Agenda and minutes

Present: Councillor F Venner (Leeds) – Chair

Councillors: S Courtney (Calderdale MBC), D Firth (Kirklees MBC) and

C Thirkill (City of Bradford MDC)

In Attendance: M Rawlings (ODWY) and J Grieve (LCC)

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded)

(In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting

There were no appeals against refusal of inspection of documents

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

  RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:-

There were no items identified where it was considered necessary to exclude the press or public.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes)

There were no late items of business identified.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

There were no declarations of interests made at the meeting.

To receive apologies for absence (If any)

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M Isherwood (Wakefield MDC) and V Kendrick (Kirklees MBC)

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd September 2021.

(Copy attached)

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23^rd September 2021 were submitted for comment/ approval.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23^rd September 2021 were accepted as a true and correct record.

To consider any matters arising from the minutes.

 Referring to the Head of Service Report (Minute No.9 referred) – The Chair asked if all issues around staff accommodation had been resolved.

In responding the Interim Head of Service said offices in Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield were operational and staffed. Accommodation issues at Calderdale had recently been resolved. However, office accommodation in Kirklees continued to be an issue, as yet no office space had been identified.

The Chair said it was important that the lack of accommodation in Kirklees was addressed.

It was agreed that Councillor D Firth would raise the issue with the appropriate Members/ officers in Kirklees.

To consider a report by the Director of Children’s Services which provides an overview on the developments and activity in the service from 1st April 2021 to 30th September 2021.

(Report attached)

The Director of Children’s Services submitted a report which provided an overview on the developments and activity within the One Adoption West Yorkshire Agency (the Regional Adoption Agency) from 1^st April 2021 to 30th September 2021.

Referring to the Half Yearly report, the Interim Head of Service highlighted the following issues:

·  Staffing & HR

·  Accommodation

·  Budget

·  Duty and Advice Service

·  Partnership Working

·  Multidisciplinary Team

·  Special Guardianship Regional Work

·  The Kinship (formerly Grandparents Plus)

·  Performance Management

·  Recruitment and Assessment

·  Adoption Panels

·  Family Finding

·  Feedback from Families

·  Adoption Support

·  Compliance Audits

With reference to the budget, Members noted the overall forecasted position at Month 6 was an overspend of £22k, with an anticipated year end overspend of £46k. Questioned about the overall budget for the service, Members were informed the service had a budget of £8.1m

Referring to Family Finding, Members asked; on average, how long could it take for a child to be placed.

In responding the Interim Head of Service said that for a child with no additional needs the process could be fairly quick. For a child with additional needs or from a sibling group the process was more complicated and the timescale for placement could be significantly longer. There are fewer potential adopters to adopt sibling groups. It was suggested the adoption of sibling groups was a national problem, but the agency was pro-active in Family Finding, looking beyond the West Yorkshire area for potential adopters.

Referring to medical assessments, Members asked if there were any delays in the length of time taken to carry out medical assessments.

Members were informed that generally, the process was working well, there was a number of individual practices which were problematic, but discussions were ongoing to address general concerns. It was reported that work was currently taking place to develop a standard protocol which would seek to clarify the process for all parties.

Commenting on the Adoption Support Fund, Members noted that demand was outstripping supply.

The Interim Head of Service said we continued to make full use of the Adoption Support Fund to commission therapeutic work for families, children and young people. Increasingly more of the therapy appointments are taking place face to face as it is recognised this model works the best for the most part. It was reported that so far this year the service had 532 applications to the fund approved resulting in over £1.7m being awarded. Of this £41,570 was generated income where we had provided services in-house and were able to charge for these from the ASF.

Looking to the future, Members requested to know, what were the possible major challenges in the next 12 months.

The Interim Head of Service said staff wellbeing was always a challenge, but good mechanisms for supporting staff had now been established. It was reported that the court process was working well, there were no significant delays in considering adoption order applications, however, there were still some delays in court processes in relation to adoption plans being agreed for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To note that the next meeting will take place on Tuesday, 2^nd August 2022 at 10.00am in the Civic Hall, Leeds.

RESOLVED - To note that the next meeting will take place on Tuesday, 2^nd August 2022 at 10.00am in the Civic Hall, Leeds.