Issue - meetings

The Panel received the report of the Service Director, Legal and Business Operations, which recommended that the Panel considered and challenged the performance of Children and Learning Services in Southampton. 

Robert Henderson, Executive Director Wellbeing (Children and Learning), Southampton City Council; and, Julian Watkins, Service Manager, Children and Learning Department, Southampton City Council were present and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the Panel.

In discussions with the officers, the Panel noted the following:

·  Demand at the front door remained high, despite school holidays.  August figures were 20% higher than previous year.

·  The number of Section 47 enquiries was low at 59 in August.  A restorative approach had been adopted which worked with families to help them work out who they could rely on for support in their community rather than relying solely on services provided from an external source.  This had reduced the number of cases escalating to Section 47 when an assessment plan was already in place for a family or a referral to an early help service would be more appropriate.

·  The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub had dealt with 100% of referrals within 1 working day

·  Southampton was part of a voluntary Unaccompanied Assylum Seeking Children (USAC) scheme along with 17 other Local Authorities, which includes guidance that 0.07% of 0-17 population should be USAC. Southampton had so far received less than that number and was capable of meeting the challenges of receiving more USAC if necessary.

·  Southampton had received a cohort from the Afagan Resettlement Scheme, these families had been accommodated and did not include any UASC.

·  Sunderland’s Children’s Services was rated as Outstanding by Ofsted following incremental improvements from an inadequate judgement in 2015.  The situation and background of different councils made it difficult to draw direct comparisons, however the Destination 22 review of the children and families service in Southampton included similar improvements that had been successful in Sunderland.

·  Positive news was reported regarding the recruitment of Assistant Team Managers within each of the six Protect and Court Teams and Newly Qualified Social Workers joining from September

RESOLVED:

1)  That feedback would be provided on the relatively high levels of missing children in August 2021 in comparison to August 2020. (EH5-QL)

2)  The number of Single Assessments completed had been low compared to other similar areas.  As posed by the commentary (EH3), the Panel requested clarity as to whether the figure was a reflection that our Early Help offer was working well to prevent risk with families escalating, or, that professionals were not aware of some families in need and were therefore not referring them into the service.