Agenda item

Presentation and Briefing Note by the Service Director Children and Young People. (Copy attached).  

There had been circulated copies of a Briefing Paper presenting data and performance information in relation to Looked After and Accommodated Children and Young People, care and education provision, the reasons behind the figures and the actions being taken within the service to improve outcomes, using resources as effectively as possible.  The Service Director Children and Young People, Donna Manson, was in attendance to give a presentation to support the paper and provide further analysis.  It was explained that children and young people may require accommodation for a number of reasons.  The accommodation may be on a statutory basis or a voluntary arrangement, and range in length of time from periodic short breaks to permanence planning.  Children may also require educational provision outwith that provided through mainstream schools.  This ranged from time limited support in school provided by internal staff resources such as Learning Support Teachers or Educational Psychologists, to full time provision in specialist establishments.  A combination of rising demand, scarcity of providers and decreasing resources meant containing these services within their allocated budgets was a significant challenge and therefore required changes to the approaches to delivering services. Ms Manson drew attention to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 which made the welfare and provision of services to Looked After Children a duty for a number of key organisations including Local Authorities. The presentation summarised the reasons that children and young people may require accommodation and the most common types of accommodation available.  Four case examples were given which ranged across all the types of care available and which included an example where the very high level specialist supported care required was not available in the Borders.  Included in the performance information given within the paper was a chart indicating the range of placement types within Scottish Borders Council, in respect of the proportion of spend and number of placements for each.  The paper went on to outline service challenges and developments.  With regard to the Council’s Fostering Service Ms Manson advised that the decision to increase fees for foster carers and the payment of a retainer fee had made a significant difference. There had been a year on year increase in fostering households.  Ms Manson explained that the objective was to develop an organisational culture where staff had the values, skills and necessary support to ensure children received the support, care and education they needed to achieve their best outcomes, wherever possible here in the Borders in their local communities and mainstream schools.  Members asked questions in particular on the aspiration to support the majority of Looked After Children and Young People within the Borders.  Ms Manson stressed that each individual case was approached on a need by need basis, to build a package around the child, with sensitivity and flexibility and in consultation with parents.   In some cases it was necessary to use external specialist provision. However there were advantages in providing local support in terms of reducing the stress of travelling out of the area and enabling the child to maintain links with the community which would extend into adulthood.  Discussion continued on a key aim identified in the presentation of avoiding exclusions from schools.  It was noted that, through changes to support within schools rates had come down and were the lowest they had been for over two years.  In conclusion Ms Manson drew Members’ attention to the Council’s Foster Care campaign and a Corporate Parenting event planned for early in 2016.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation and performance information relating to Care and Education Placement Provisions.