Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director Social Services.

The Corporate Director Social Services spoke in detail to the report which provided a revised Safe Reduction of Children Looked After Strategy. The Corporate Director noted that the initial Strategy had been in place for 3 years and due to the good work in reducing the number of children being placed into care it was felt that it would be beneficial to refresh and review the Strategy. The Corporate Director further noted the main recommendations, objectives and stated that the impact had not only been in reducing the number of children needing to be bought into care, but also on the budget pressure on the Social Services Directorate and the Council.

It was reported that an overspend of £2.5m was reported in 2016/2017 and had reduced significantly to an underspend of £75,494 in the 2019/2020 financial year, therefore it was hoped that the continuation of the Strategy would further enable Children’s Services to manage their budgets going forward.

The Executive Member for Social Services welcomed the report and noted the major decision taken in 2017 when there was an increased rise in children coming into care. The Executive Member advised that the Edge of Care Team, which had been part funded by Social Services and a grant from Welsh Government, was put together to tackle the rise in children coming into care. In July 2018 the numbers were approximately 237, however the Executive Member was pleased to report that today in 2021 the number was 199. The Executive Member felt that this was a great achievement and reflected the excellent work achieved by the Team over the years.

The Executive Member noted other work which had also been undertaken in partnership with colleagues in Monmouthshire with children with more complex needs in care. This work also saw a decline in numbers from 18 to 12. These reductions demonstrated that our Social Services Team was fully committed to looking after children in our communities and was performing well. The Executive Member expressed how pleased he was with the excellent work undertaken by the staff in Social Services.

The Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development concurred with the comments raised and recognised the fantastic work being undertaken in Social Services.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the information contained therein be noted.