Skip to main content

{{ root_page.title }}

2021 Board meeting summaries

Please click on the plus icon of each header to read the Board meeting summary for the given date.

RBWM staff pay award

The Board voted and all members present agreed to a 2% for a pay award for AfC RBWM staff.

HR business case - internally managed service

The Chair reminded the Board that transitioning to an internally managed service with payroll and occupational health being bought in from a third party had been discussed at Board meetings for three years. The business case, including the additional information requested by the Board at their last meeting, was being presented again and a unanimous decision was required if this option was now to be progressed.

The Board was asked to consider whether it is the right thing to do for the strategic long term and whether the benefits outweigh any risks. Associate Director Workforce introduced the paper and explained that her team had looked again at the concerns raised at the previous Board meeting, particularly around some of the costs in the paper, including the projected savings. There is an opportunity to re-start many of the processes which are confused across the boroughs.

All Board members supported the proposal to transition to an in-house service. It was recognised that there are risks but these are outweighed by the benefits.

Advice on risk of a Section 114 notice

The Board had received two papers, one with specific legal advice giving direction and suggested actions if needed and a draft advisory note produced by Chief Operating Officer which contained actions that AfC will continue to take to support each council. The Chair explained that the three councils, along with most others, all face financial challenges and AfC are impacted by these challenges and budget gaps. The Chair explained that the Board needs to ensure it is discharging its responsibilities in line with the legal requirements of being directors on the Board.  

The Chief Operating Officer reminded the Board that it is important that they make decisions which are in the best interests of the company, particularly for those who are Council appointed directors. It is expected, however, that the Board decisions will align with the Councils. 

The Chief Operating Officer informed the Board that it is important to keep a focus on how AfC can work proactively to help ensure a Section 114 is not necessary. In Richmond and Kingston the main pressure remains as high needs and DSG. In RBWM there is more risk on the General Fund side. The Board has accountability in understanding and tracking the deficit plans. There needs to be a focus at Board meetings on this with sufficient strategic discussion time on the agenda with the Board holding the Directors and Chief Operating Officer to account. 

After discussion it was agreed that there would be merit in testing against the solvency test.

The Achieving for Children (AfC) Board of Directors met on 22 March 2021. The following substantive items were considered:

Voice of children and young people

The Board noted the Board Engagement Forward Plan for 2021/22. The document outlines a number of key activities and various forums where the Board could have an opportunity to listen to children and young people. It was agreed that it is important to ensure that attendance at any events or forums would add value and what outcomes it is hoped to achieve.

A number of the activities on the lists are longstanding and feedback is continually taken, but it was agreed that staff in the organisation could be encouraged to share what they learn through their work with children and young people across the operational areas. An example of a new opportunity for engagement with young people would be the new AfC Environment Strategy and this would be followed up. Linking into the Board’s forward plan would identify other opportunities and it was recognised that participation could be more co-ordinated across the company and this would be followed up by the Directors of Children’s Services (DCSs).

Chief Operating Officer Report

The Board noted that the themes of overspend remain unchanged with pressure on (Dedicated Schools Grant) DSG funds and the high needs education budget. Discussions have been taking place with the DfE on the overspends. The Board will be monitoring the DSG overspend in the three boroughs.

The Board discussed the updated Board Assurance framework and noted that the more operational indicators, such as those relating to health, were reported to the Councils on a regular basis rather than being presented to the Board. The project update presented to the Board contains the information needed by them in terms of the delivery plan. It was agreed that, at the next Board workshop, a review of the key performance indicators would be discussed along with any quality assurance issues for which data is not collected.

