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2020 Board meeting summaries
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5 May 2020
The Achieving for Children (AfC) Board of Directors met on 5 May 2020. The following substantive items were considered:
Updates from last meeting
The following updates from the previous meeting were received:
The RBWM Director of Children’s Services gave the Board the headlines from the Cabinet Report on the community hub proposal. He reported that Cabinet had made the decision to agree the recommendations to change the delivery model. The new model will require a significant restructuring activity and a consultation with staff will start when appropriate. The DCS confirmed that his team have a system for measuring impact of interventions and the impact of the 1:1 sessions. He also confirmed that the police were happy that this would mean a more responsive and flexible service. Voluntary groups, church groups etc. are already responsible for the monitoring of safeguarding issues and the safeguarding partnership is working to ensure there is more information available for any group who needs it.
It was noted that, following the Board effectiveness review, the Board would draw up an action plan and meet to look at roles and accountabilities going forward and provide action plan recommendations to the Audit and Risk Committee on 15 June 2020.
Following discussions with the Councils, it was agreed that:
- Sian Wicks to become interim Chair of the Board
- Catherine Jervis would continue to be Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
- Jane Spencer would extend her term of office
- Lucy Kourpas continues as Interim Chief Operating Officer
- The Council appointed representatives from the three councils will remain the same.
Audit and Risk Committee feedback
The Board noted the good relationship between Internal Audit and AfC in Richmond and Kingston and work is being done to have the same visibility of RBWM audits to give the Committee more assurance. The new audit recommendation tracker has been developed to track progress on the recommendations.
The Board’s responsibilities had been mapped and this has given A&R Committee some assurance but it was recognised there is a need to do further work on specific duties. One of the recommendations of the effectiveness review is a review of the membership of Audit and Risk and this is taking place.
Business continuity and response to COVID-19 restrictions
The Board noted that the organisation has proved to be quite resilient with services across AfC pulling together to ensure services continue as far as possible, particularly those for vulnerable clients.
Business continuity plans were already available and an exercise was undertaken to include COVID specifics. It was confirmed that all levels of emergency planning are in place. The COO reported that all critical activity plans had been brought into one document with risk analyses taking place at all levels in the organisation.
The COO confirmed that AfC are not yet aware of any specific groups of staff who have been more affected by COVID-19 but the possibility that they may be more at risk will need to be taken into account when looking at groups for the return to work plan. There is a need to consider the balance of staff wanting to get back to more normal working, priority services and what is safe.
A risk assessment for BME is available from the Chair of the Board if required.
The Board noted that it was recognised that some of the staff who are currently shielded may need to remain at home longer and this will be managed on an individual basis. Staff shielding levels had not had a significant impact on service delivery as staff were able to work from home. It is recognised, however, that shielded staff may feel more of an impact on their mental health and support is being put in place for these staff. It was reported that there are currently a low number of known cases in the workforce and this low number had not had an impact on service delivery. Temporary changes to workplace policies and procedures had been made and these were circulated for information with the agenda.
The Board noted the learning that would be taken away from the changes including embracing the positives such as the adoption of virtual solutions where it has been successful particularly where young people have engaged more with their services and recognising the areas where this has been more difficult.
The Board acknowledged that business continuity arrangements are good, there is a well-defined emergency response, daily data is available, risks are identified and the service is continuing to support staff and families. The AfC Recovery Plan will be circulated to the Board when ready.
25 August 2020
The Achieving for Children (AfC) Board of Directors met on 25 August 2020. The following substantive items were considered:
Board's skills audit
The Board welcomed the plan to review the skills set of the Board members with job profiles being completed, identifying skills needed and a plan to develop these over the next year. Suggestions for ensuring equality and diversity at Board meetings were welcomed.
Directors of Children’s Services updates
Key points for Windsor and Maidenhead included:
- More of a financial challenge for the Council this year, predominantly through loss of income for things such as parking and leisure. Children’s Services, along with all departments in the Council are to look at reductions in funding. Options are being drawn up along with risk assessments and options will be submitted to the Council.
- The DCS reported that a four day small authority youth offending service inspection is taking place.
- Retention of social workers remains a challenge.
- It was noted that there is an increase in child protection work with referrals increasing sharply.
Key points for Kingston and Richmond included:
- The Board were informed that the Richmond Education, Health and Care plans review was completed in May.
- An increase in need for services, particularly around domestic violence, children under one year old and unborn babies, children’s behavioural issues and mental health. Officers are planning for an increase in workload over the next 18 to 24 months.
- All schools are expected to open fully although the number of pupils returning is not known.
Independent Fostering Agency
- The Board noted that the IFA is now looking at the third stage of its development and will be producing a strategy/business plan which will look at further development of the IFA.
- Carers have reported that training and workforce support are particularly good and AfC still remains an ethical employer to foster carers.
Workforce annual report
The Board noted the secondment of a recruitment champion was showing significant success particularly around recruiting specialist and professional staff, but the challenge of recruitment is both a local and national issue. Retention also remains a challenge with a high turnover of the workforce, but this is being addressed.
The Board heard that AfC now has an equality, diversity and inclusion board.
