Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise which:

 

(1)         presented an update report regarding the current numbers of Children in Care of Other Local Authorities (CICOLA’s) and the possible impact on services provided by Halton Borough Council and its partners within Halton;

 

(2)         assessed within the context of neighbouring local authorities the numbers of Residential Children’s Homes operating within Halton, the types of these services and the potential financial impact on the borough; and

 

(3)         offered an update regarding ongoing works developments in this area.

 

The Board was advised that Halton had the 2nd highest concentration of one or two bed Residential Children’s Homes operated by the Private / Independent sector in the region (St. Helens had the highest with 15). The Residential costs per week ranged from £2600 - £4995 with the average placement cost for local provision equating to £4211 per week.  This, it was reported was substantially higher than the regional average cost which currently was in the region of £2750 - £2835 / week (variance due to sub regional figures (Merseyside / Cheshire / Lancashire Greater Manchester).

 

The majority of local provision was registered for 10-17/18yrs for young people who have emotional behaviour difficulties (EBD) needs predominantly. 

 

Within Halton currently there were a total of 5 Private/ Independent providers of Residential child care who in total managed 15 Residential children’s homes offering a total of 39 beds. These were made up as follows:-

 

1 - six bed home;

5 -  four bed homes;

1 - three bed home;

2 - two bed homes; and

6 - one bed homes.

 

            It was reported that as of March 2011 Halton had a total of 128 young people looked after of which there were 12 young people placed within Residential homes operating in the private sector three of which were located within the Borough, three were located within 20 miles of the Borough and the remaining six were placed specifically to meet a specialist individual need (mental health needs, parenting assessment needs etc).

           

Furthermore, it was reported that also as of March 2011 Halton had a total of  twelve young people placed within an Independent Agency Foster placements of which seven were located in Halton and of the five located outside the Borough only one had been placed at slightly more than 20 miles from the borough.

 

It was also reported that it appeared that Halton was being disproportionately affected due to the investment that it had made with regard to its Early Intervention agenda.  This meant that the numbers of Looked After children had decreased and both the high concentration of Residential homes operating within its boundaries as well as the type of the establishments meant that it was more likely that the young people placed may have experienced multiple placement disruptions, be less able to live in group settings, may have had disrupted education and were more likely to have been involved with more specialist support services.

 

The report highlighted that when a young person was placed into a Halton providers’ placement the placing Local Authority should complete a Notification Of Children In Care Of Other Local Authorities Placed in Halton (CICOLA) form which then alerted Halton to update their CICOLA list as well as loading the information onto Care First system. However in practice this alert was sometimes overlooked or not processed by the placing authority.

 

Within Halton the Residential providers were also asked to also complete the notification forms as well so that it was more likely that Halton were alerted when young people were placed. There were also similar issues in relation to placing local authorities alerting Halton when a young person either moved placements within Halton or moved out of the borough.

 

The CICOLA list should be able to provide an up to date picture of the young people who were placed into Halton providers at any one time.  This information was utilised by the Youth Offending Service (YOS), Education, Health, Connexions and the Police. However, like any database the information contained in it was only as good as the information received from other parties (placing Social Workers or placement providers).

 

         It was noted that there were some issues with the quality of the current data enclosed within the CICOLA list and how Halton ‘tracked’ the young people placed into a Halton providers’ placement in care from other Local Authorities.  Members requested that a copy of the CICOLA list be circulated to all Members of the Board.

 

         It was reported that consideration was being given to strengthening planning policy to help address the issues surrounding private companies setting up homes in the Borough because house prices were favourable or the transport infrastructure in the area was excellent rather than because there was a need for such establishments.

 

         The following comments arose from the discussion:-

 

·        The Board noted the negative impact children placed from other Local Authority area was having on the Borough.  It was also noted that there was no lawful distance limit for placing children in care only guidance and it was best practice to place young people within 20 miles of their Borough boundary.  However, it was reported that Ofsted would be grading CICOLA’s and Local Authorities would be required to justify why a young person had been placed in a particular establishment;

 

·        It was noted that when a young person from another Borough had resided in the Borough for a number of years, they effectively became a Halton resident and as an adult would be entitled to access  Halton services.  This could result in a potential impact on services such as housing etc

 

·        It was noted that Halton’s early intervention agenda had successfully decreased the number of children in care in the Borough.  However, it was also noted that this had led to Halton being disproportionately affected because of the high concentration of residential homes operating within its boundaries as well as the type of establishments;

 

·        Members of the Board acknowledged that the Missing from Home Service provided by Barnados at a cost of £75k (2011/12) represented value for money.  In addition, it was noted that they offered direct support to any young person in Halton that goes missing;

 

·        It was suggested and agreed that a seminar be arranged for Members of the Board to raise awareness on CICOLA’s;

 

·        Clarity was sought on whether the Local Authority had any powers to place young people from other Boroughs who were creating problems in the community into establishments outside of Halton.  In response, it was reported that depending on the level of criminality, Cheshire Police could impose bail conditions to reside / not reside in specific areas; and

 

·        It was noted that Halton only placed young children in places that had been grated good or excellent by the CQC.  It was also noted that the variations in costs for the numerous establishments did not relate to the quality of service provided.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)           the report and comments raised be noted:

 

(2)                      further work be undertaken to get a more accurate picture on how many CICOLA’s reside in Halton, ensuring that the procedures around notifications of CICOLA’s are appropriately utilised and the information shared with partners agencies via an Information Sharing agreement to support service planning/provision and cost recovery;

 

(3)                      turther work be undertaken with key agencies, such as the Police, Education and Health to understand the demand and impact of CICOLA’s on Halton services and to investigate the options for agencies to recover costs through the mechanisms available although this would be dependent on sharing information between agencies  regarding placements of children. This would also enable avenues for charging other Local Authorities for certain key services to be further established as required;

 

(4)                     further work be undertaken in relation to the CICOLA data information that is captured by services which will enable improved understanding and scrutiny of the impact upon local services;

 

(5)                      the CICOLA list to be located in and updated by Halton Commissioning  /Contracting Team and that the revised pathway for notifications is adopted;

 

(6)                     work begins with colleagues from other Halton departments and partners to shape local services for the future – in particular planning , health and housing;

 

(7)                     work begins on a sub regional basis to address some of the market management issues in relation to Residential children’s homes currently located in the borough;

 

(8)                     We write to all Independent Fostering agencies to confirm that they must complete a CICOLA notification form in the same way as we request Residential providers to;

 

(9)                     The CICOLA List be circulated to all Members of the Board; and

 

(10)                An update report be presented the Board on a regular basis.