REPORT TO FOLLOW

57.1    Members received the report of the Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding, which set out the response of Children’s Care and Safeguarding to the Covid Pandemic.

57.2    The Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting that in line with the regional pattern Shropshire had seen a decline in referrals at the start of the pandemic and that levels had returned to normal when children had returned to school and that there had been an increase in seriousness of cases and level in harm seen.

57.3    The Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting that there had been delays in progressing care plans especially with partner agencies which had meant that children were not exiting the system which had contributed to an increase in looked after children.

57.4    The Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting that staff had adapted well to the new ways of working and had maintained focus on high risk children and that virtual meeting had been utilised for a range of meetings and had proved particularly successful for Adoption and Fostering Panels.  She added that challenges had arisen when working with partner organisations due to the different systems used but in the main these had been overcome.

57.5    The Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting that work was ongoing with planning for the predicted further increase in demand and to develop a sustainable model that fits with the Council’s “new way of working”.  She added that officers were also preparing for an OFSTED assurance vista bd also a full inspection was expected in the new year.

57.6    The Chair asked what additional staffing would be required to meet the increase in demand, The Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting that there was some additional capacity within teams and that work was ongoing to develop different ways of working to meet the demand, and that finding additional experienced staff was proving difficult.  The Director of Children’s Services reminded the Committee that the policy of “growing our own” social workers was working well with 8 trainee workers currently in post and plans to recruit more apprentice social workers in the new year.

57.7    In response to a question regarding the requirement for new foster carers the Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting that recruitment was continuing successfully but that the process was taking longer as assessments were more challenging but still being carried out successfully.  She went on to say that the number of “connected carers” was increasing.

57.8    In response to a question around the increase in complexities of family situations and risk of harm and how these were dealt with, the Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised the meeting  that the process was very similar to that normally followed apart from the fact that the initial case conference would be held virtually and there was need to ensure that families could take part.

57.9    The PFH Children’s Services thanked all those involved for all the work that had been carried out to keep the children of Shropshire safe this was endorsed by all Memebrs present.

57.10  RESOLVED:

2.1    That Members of People Overview Committee consider the content of the report.

2.2     That Members acknowledge the cross working across the Directorate that has enabled the work to safeguard vulnerable children, including schools.

2.3     That Members note the increase in demand across the service and impact of this across the service.

2.4     That Members note that the identified next steps for continuing to safeguard children at risk of harm in Shropshire continue to place demands on the service as we continue to respond to Covid 19 and try and resume some service normality.