Directors of Children’s Services updates

Kingston and Richmond

The Board were taken through the report and key points taken from it were that:

  • Social care performance has remained really good despite the increase in contacts and complexity of referrals coming through.
  • Waiting times for emotional health appointments were a concern, particularly with a large increase in the number of referrals. Thresholds at tier 3 have now been raised so there are more being held at tier 2. This issue has been raised by AfC with the CCG but, in the meantime, the DCS has increased capacity at tier 2. The Board were assured that every child on the waiting list has a plan which includes assessment of harm.
  • The return to school by pupils had gone smoothly with primary school attendance at 97%. All schools are focussed on wellbeing and development of children as well as the learning.
  • Inspection preparations are underway with AfC expecting inspections/re-inspections of SEND in Richmond and Kingston and ILACS in Richmond.
  • The number of education, health and care plans remains high and it is expected that there will be an increase in requests for plans due to the impact on children’s learning due to school closures during Covid.

Windsor and Maidenhead

The key points reported for Windsor and Maidenhead were:

  • Worsening position around the DSG particularly over recent months, with an increase in plans over the last year and with a significant rise in both state-funded and independent placements. Cost growth has risen.
  • Social care teams are performing well considering the constraints they are having to working within.
  • There has been a substantial increase in the waiting list in East Berkshire for therapists and ASD/ADHD support over the last three quarters

Quarterly Clinical Governance report

The Board received the six monthly clinical governance report which highlighted the following:

  • Waiting times for neuro-developmental assessments for ADHD and autism have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Action plans are in place including the addition of weekend clinics.
  • Health services are finding recruitment and retention, particularly in the health visiting service in RBWM, a challenge and a separate report on staffing will be brought to the Board.
  • As health visiting and school nursing services have not been inspected since 2015, it is expected that an early inspection of services was likely and services are well prepared.
  • Capacity and pressure in the health visiting team is causing issues and, although the team have a plan, stability of service in the medium to long term is difficult due to a reduction in funding. This would be revisited by the DCS at the end of the quarter and would be escalated to the Board for further discussion or escalation to the owners if the situation did not improve.

Safeguarding updates and annual safeguarding report

The Board Director who had attended the safeguarding meetings in the three boroughs reported that there had been good performance in these challenging times and gave assurance to the Board that safeguarding performance is good across all three boroughs.

The Board had received the Safeguarding Annual Report for RBWM. The main point of note was that eight key priorities for the partnership had been identified, including domestic abuse, children in appropriate education and children suffering from neglect which is still a particularly significant issue. A priority lead for each of the eight priorities has been appointed.

The Achieving for Children (AfC) Board of Directors met on 30 June 2021.

The following substantive items were considered:

Young person feedback

The Board heard from the Chair of the Youth Council who gave feedback on the young people’s involvement in the recruitment of the new Board non-executive directors. They reported that it was a positive experience and the relationship between the Board and the young people would continue to be built upon. There is currently a lot of engagement with young people across the three boroughs at operational level and discussion will continue on further engagement of young people with the Board.

Report from the Chair of Audit and Risk Committee

The Committee recommended to the Board that the annual report and accounts be agreed. The Board were updated on the level of risk on information governance, fire assurance and risk management. They were informed that the 2020/21 internal audit plan had been delivered despite Covid. The end of year opinion was that there is a positive level of internal control in AfC.

Voice of children and young people

The Board were presented with the youth needs analysis and this was discussed. The work of the report explored the needs of young people and the provision of youth services and includes a number of recommendations which will require a whole partnership approach with other agencies and how the recommendations are best taken forward is the subject of ongoing discussions.

SEND Futures update

The recent LGA review in Kingston had confirmed that the SEND Transformation Plan is a good plan. SEND transformation remains challenging and funds have been provided for two additional posts to add capacity. The Board noted the increase in needs assessments for which there is no funding. Partnership working is key to delivering the plan and conversations are ongoing to progress.

Health recruitment and retention

It was reported that challenges in recruiting to health service roles remain. It was agreed that further discussion around the AfC’s health strategy would take place in a separate meeting along with discussion on the pay differentials of NHS staff and AfC staff delivering the same health services.

Director of Children’s Services updates

Richmond and Kingston

The Board were notified that the recent local SEND inspection had taken place and the report is expected to be published in August.

A progress inspection on apprenticeships has also taken place.

