No apologies for absence were received from members.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine: whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are also reminded to declare the nature of the interest at the earliest opportunity and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it is the Members’ responsibility to identify any interests and also update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of an interest, you are advised to seek advice prior the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made by members.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the held on 21^st October 2021.

The minutes of the previous meeting of 21^st October were agreed to be an accurate record of the meeting.

The Chair said the minutes would be formally approved at the next meeting as this meeting was an informal meeting of the of the sub-committee.

Variation in the order of Business

The Chair, Councillor Bex White, stated that item 4.2 would be taken first, followed by item 4.1, so that the guests invited to the first substantive item could join the meeting virtually.

Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children and Culture introduced the item and said the council’s corporate parenting responsibilities, were such that the child in care should be thought of as our own child. He said the Council was like the extended family of the child in care. He said the Council had a number of resources at its disposal, and he was keen for the Council to think about what more could be done as corporate parents for the children that we look after. Mr Thomas said the key to the success of looking after children in the care of the council, were the teams which supported them. He praised the work of social workers, teachers, and health colleagues as well as the exceptional work of foster carers, residential care workers and workers who support young people in semi-independent accommodation.

The Sub-Committee the heard from Mr Hasan Faruq,Participation & Engagement Manager, Youth and Community Services. He said his team supported young people in care and was responsible for overseeing the work of the Youth Council and Young Mayor. He said two members of the Children Living & Leaving Care Council (CLICC) were present for the meeting. Mr Farhan Hoque, CLICC member and Young People’s Coordinator, and HamidaBegum member and Deputy Chair of CLICC. Mr Faruq said they would talk about their experiences and projects they have been involved in.

The main points to note were:

• The CLICC had designed a Care Leaver App, which assisted Care Leavers to navigate the services available.
• The CLICC had organised a residential trip to Wales, for Young People to build their communication skills, self-belief, and personal achievement.
• They had worked with the Corporate Parenting Board and had devised a wish list of the things they’d like the Board to action, such as providing a wrap around service and smoother transition from one service/situation to another.
• The CLICC Team had worked with Queen Mary University to talk about their experience of being in care and how professionals can improve that experience. Hamida said there were times when the child is ‘lost in the system’ and their voice is not heard.
• A Podcast was being produced, which would be released in January 2022. The young people will learn new skills in how to produce and edit a podcast.

In response to questions and comments from members the following was noted:

• The Chair, Councillor Bex White asked Hamida to explain what she meant by ‘lost in the system.’ Hamida said this meant the repetition of their story to various professionals, and professionals not being aware of their back story when talking to them. She said the podcast would endeavour to explain more about these experiences.

The Sub-Committee then received a further presentation for Mr Leo Major, Head of Service Children Looked After & Through Care.

The main points to note were:

• Following the 2019 Ofsted report the Service model for the service has been strengthened, with various teams supporting Children Looked After (CLA) by the Council.
• Each  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.1

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update in relation to the improvement in Children’s Services, including an update on the impact of Covid-19 to the services provided.

Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children and Culture introduced the item saying significant pressures were being faced by the children social care service who were delivering services to support families. He said there had been a sustained increase in demand and some pressure on staffing capacity, due to illness.

Mr Thomas said overall the evidence for quality and performance was reassuring. He said when they were last inspected by Ofsted in 2019, a good judgment was received. He said the evidence showed they had sustained that good level of performance. He said there would be a resumption of external inspection and scrutiny in 2022, which he welcomed as well as a peer review by the Local Government Association, to look at front-end services and child protection work. 

Lastly, Mr Thomas commented on the shocking and distressing murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, in Solihull, which had received much coverage and reaction. Mr Thomas said a reasonable question to ask would be if something as shocking could happen here in Tower Hamlets. He said there could never be a guarantee that children will not be abused however, the extreme levels of abuse in Arthur’s case are rare. Mr Thomas cited Professor Eileen Munro’s report saying all leaders must work to reduce harm and risk, but child abuse could not be eliminated. He said for this reason harm to children remained a top corporate risk and various mitigations were in place to combat this, including the Local Safeguarding Partnership, whose role is to externally quality assure the systems in place. 

Mr Sam Nair, the Principal Social Worker then gave a presentation on the different aspects of social work covered by Children Services and how they had coped with changes to the way they work during to the pandemic. Mr Nair was accompanied by Ms Charlotte Moodie, Team Leader of the Edge of Care Service, Ms Johanna Burke-Richards, advanced practitioner, Assessment and Intervention Team, Ms Clare Noyes Family Support & Protection team and Ms Claudette Blake, advanced practitioner, Fostering Team.

Mr Nair commented on the restructure of the Youth Service, Early Help and the Youth Justice Service and said this was now complete. He said the linking of services meant there was a joined-up approach to delivering services. Mr Nair said there had been a significant rise in demand due to Covid-19, poverty issues associated with it, plus a rise in the number of asylum-seeking unaccompanied children. Domestic abuse and emotional wellbeing of children had also been a significant factor during the pandemic.

The Sub-Committee then heard from each service area:

Early Help

Mr Nair stated the Early Help team had been restructured August 2020, with social workers present in schools and a link to the MASH service – Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub. He said the graph, on page 25, showed the throughput from MASH to the Early Help  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.2

The Chair provided updates in relation to the following:

Serious Case Review – Syria

Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children and Culture said the evidence in relation to this case had been collated and the Local Safeguarding Partnership were to discuss the case, tomorrow at their meeting of 9^th December 2021. He said once the review was complete, the written response would be shared with members of the Sub-Committee.

Appointment of Sponsor

Referring to the email sent by Councillor Wood, in relation to the appointment of Mulberry Schools Trust as sponsor to Wood Wharf Primary School, Mr James Thomas said he would provide a point-by-point answer to Councillor Wood.

Resignation

Mr Ahmed Hussain, co-optee Parent Governor resigned, stating the new time of 4:30 p.m. was difficult for him to attend. He thanked the Chair and Sub-Committee members for their understanding and said this would be his last meeting. He said he’d be grateful if the response to the review case could be shared with him also.

The Chair, on behalf of the Sub-Committee expressed her sadness at Mr Ahmed’s decision and said the new timing were agreed, so young people can attend meetings of the sub-committee. She thanked Mr Ahmed for his contributions to the work of the sub-committee and said he would be missed.