AfC’s apprenticeship scheme now includes opportunities for specialist roles in occupational health and social work.
Chief Operating Officer report
The Board was assured to hear that the organisation continues to show a good level of resilience in dealing with COVID restrictions with all services still delivering and reduced levels of staff turnover and sickness absence.
The Board agreed that leadership capacity needed to be revisited to ensure sufficient resources are available at strategic level. There is currently lack of capacity to drive income generation which will help towards savings targets.
The Board’s attention was drawn to the Action for Change pyramid which was produced following a staff survey about how AfC should respond to the Black Lives Matter movement from which an action plan has been drawn up.
13 October 2020
The Achieving for Children (AfC) Board of Directors met on 13 October 2020. The following substantive items were considered:
Directors of Children’s Service updates
Kingston and Richmond
- There has been a significant increase in requests for elective home education.
- The overall judgement of the Youth Offending Inspection outcome was Good with Outstanding features.
Windsor and Maidenhead
- An increase in the number of enquiries in RBWM for elected home education was reported. It was acknowledged that the LA still has an obligation to deliver the support for those children receiving home education with an education, health and care plan (EHCP).
- Increased workload at the front door and a big increase in the number of children on a child protection plan. This has been included on the list of COVID budget pressures.
Education Services report
The Board noted that as the Government was not collecting school data, there were none to present to the Board. It was explained that those young people already on an apprenticeship were continuing to receive support, but AfC would not be joining the Kickstart (pre-apprenticeship) programme as it would not be possible to support the young people who would be part of the programme.
The Board was informed that the AfC element of the inspection on apprenticeship provision was graded Good.
SEND update
Richmond and Kingston
The Board noted that, due to COVID, there has been some disruption to the transformation programme due to delivering SEND services differently during this period, but progress in a number of areas has continued.
There has been an increase in requests for assessments in both Richmond and Kingston.
Quarterly Clinical Governance report
The Board were informed that several issues are raised in the report and are being addressed. These included:
- Issues with the PARIS IT system in RBWM is creating a challenge for some services.
- Waiting times for ASD assessments has increased due to the inability of being able to assess with a face covering or shield.
- Retention of health visitors is a challenge in RBWM.
Chief Operating Officer report
- The Board noted that there continues to be an increase in demand and complexity of cases which is driving up costs.
- COVID has had a big impact, particularly the increase seen in social work caseloads. Interim staff are being used to manage COVID pressures.
- The Board agreed to award a contract, for the provision of temporary workers, to Matrix on the basis of a one year pilot contract.
- As part of the budget setting process, the Board’s level of tolerance around savings would be made clear to the Councils to ensure delivery of services remain safe.
- It was confirmed that a review of the PARIS system in RBWM would be taking place as a joint project with adult services.
15 December 2020
The Achieving for Children (AfC) Board of Directors met on 15 December 2020. The following substantive items were considered:
Sufficiency strategy
The Board discussed the draft sufficiency strategy and made associated recommendations for the final draft. Two key objectives of the strategy are to build in-house provisions and to streamline external placements in order to minimise spot purchasing.
The Board noted that one of the intentions of the plan is to support young people before and after they go into tier 4 CAMHS. The possibility of having a provision in Kingston to provide for step down from hospital or mental health provision was discussed.
Independent Fostering Agency update
The Board noted that the team was on track to have recruited an additional 20 foster carers this year. The Board further noted that the infrastructure is in place and there is opportunity to grow the IFA.
The Board were informed that the IFA will essentially be operated as a separate trading account from April 2021. There is a possible substantial saving over four years together with an improved experience for children and young people.
Updates from the two Directors of Children’s Services
Highlights from the reports of the two Directors of Children’s Services:
- Continuing pressures on children’s social care. The number of contacts turning into referrals is one particular area where there is continued increase. This is leading to an increase in workloads in Referral and Assessment, Child Protection and Youth Resilience teams. Additional staffing has been put in where needed, but recruiting social workers remains a challenge.
- Due to the withdrawal of the expected provider of services at the respite centre in Chessington, AfC is now in discussions to appoint another provider. This has, unfortunately, delayed the opening of the centre.
- The Board was informed that the latest directive from the government and public health around the school closures and rapid testing is that schools themselves will need to administer the rapid flow testing, which will be a significant challenge for them.
Budget and medium term financial plan
The Board noted the budget pressures across the three boroughs. Meetings are taking place between officers in the councils and AfC to look at what is driving the social care pressure. There also continues to be pressure on the high needs block.
It was acknowledged that the savings targets are challenging and there needs to be a maintained focus on achieving the savings, which can be difficult during COVID times.
Chief Operating Officer report
- Increasing demands on the budget continue, particularly in social care in Richmond, and there is growing pressure on the high needs block in all three boroughs. Pressure on budgets in social care and SEN are continuing to be challenging across the three boroughs.
- The Board was assured that the detailed work on the impact of Brexit has ensured that all process are in place.
- AfC’s COVID recovery plan has moved back to restricted freedom. Some changes to office space are being made in order to maximise the use of space for social care teams.