The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.  Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Cllrs Brookfield, Daley, Davies, Gee and Floyd.  Apologies were also received from Charlotte Hesketh and Angela Allen. 

A form is attached for completion by Members declaring an interest in items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest received. 

For the Group to agree the Minutes of the Corporate Parenting Specialist Advisory Group meeting held on the 13^th March 2019. 

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th March 2019 were approved as a correct record and were duly signed by the Chair. 

Discussion item:  For the Group to be provided with a verbal update from Foster Carers Association and the Vice Chair. 

Foster Carers Association update

The Chair welcomed Samantha Briggs, BwDFCA Secretary and Paula Quinn, BwDFCA Events and Fundraising Manager to provide a verbal update on Foster Carers Association. 

The Group heard that the Association was planning on activities to be held in the Summer holidays which involved a trip to Anderton Centre.

RESOLVED - That Samantha Briggs and Paula Quinn be thanked for the detailed information.   

Vice Chair update

The Vice Chair provided a verbal update on her meeting with Young People and shared feedback received, highlighting the changes Young People would like to see.  

Members noted the feedback and requested that the progress made be brought back to a future meeting for Members to note. 

RESOLVED - That the Vice Chair be thanked for the detailed information and the progress made be brought back to a future meeting.  

·       Update on Celebration of Achievement event

·       Further update on actions received from “Making A Noise” event

·       Introduction by Jaffer Hussain, Participation Officer, and an update on future work plan to support CPSAG and the Voice Group.

Update on Celebration of Achievement event

The Chair welcomed Joanne Siddle, Interim Head of Education, to provide the Group with an update on the Celebration of Achievement event to be held on 12^th November 2019 at Ewood Park. 

Members heard that nomination forms were provided to relevant professionals to support them in nominating young people for an award.  It was noted that Young People were also provided with nomination forms to enable them to nominate someone that had made a difference to their lives. 

The new Participation Officer, Jaffer Hussain, was working alongside Young People to create a presentation which was to be displayed at the event. 

Update on actions received from “Making a Noise” event

Members were provided with an update on actions received from “Making a Noise” event which highlighted that a new participation officer had been appointed.  A Corporate workshop alongside other events was scheduled to discuss future actions.

Introduction of Jaffer Hussain, New Participation Officer

The Chair welcomed Jaffer Hussain to his first CPSAG meeting to update the Group on future work plan to support the Group and the Voice Group.

Jaffer informed the Group that he started his new role in June 2019 and had been out to meet colleagues from across the LA to help him plan for the future.  The focus for the first 6 – 9 months was shared as:

• Re-establishing the Participation Champions Network which brings together colleagues from across Children Services as the wider LA and Third Sector to share best practice, updates and training and development opportunities around Participation.
• Re-establishing the ‘Voice’ groups, which was the mechanism by which we engage with and support Looked after Children ensuring they have a voice around service design and delivery.  The group will be meeting regularly and will hopefully attend the CPSAG to update on their plans.
• Supporting services to work towards their Investing in Children award which gives services and organisations national recognition for the good practice and active inclusion of children and young people in dialogue, which results in change.  Across BwD, nearly 30 services and organisations have been awarded IiC making us the second largest IiC area – Durham is the first and it’s where IiC originated and is based. 

Key event dates where shared with the Group as:

• Interview Skills training – 25^th July, 6^th August and 20^th August, 10.00am – 4.00pm
• Participation Open/Fun day – 27^th August, 12.00pm – 4.00pm
• Voice Meeting – week beginning 10^th September, 6.00pm – 8.00pm
• Participation Champions Meeting – 24^th September, 10.00am – 3.00pm

RESOLVED – That the information was noted by Members.

For the Group to receive an update on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Safeguarding and LAC review for Blackburn with Darwen.

The Chair welcomed Caroline Waldron to the meeting to provide an update on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Safeguarding and LAC review for Blackburn with Darwen.

Caroline shared a presentation which highlighted the process of the review which included:

• CQC Review programme commenced in 2013
• It was not an Inspection of services
• No grading but a series of recommendations were provided
• Focus of the review was:

·         Evaluating the quality and impact of local health arrangements for safeguarding children.

·         Improving healthcare for children who are looked after.

• Team of 5 CQC Inspectors attended from Monday - Friday
• Comprises of focus groups and site visits to health settings and case tracking.

• The experiences of 79 children and young people were considered as part of the review

The Group were informed that the final report was published on 2^nd July 2019 on the CQC website.

Members noted the key lines of enquiry and what the inspectors felt was working well.  Next steps were shared as:

• A combined agency action plan to be submitted by 30^th July 2019.
• The action plan was required to address the 31 recommendations.
• CQC would sign off the plan if it provided assurance.

RESOLVED –

1)    That Carolyn Waldron be thanked for the detailed presentation

2)    That the signed action plan be brought to a future Corporate Parenting Specialist Advisory Group meeting for noting.

Carolyn shared an article which was published in July Community Practitioner magazine and went out to all school nurses, health visitors and midwives whom were Unite members in the UK.  The article was created by Caroline Waldron, as a Safeguarding Nurse exploring the role of the Health Practitioner as a corporate parent for looked-after children and care leavers, identifying practical steps.

To review and consider the latest monitoring reports on Looked After Children in the Borough. 

Alyson Hanson, Interim Head of Permanence and Jayne Ivory, Director of Children’s Services & Education presented an update on the latest monitoring report for Children in our Care for June 2019.

Members noted that the number of children entering care in 2019 was 80 and the number of children leaving care was 55 with 46% of children aged 0-2 years old.  It was noted that currently there were 409 Children in our Care which consisted of 56% males and 44% of females. 

RESOLVED – That Alyson Hanson, Interim Head of Permanence and Jayne Ivory, Director of Children’s Services & Education be thanked for the detailed report.