide them with tools to make informed decisions.

Issues Raised by the Committee:

Responses Received:

Was 3 the maximum number of spaces at the placement.

Yes, 3 was the maximum number given the size of the property and the volume of staff required.

How would the young people access education provision and how was it managed from the site.

The young peoples’ Care Plans cover their Health, Care and Educational needs. The education would be tailored to each young person’s individual need. The young people at the placement are all Children Looked After (CLA), they have their individual care plans, which are reviewed by an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) with any challenge or issues raised with the Head of Service.

In terms of the PCC cost of placements, were there any comparative data for what the costs would have been if this provision were not in place i.e. savings would be realised.

In terms of costs, even though have our own children in our own homes does not necessarily equate to lower placement costs. There were reduced costs in staff time and staff travel time.  Costs for placement across the UK currently were increasing in line for increases in demand.

Ongoing the health element costs would be met by PTHB and with care needs met by the LA via the CLA budget.

Was there a need for more of this type of provision

There was no plan to develop any further settings. There would be a period of evaluation on the current provision to ascertain its effectiveness, had expectation and needs of individuals, PCC and PTHB been met.

How realistic was stepping down given that there were health need implications.

The service remained realistic and optimistic that individual could be stepped down from this project.

An individual would not remain in a placement when it was no longer than absolutely necessary or required. The Service would review the need and transitional plans.

Data on step down  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Issues Raised by the Committee:

Responses Received:

What was the percentage response by staff to the survey and was the survey also open to agency staff.

Yes, the survey was opened to all staff within Children’s Services, with responses received from approximately a third of the total staff.

Committee requested the difference in costs between permanent member and agency staff. Would it also be possible to evaluate which teams had higher percentage of agency staff.

Were agency workers more focussed in certain departments, in terms of recruitment what was being done to bring the agency staff across to permanent positions.

In terms of costs, agency costs were approximately double the permanent  staff, but would need to forward the specific data. Costs benefit analysis was undertaken on daily, monthly and annual rates.

Assurance was given that within Children’s Services there were 21 agency staff, the service were aware of who they were and which teams they were supporting. The team visited as part of the Laming visits was a difficult team to recruit into, due to the experience and knowledge that was required by staff, with another team largely supported by agency staff.

The Service was reviewing how those team could possibly be targeted in a different recruitment way, however, we have a Grow Our Own programme with a cohort of 8 coming through this year. The key will be to manage the newly qualified staff safely to come into teams which were much more complex, what support was required to help them grow, learn and develop, to retain in those teams moving forward.

Similar position in adults – agency seeking permanent employment vacancy levels dropping, HR and WOD to create a wellbeing event as per CS previously

Correlation between Grow our Own  and agency was clear with visible improvement over the last few years. What percentage of the social worker workforce would 21 agency staff equate to.

At present the total  number of vacant SW positions was 19

The service has 21 agency staff which was approximately 20% of the workforce.

There would always be a need for agency workers within Children’s Services, as individuals through natural progression move on or leave the LA.

How were the 9 apprentices in Flying Start recruited and what level were they working at.

The information on how recruited, could be sourced and forwarded.

The Committee were interested whether the recruitment process used for Flying Start apprentices could be replicated for other apprenticeship schemes within the LA.

The Service would review and advise.

In regard to the wellbeing initiatives noted in the report, Committee Members attended the in -house Psychologist workshop at the   National Safeguarding Conference late last year, were these roles at capacity, if not was there any scope for the initiatives to be applied to other service areas within the LA.

Wellbeing of the workforce formed part of the integrated Business Plan (IBP), to build a resilient workforce. The trauma and impact of work within Children’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.