Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced the report. He commented that the social services improvement plan was progressing well as set out in the recent inspector's report. He commended officers for their efforts. It had been agreed that the service would become a wholly-owned company next year. It was now necessary to provide a steer as to whether to allow the functions of Children's Services to fragment or to co-exist within the company. An officer review had looked at all aspects of Children's Services which concluded that the scope of the company should be widened to the education function. This reflected the strong synergy between the education function and safeguarding services.

He understood concerns about loss of sovereignty and control but he considered that the benefits that would come from attaining the best outcomes for young people outweighed any other concerns. In particular, the proposal would conform with the DfE Notice and satisfy the wishes of the Commissioner; strengthen the focus on improving outcomes for children and young people; support a more inclusive and integrated approach; broaden the scope of responsibilities for an inclusive improvement plan; and less likely lead to a dip in the improvement of the service – which was more important than any structural change.

The timescale was tight and the size and nature of the Board needed to be revisited because the company now encompassed education. There were also issues around the client function to ensure that the Council was fulfilling its duties and obligations. The lead member would retain responsibility for ensuring that all the functions of the Children Services were delivered. It was likely that some staff working with Early Help and SEND would come under the scope of the company. Work was also required on the transitional services and the Communications Strategy.

In the ensuing debate, the following points were raised:

·         The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills commented that to avoid fragmentation it was better to keep as many services as possible integrated to provide a seamless service to improve outcomes for children and young people. Although education services were not under Direction, the benefits of this proposal were set out in the report.  As a result of this proposal, the size of the company would increase by approximately 200 members of staff, including staff directly employed by the Council and by Babcock Prime. It was appropriate to receive a further report in Spring 2019 to make a final decision on the scope and transfer of  services

·         The governance arrangements for the company needed further work to ensure transparency in its operations and enable effective challenge and scrutiny and to satisfy Cabinet that improvements were being delivered. An argument had been put forward that the company should include elements of public health. Public health included a wide-range of service including adult services and there was no desire to move adult services into the company. It was important that integration was achieved without negatively impacting on other services

·         A member from outside the Cabinet queried the consultation arrangements with staff and unions, the future of the Pupil Referral Units in relation to the new company, the responsibility for the renegotiation of the contract with Babcock Prime, and the possible creation of a democratic deficit. The Leader of the Council indicated that the proposal was for a wholly-owned company of the Council and not a private or out-sourced function. The Cabinet Member for Children and Families added that all members would retain their corporate parenting responsibility. The Council would still control the budget, appoint board members and have the power to dissolve the company. There would be a full staff consultation process involving unions

·         A member from outside the Cabinet queried the cost of this model compared to other possible models for the service. The Cabinet Member for Children and Families indicated that the cost of establishing the company model had been split between the Council and the DfE during the intervention period. The bill for the work undertaken by the improvement partner, Essex County Council would be approximately £70k. The Leader added that the potential costs of the day-to-day running of the company were being determined but fragmentation would result in greater overhead costs

·         A member from outside the Cabinet requested greater detail and understanding of the proposals for scrutiny. The Cabinet Member for Children and Families indicated that Scrutiny had had opportunities to be involved during the process of establishing the company and would continue to be able to scrutinise as they thought fit . He emphasised that the Council was under a Direction and therefore did not have a free hand in this matter concerning children's social care. Thought had to be given  to how the day-to-day scrutiny arrangements would work once the company was up and running

·         The Leader of the Council indicated that there were a number of important reserved matters that would require the approval of the Council including the business plan and budget-setting. The details of how Scrutiny would directly examine the work of the company needed further review

·         Tina Russell, Assistant Director commented that the inclusion of the education function and the Early Help service within the company would ensure that co-location and joint working with schools was made easier and allow the service to continue to build relationships with schools and other Early Help partners

·         Everyone had responsibility as a corporate parent to  improve standards for children

·         The Leader indicated that the Minister had agreed with the judgement that on balance, it was appropriate to transfer education and the existing management structure across to the new company.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

a)    approved the proposed changes to the reserved matters to include in the Articles of Association for Worcestershire Children First;

b)    subject to agreement from the Minister, noted the proposed changes to broaden the scope of services and responsibility transferred to Worcestershire Children First;

c)    noted the programme implications related to broadening the scope of responsibility transferred to Worcestershire Children First;

d)    authorised the Chief Executive, in consultation with the DfE appointed Children's Commissioner, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families, to re-profile and implement a revised programme plan; and

e)    agreed to receive a further report in Spring 2019 on the final decision around scope and transfer of services to Worcestershire Children First.