Agenda and minutes

PRESENT   Councillor F Venner (Leeds) – Chair

  Councillor V Kendrick (Kirklees)

  Councillor K Scott (Wakefield)

OFFICERS  M Rawlings – One Adoption West Yorkshire

  H Gray – Clerk

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 the 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:-

The agenda contained no exempt information.

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

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes)

No late items of business were added to the agenda.

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

No declarations of interest were made.

To receive any apologies for absence from the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor A Wilkinson (Calderdale) and Councillor M Isherwood (Wakefield). Councillor K Cooke (Wakefield) attended as a substitute.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd August 2022.

The Chair requested an amendment to minute 8 One Adoption West Yorkshire Annual Report 2021/22 to read “The Chair reported on the support to Foster Carers given by the current Lord Mayor of Leeds during his career in Morley and the positive impact that this had – Morley had a high number of Foster Carers for an outer city area”.

RESOLVED – That subject to the correction outlined above, the minutes of the meeting held 2^nd August 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

Minute 8 One Adoption West Yorkshire Annual Report 2021/22

·  Medical Delays – The delays and inconsistent cost associated with medicals undertaken by GPs remains a local and national issue, also impacting on Fostering Services. It was noted that this had been raised at regional level however the Integrated Care Board could not compel changes to GP requirements. Members agreed to continue to flag this an issue at both place and West Yorkshire Partnership level.

·  Service restructure – The Joint Committee welcomed the report that the restructure had been implemented as planned on 1^st January 2023 and had received positive feedback from staff.

·  Member engagement – The Head of Service proposed that a “stay and play” setting was felt to be the most appropriate approach and would liaise with Group Leaders to provide Members with details of place based activities in their localities.

To consider the report of the Director of Children and Families Annual regarding the developments and activity of One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY) and the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) from 1st April 2022 to 30th September 2022.

The Head of One Adoption West Yorkshire submitted the half yearly Head of Service report presenting an overview of the developments and activity in the One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY) service from 1^st April to 30^th September 2022.

The half yearly report provided the Joint Committee with an opportunity to monitor the management and outcomes of the service in order to satisfy itself that the agency is effective and is achieving good outcomes for children and/or service users’ and that the agency is complying with the conditions of registration.

In presenting the report, the Head of Service outlined key issues and highlights from within OAWY for the April to September 2022 period, which included:

Use of Resources (Staffing) – The interim management arrangements remain in place and although there had been some staff turnover during the reporting period, recruitment to vacancies had been successful. Staff sickness levels also remain low.

Formal hybrid working had been implemented in September 2022 with staff encouraged to work in the office 3 days per month. Office space had been secured in Kirklees although this is understood to be temporary and the Bradford team had recently moved due to a building closure.

Recruitment to the vacant Consultant Clinical Psychologist lead had been completed in September 2022.

A key issue was identified with the funding for the Multi-Disciplinary Team and Health posts which had not yet been agreed following implementation of the new Integrated Care Board structure.

Child Placement - The Head of Service informed Members that during the reporting period a total of 103 children had a plan for adoption ratified. Of those, 86 children were from white British backgrounds and 17 children were from Ethnically Diverse backgrounds.

Adopter Recruitment – 45 adoptive households were approved during the reporting period, with 9 of those approved for sibling groups and 7 households open to an Early Permanence Placement.

Timeliness –

A1 Indicator - The average time between a child entering care and moving in with its adoptive family for children in West Yorkshire is 524 days, the National Indicator target is 426 days.

A2 Indicator - The average time for those children adopted in the period, between a local authority receiving court authority to place a child and the local authority deciding on a match to an adoptive family (Indicator A2) for children in West Yorkshire is 229 days, the National indicator target is 121 days.

The number of children adopted from care in the reporting period is 75, with 12% of children leaving care through adoption, which is in line with the national average of 12%, but it was noted that within the region there were significant differences between Local Authorities.

Adoption Panels – These continue as remote meetings. Virtual meetings have increased the diversity in the background of Panel members and provided an opportunity to attract care leavers to the role. A review of whether 8 per month were still required would be undertaken due to associated costs.

Family Finding – The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

RESOLVED -To note that the next meeting would be confirmed for August 2023 in due course.