The Head of Children’s Social Care presented a report which outlined the reports and associated publication of the Action Plans following inspection reports regarding Sunnybank (December 2018), Bakers Way (January 2019) and Harwood house (February 2019).

She provided the committee with background of CIW which also detailed the types of annual inspections that they carry out on Children’s Homes. Further background was provided at section 3 of the report.

The Head of Children’s Social Care provided a summary of findings on each of the 3 previously listed children’s homes while also exhibiting the areas of improvement. Further details were at section 4 of the report and the full reports for each care home were provided at Appendices 1, 2 and 3.

The Head of Children’s Social Care explained that initially there were major areas for improvement for Harwood house following the inspection as listed at 4.10 of the report. However, as of the end of July, a further inspection was carried out at Harwood house and she confirmed that the non-compliance areas had been addressed. She explained that the draft report for this inspection had been received only a few days before this meeting so therefore were unable to provide it in time. She explained that the final report should be available in the next couple of weeks.

The Head of Children’s Social Care advised Members that Karl Culpeck, the regional manager of the children’s home Sunny Bank was in attendance today to answer any questions that Members may have.

The Leader mentioned that he identified two actions in the report that were ongoing, both of which for Harwood House and asked if these issues were being addressed. The Head of Children’s Social Care explained that all issues identified were in the process of being addressed.

A Member mentioned that the children’s homes’ personal plans had not been regularly updated and this appeared to be a consistent theme. She asked if this had been fed through to the establishments to ensure that they were being updated.

The Head of Children’s Social Care explained that Maple Tree House was the other establishment in the area and confirmed that there were things in place to ensure managers of the establishments were meeting and sharing best practice with each other. This ensures that they can learn from each other and improve. Mr Culpeck confirmed that there were manager meetings and they were always looking to learn from each other.

A Member asked in relation to sign language, if training was provided on Signalong as well as Pecs as a method for communication.

Mr Culpeck confirmed that Signalong was a method of communication that training was provided for. The induction training provides a baseline knowledge for many communication methods to ensure that everyone has some degree of knowledge from the start.

The Head of Children’s Social Care Explained that there were initial concerns while there were changes being made in relation to staffing, new legislation, changes in registration and inspections and a change in local inspectors, however, they believed this to be ironed out.

The Leader asked if the Committee could receive an update in 6 – 12 months regarding the two ongoing actions that were previously identified.

The Head of Children’s Social Care agreed to provide an update at a future Corporate Parenting committee.

Members praised the action plan and the continued hard work carried out by the team and were pleased to hear that engagement with the staff at the children’s homes has been positive.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Committee:

(1)  approved the updated Action Plan;

Requested an update in 6-12 months on the two ongoing actions as identified in the report.