The Board noted that significant pressure remains on waiting times for CAMHS particularly for autism spectrum conditions diagnosis and the eating disorder service.

Windsor and Maidenhead

An Ofsted SEND inspection revisit had taken place and the progress made on the majority of the remaining few actions from the written statement of action were judged as making sufficient progress.

Waiting times for occupational therapy are very high and, as a result of recommendation from independent OTs, costs for the service are rising. A model of delivery is being worked on and RBWM will be testing the model and, if successful, this could be rolled out to other therapy services.

Requests for foster placements in RBWM are continuing to rise with a number due to moves from current placements.

Chief Operating Officer’s report

Financial pressures on service delivery are still a challenge and are being looked at by the senior leadership team and finance colleagues.

The Impact Report has been finalised and this has been shared through the usual channels and social media will also be used to promote the report.

Report from the Chair, including voice of children and young people

Corporate Parenting Board, draft minutes of the Kingston SEND Partnership, the CiCC Newsletter and the Business Development Programme Plan had been circulated for information to the Board. The Chair reported good conversations with the CEOs, Deputy Leader and Lead Members of the Councils who recognise the hard work AfC are doing in order to deliver services. The Chair fed back that, in conversations with health, there has been a lot of praise for the support from staff and senior leadership. There are concerns in the three Councils around the increase in mental health issues for young people at Tier 3 and the length of the waiting lists for health services generally.

Director of Children’s Services updates

Ian Dodds highlighted the main points from his Director of Children’s Services report for Kingston and Richmond:

  • The Q1 safety valve arrangement claim has been submitted and the funding given.
  • The SEND inspection in Richmond had gone well. The main area highlighted for improvement is transitions. The report is due to be published in August.
  • Social care pressures are still significant due to an increase in referrals and cases not progressing out as fast as previously. Once the family court is working in a normal pattern, the cases presented to the court will get moved through the process quicker.
  • There has been a big increase in mental health referrals and the CCG have raised their thresholds resulting in more cases remaining in AfC.
  • ID is chairing a Task and Finish Group with Tonia Michaelidis, CCG, to look at three areas: mapping pathways,looking at where we can invest in earlier intervention and resource shaping.

Kevin McDaniel highlighted the main points from his Director of Children’s Services report for RBWM:

  • Ofsted had completed the IFA inspection and initial feedback is that it looks to be good across the Board.
  • Demand at the front door is high.
  • Recruiting health services staff continues to be a challenge.
  • Staff recruitment and retention continues to be a significant issue with a large number of posts covered by agency staff.
  • RBWM have been invited by Ofsted to be part of a pilot Joint Targeted Area inspection, looking at the impact domestic abuse on children.
  • The Town Hall in Maidenhead now has 100 desks available for AfC staff and KMcD is expecting staff to be able to return to work in sufficient numbers.
  • KMcD reported on marketing work on placements for complex cases which is happening. He explained that a bid with Slough and Bracknell had been submitted to be able to appoint someone to look at each of the three boroughs' needs and then go to the marketplace. The funding for this needs to be spent by the end of March 2022 with the procurement process starting in April 2022.

Chief Operating and Finance Officer Executive update

Two biggest issues are Finance and Commissioning and Procurement. 

2% pay award awarded to RBWM from April 2021; Kingston and Richmond have not yet been agreed.

Children’s home strategy

Matthew Edwards introduced his report and took the Board through a presentation. Main key argument for having the suggested six children’s homes is the control that AfC will have when the children and young people are moved. This is beneficial for the children and young people, financially better for AfC. The therapeutic offer AfC would like to develop as a provider will give economies of scale and make it possible to build a component of therapies and create a culture of therapeutic offer. The Board discussed financial pressures, commercial aspects of selling surplus beds, risks, an opportunity to control placement costs if boroughs have children’s homes. The Board agreed in principle, depending on strategy including financial model, to continue to do further work on the proposal and look at the infrastructure and produce a clear strategy which would include a model of care and challenging behaviour.

