Agenda item

To receive reports on the following:

4.1     Children in Need, Child Protection & Looked After Children in Enfield 2015/16

To receive a report from Julian Edwards, Interim Assistant Director, Children’s Social Care

4.2     Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Annual Report 2015/16 &  Safeguarding & Quality Assurance Service Independent Review Officer (IRO) Annual report 2015/16

To receive reports from Ann Stoker, Head of Safeguarding, Quality & Principal Social Worker, Schools & Children’s Services

Julian Edwards, the Interim AD Children’s Social Care introduced this report to update the Overview and Scrutiny Committee about workload/ activity levels and trends for the service. It gave information about levels of activity locally for children defined as being ‘in need’.  This includes children for who the local authority has had to initiate child protection processes and children who are in the care of the Council. 

He highlighted the following:

• There has been a significant change in the size and nature of Enfield’s population over the last few years with an increase in child population and an increase in the number of children who are living in poverty. Data shows Enfield is the 5^th most deprived borough in London and Enfield has the largest number of children living in poverty of all London boroughs.
• There has been an increase in referrals to Enfield’s Children’s social care services with a 50% increase over the last 3 years.
• The main factors that have led to an increase in referrals are believed to be - demographic, child sexual exploitation, FGM (female genital mutilation) and greater awareness of domestic violence.
• The numbers of children subject to Child Protection Plans has varied during the last year with approximately 200 currently in effect.
• The number of children adopted during 2015/16 is slightly less than in previous years
• The percentage of Enfield’s LAC children with a diagnosed disability is approximately the same as previous years.
• There have been 7 unaccompanied adolescent asylum seekers in Enfield of whom 4 were dispersed to other boroughs and 3 have stayed with us.

The following points/ questions were raised:

• It was confirmed that none of the 7 unaccompanied adolescent asylum seekers had come from Syria.
• When asked how adolescent asylum seekers come to Enfield it was confirmed that there is no particular reason why this happens. Some boroughs have larger numbers than others such as the higher numbers in Kent, Croydon, and Hounslow. A large number of adolescents are Albanians they also come from countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea.  When children arrive in Enfield we have a duty to look after them.
• It was pointed out that only a small minority of Enfield’s LAC (Looked after Children) are in residential care, there would always be a few in residential care as a result of the Court system.  The aim would always be for children to move out of residential care as children benefit from being in a family situation.
• When asked about the impact of costs on the service Julian Edwards said foster care is much cheaper than paying for residential care, which can be very expensive i.e up to £5k a week. This is because specialist/ environment care may be necessary. 
• It was confirmed that when unaccompanied children arrive in the borough, the government provides a contribution towards the cost. For over 18’s there is no government contribution, although it may be necessary for some form of care to be provided. Local Authorities are lobbying the Government about providing further funding.
• The Chair asked Julian Edwards if there were any areas of particular concern he may wish to make members aware?   He answered that data shows our service performs positively with comparable boroughs. This is done by working closely with families and in a decisive way, to ‘steadily move situations along’.  His main concern relates to the growing level of need in Enfield at a time when resources are being reduced. This is especially in relation to preventative services.  He said we need to ensure that any cuts being made do not have a detrimental effect on statutory services.
• It was asked whether we try to locate the parents of children who arrive in the borough as unaccompanied asylum seekers?  An answer was given that we would aim to do this, however this may not be possible.  He said it had been possible for one youngster to be able to be reunited with his family and repatriated back to Albania with the assistance of his embassy.
• It was confirmed that looked after children from other local authorities are sometimes placed in Enfield. Some boroughs such as Croydon and Kent have high numbers of looked after children and have asked other authorities not to place children in their boroughs.
• It was thought the reason why a high number of adolescent asylum seekers came from Albania was due to factors such as - better educational opportunities, superior health care and generally better prospects.  This differs from adolescents coming from Eritrea who are escaping a war torn country.

Maria Anastasi, Service Manager, Safeguarding and Quality Service and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and Ann Stoker, Head of Safeguarding, Quality & Principal Social Worker, Schools & Children’s Services presented reports on –

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Annual Report 2015/16 and

The Safeguarding & Quality Assurance Service Independent Review Officer (IRO) Annual Report  2015/16

The above reports were received and the following points / issues raised:

• There are 7.5 full time equivalent staff who are responsible for Child Protection Plans.
• One of the responsibilities of the service is to review cases of LAC (Looked after children) to consider if they can be rehabilitated.
• The numbers of children subject to Child Protection Plans has varied from 350 last year to the 200 currently existing. We aim for children not to be the subject of Child Protection Plans for long i.e ‘they must be robust’
• A statutory role of LADO includes responsibility for management and oversight of allegations against individuals who work with children. This would include both paid and unpaid people e.g governors, scouts, teachers.
• A breakdown of allegations given in the LADO Annual report refers to  substantiated, unsubstantiated and unfounded allegations– It was requested that a definition be given of these classifications.
• Councillor Smith referred to a situation relating to a teacher, known to him, who had concerns regarding a safeguarding issue.  Councillor Smith would email details to Julian Edwards and Ann Stoker who would look into this case.
• It was asked what would happen if a case was unsubstantiated? i.e would the situation be dismissed? It was answered that discussions would be held and professional help may be given e.g for training. Behaviour would be monitored.

The Chair thanked officers for their reports