Agenda item

Catherine Driscoll updated the Board regarding the action plan which had been put in place since the Ofsted report on 24 January judged services to be inadequate.

The report contained 14 recommendations which have led to a wide ranging improvement plan being developed with 8 high level outcomes. County Council had agreed to further resources being made available to help with the improvements. Ofsted stated that they had seen improvements since their last visit but improvements were not progressing fast enough. Meetings at strategic level must constantly look at themselves to see what difference they are making to children and their families.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were made:

·       The whole County Council was responsible for turning things around and all partner agencies had a responsibility to help with improvement. District Councils accepted they had an input, especially with housing. Meetings had taken place between Chief Executives and Leaders of local councils as well as with housing suppliers

·       The District Council Representatives on the Board stated that they reported back to their own Executive Board briefings but not publically to the rest of the Council

·       The Chairman allowed Councillor Vickery, who was not a Board Member to address the Board. Councillor Vickery pointed out that a question had been asked in Council on 9 February 2017 suggesting that the County Council should call for assistance from outside the Council. The suggestion was not accepted by Council. He wondered how far you could expect individual councillors to take responsibility for the service to 700 children. He said he had concerns regarding the sub group of the HWB which never met; the Corporate Parenting Board which was not allowed to carry out scrutiny; the HWB which was not a scrutiny Board; and wondered how individual councillors were expected to exercise oversight?  He felt there needed to be some clear instructions regarding what was expected from Councillors corporately and individually so there would be effective change

·       In response the Chief Executive said that all Councillors have a Corporate Parenting responsibility even though they may sit on different Boards and have various responsibilities because of the roles they fill. It was suggested that the responsibilities for Councillors could be clarified in the induction for new Councillors after the election

·       One of the Cabinet members responded that it depended on the individual Councillor and what was asked of them. Councillor Vickery knew the responsibilities of constituency Councillor but could not come to terms with the Corporate responsibility being shared equally, regardless of their roles and experience which were not equal. Should the Board take on any actions? The Chairman responded that he was confident in the plan that had been put in place

·       It was clarified that the HWB had the strategic overview and ensured the wider, system wide view from all Partners was considered rather than just the view of the County Council. The HWB did not have responsibility for Children's safeguarding, it was a strategic Board. The Chief Executive was clear that the response was a Corporate one, a whole system response and all members needed to be engaged.