Quarterly business plan and project update

Majority of plans are progressing well. Two new managers recruited to support the SEND Transformation Project.

Well Led Governance and Inspection Self Assessment

The Board was taken through the self evaluation for the well-led inspection. Most ratings are green and the few amber ones where it is felt AfC are not quite where they should be have actions against them. It was noted that there is unpredictability around staff recruitment which remains a challenge.

Staff wellbeing

The Board were updated on staff wellbeing from a report produced by Gill Goouch. Feedback from recent bitesize sessions on various aspects of well being have been well received. Stress and anxiety in the workplace will be the focus for the next wellbeing week. Feedback has been received that managers do not want to talk about stress and anxiety in front of staff; therefore a separate session will be arranged. This topic is also covered in the Leadership Centre of Excellence Programme.

Apprenticeship provision

An update on the apprenticeship provision ar AfC was provided to the Board members. As the young people participating in the scheme are only part way through, a further update will be available in December which will update the Board members on how well the scheme has performed.

Updates from Board members including safeguarding update

The young people’s team met in November with one of the Board members - Nathan Nagaiah. The young people raised that they would like opportunities to meet Board members more regularly to discuss challenges they face and the changes that happen to services i.e. when Children's Centres close. It was therefore suggested that each Director “adopt” a youth organisation. Two Board members, Nathan Nagaiah and Nikki Craig will complete a report and update the Board at a future Board member around youth engagement.

The Chair, Sian Wicks, provided a brief overview of her “in touch” visits to Health Teams in RBK, LBR and RBWM. Key challenges being faced are how does the workforce move forward from the pandemic. A report has gone to RBWM commissioners which outlines the RBWM health visiting service is at a critical point with regard to staffing / health professionals shortage and pay / reward benefits. It was noted that in terms of caseloads an average there should be no more than 400; there are currently 600 cases per member of staff in this area.

Audit and Risk Committee update

The Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee provided an update to the Board on the recent A&R meeting.

Highlights: 

  • HR transition project - recruitment systems and payroll in place and working well.
  • Internal audit - good report for RBK and LBR; no report for internal audit for RBWM due to auditors to be in place from April 2022.
  • Treasury plan - submitted to the three Councils for approval.
  • Annual reports and accounts - timetable is good which will ensure accounts are finalised in July 2022 and submitted in a timely manner to Companies House. Following a tender process, new auditors have been approached and it is hoped to appoint during January 2022.
  • Information Governance - small number of subject access requests, FOIs received. Accountability framework and alignment being monitored.
  • Risk - three areas are currently at risk - sufficiency strategy, the financial aspect of the SEND Futures Plan and General Fund budget with pressures on demand and pressures on reduced costs. All areas have action plans in place and work continues.
  • Procurement - two extensions to contracts agreed and one paper to be redrafted and return to A&RC for approval.
  • Policies - work ongoing, with appropriate training and communication monitored by managers.

Health strategy discussion

The Director of Children’s Services for Richmond and Kingston presented the health strategy slides to the board and gave an overview to get some collective thinking from the Board. The Board was reminded of the three current commissioned areas and the service provision map with the Royal Borough of Kingston being the biggest area. There are 42 integrated care systems covering the whole of England which must be in place by 1 April 2022; the governance arrangements will be in place for April 2022 and clear protocols on how the funding will be delegated. There will not be a fully operational integrated care system by 1 April 2022. The first 18 months of the ICS being in place will be about developing the system and then new working arrangements will be in place.

The Board discussed options and an opportunity to level up. More work to be done on this by Directors of Children’s Services for Richmond and Kingston as well as RBWM, and the senior leadership teams.

AfC general fund budget

Board members were taken through the AfC General Fund Budget by the Chief Operating Officer. Areas covered included key inflation risks, commissioning spend and sufficiency strategy, risk and mitigations, controllable and demand-led growth. A piece of work will be carried out to look at current placements and see whether there can be any adjustments made. All three councils have been reasonable with their budget allocations especially with the pandemic. Additional funding that councils get can be bid for by AfC.