To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008.

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To receive for approval the minutes of 27/07/2022

RESOLVED: That that minutes of the 27/07/2022 be approved as a true and accurate record.

The Group Manager Placements and Provider Services presented a report

with the revised statements of purpose for the current children and young people’s residential services provision in Bridgend County Borough Council. He explained that it was a requirement under the Council’s constitution that these are presented to the Corporate Parenting Committee for approval.

The Group Manager Placements and Provider Services stated that  Bridgend County Borough Council currently had four children’s residential homes delivering services to children and young people aged 0-19 years, these were Maple Tree House, Sunny Bank, Bakers Way and Harwood house. Further details were at section 3 of the report.

The Group Manager Placements and Provider Services explained that the introduction of The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA) came into force on the 2nd of April 2018. The purpose of the Act was to build on the success of regulation in Wales and reflected the changing world of social care. Each Local Authority is now issued with a certificate of registration as opposed to individual services being registered. This means that all Statements of Purpose are presented in a more uniform way. A guide to compiling a statement of purpose was provided under the above Act by Care Inspectorate Wales in April 2019. Further details on the changers to the statements of purpose were at section 4 of the report .

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the content of the report and approved the statement of purpose for each of the residential services provision.

The Corporate Parenting and Participation Officer presented a report which provide the Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting with an update on the development of Corporate Parenting in Bridgend.

He explained that the first Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting meeting of the municipal year received a report presented by the Corporate Parenting and Participation Officer setting out proposals for the future development of Corporate Parenting in Bridgend. The proposals included:

• Establishing a shared Vision for Corporate Parenting Responsibilities.
• Establishing a governance structure that supports the strategic and operational approach to Corporate Parenting.
• Establishing a Corporate Parenting Performance Framework.
• Establishing care experienced forums to provide our children and young people with a collective voice.

The Corporate Parenting and Participation Officer highlighted that the Corporate Parenting Operational Group had now been renamed to the Corporate Parenting Board. Details on the above proposals and the progress made to date was highlighted in details at section 4 of the report. He provided a presentation and video which highlighted the issues from the consultation event that young people had.

The Chairperson explained that she enjoyed the partnership event and the connections and developments made at this event were valuable and promising. She added that resources across stakeholders were not being utilised as effectively as they could be.

The Cabinet Member Future Generations welcomed the report and reflected on the event and believed it to be eye opening into the children we care for and the challenges they faced and what we could be doing to make their lives more normal. He encouraged members of the committee to attend future events.

The Chief Executive stated that the presentation was very informative and helpful provided an indication on the things that as a committee should be looking at to ensure that the services provided to care experienced children was as good as it could be. He asked how all the concerns of the children were captured and what action plan was in place to ensure we were delivering. The Corporate Parenting and Participation Officer explained that in the terms of reference its cited the six priorities listed in the report and there will be subgroups whereby each points would be broken down and an action plan formed for each subgroup. By the new financial year there will be an established list of objectives each with an action plan which the committee can look at.

The Chief Executive asked for clarity on the relationship between the Corporate Parenting Board and this Committee. He asked that relevant information and data be fed back to this committee. The Corporate Parenting and Participation Officer ensured that a strict governance around how we approach corporate parenting to ensure it was sustainable. He explained that the board was meeting shortly following this meeting today, and then 4 weeks before the next scheduled Corporate Parenting meeting. During this time there will be a data report and any recommendation that came from this meeting would contribute to that report. this would then be provided back to the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Group Manager Family Support presented a report which updated Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting on the work of Bridgend County Borough Council’s Edge of Care Service.

He explained that the Edge of Care Service is a multi-agency, intensive intervention team consisting of 24 staff from a range of professional backgrounds including:

• social workers;
• a mental health nurse;
• a health visitor;
• a specialist substance misuse worker; and
• family support workers.

He provided further background on the specialist teams within the Edge of Care service which included Connecting Families, Baby in Mind, Integrated Family Support Service, Rapid Response, Dads’ Support Team and the Rise team. Further information was at section 3 of the report.

The Group Manager Family Support highlighted the positive outcomes of the edge of care service in that over the last five years it has been successful in preventing over 92% of the children they support from entering the care system consistently year on year. Since April 2020, edge of care services in Bridgend, with relatively small resources, have supported 827 children and their families, and over 94% have been prevented from becoming care experienced (this data excludes any data on Rise). Table 1 of the report provided a breakdown of these figures each year.

The Leader welcomed the report and asked in relation to the Rise service had any feedback been provided on the impact of this service, albeit that it was a new service. The Edge of Care Services Team Manager explained that there was no feedback as of yet from the six families that we were currently working, however there was feedback from professionals which had been positive and had allowed care to be provided at a faster rate than what would have been possible without the service.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing highlighted the importance of the needs assessment and how that provides the details we need as an authority to provide effective services. She added that the child protection register was at an all time high in Bridgend and that the review of their operating models was an important piece of work going forward which included edge of care services as part of that review. She also added that the WCCIS system can be further utilised in driving performance and this was something that also needed to be looked into.

The Chief Executive stated that the financial settlement for next year looks challenging and this further highlighted the importance of ensuring the services we were delivering and investing in were as effective as they could be. He asked for further information on the independent review that was taking place and what details could emerge from that as it was important to understand the challenges we face and how best we deal with them.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing explained that the IPC had been appointed as an improvement partner, the first piece of work that they had been commissioned for was review our front door arrangements and the report on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should be reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

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