Agenda and minutes

Venue: Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BQ

Contact: Salar Rida 020 8359 7113 Email: Salar.Rida@Barnet.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes of the last Meeting pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Children, Education and Safeguarding Committee Councillor David Longstaff, welcomed all attendees, including Councillor Nizza Fluss and Councillor Julian Teare to the membership of the Committee. He also thanked Councillor Felix Byers for all his work as a Member of the Committee during the last municipal year.

 

The Chairman reminded Members of the Committee that the meeting will be audio recorded and conducted as a paper-light meeting.

 

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 8th May 2019 be agreed as a correct record.

 

2.

Absence of Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from:

- Councillor Nagus Narenthira who was substituted by Councillor Kathy Levine

- Councillor Val Duschinsky who was substituted by Councillor Saira Don

3.

Declarations of Members Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Minutes:

None.

4.

Report of the Monitoring Officer (if Any)

Minutes:

None.

5.

Public Questions and Comments (if Any)

Minutes:

None were received.  

6.

Members' Items (if Any)

Minutes:

There were none.

7.

Ofsted Report pdf icon PDF 306 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Director for Children and Young People, Chris Munday presented the key points of the report to the Committee.

 

In 2017, the Council’s Children’s Services were found to be inadequate –following which, the Council worked collectively with the partnership to drive the improvements needed. As a result of the recent ILACS inspection which took place during May 2019, Ofsted judged Barnet to be good across the four inspection domains:

 

-        The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families

-        The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection

-        The experience and progress of children in care and care leavers

-        Overall effectiveness

 

Mr Munday informed that Ofsted noted that, in summary, leaders and managers have made purposeful progress, at pace, to establish a child-focused service that is delivering good outcomes. In relation to leadership, it was noted that there is determination to strive constantly for improvement and their openness to learning have driven change at pace.

 

In respect of Help & Protection, the Committee heard that strong partnerships have led to an effective and well-integrated early help service and that partnership working is strong across the hub. The Committee also noted that children who need help and protection now receive help and support that is timely and of good quality. Assessments and plans show careful consideration of the views of children and their families.

 

The Committee heard that MASH provide timely and effective responses and that strategy discussions are timely, child focused, good consideration of historical factors. Decision making is clear and appropriate

 

Speaking on assessments, Mr Munday noted that these are timely, comprehensive and of good quality providing succinct evidence of risks and clear analysis. In addition, children in private fostering arrangements are safeguarded effectively and disabled children benefit from strong service provision.

 

In relation to Children in Care, Mr Munday highlighted the feedback that Social workers know their children well and genuinely care about them. Social workers respond well to children who are vulnerable to exploitation. For Care Leavers, it was noted that the majority are either in Education, Employment or Training and there is a positive level of support.

 

The Committee noted the positive outcome thanks to all staff and Mr Munday highlighted the need to continue to focus on improvements and the importance of placing children and young people at the centre of their work.

 

The Committee noted the 4 recommendations going forward for Children’s Services, namely:

 

·       The incorporation of actions from the vulnerable adolescents at risk panel (VARP) and exploitation strategy meetings into child in need and child protection plans.

·       The updating of assessments of need when circumstances change for children in care.

·       The incorporation of outcomes from multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) into child in need and child protection plans.

·       The promotion of advocacy support for children in care.

 

The Committee collectively thanked Mr Munday, the management team and all staff in Children’s Services and across other service areas involved with the improvement work and commended their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Any other Item(s) that the Chairman decides are Urgent (if Any)

Minutes:

None.