Issue - meetings

The Board received a report from the Executive Director of Children’s Services, which shared the submitted Services for Children and Families in Halton’s Improvement Plan and provided an update against the 12 key areas of improvement.

The ILACS (Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services) Areas of Improvement document was appended to the report, from A1 to A12 and these were presented to the Board one by one.

It was reported that budgetary decisions throughout the improvement journey would be informed by the priorities identified within the Improvement Plan.  The Finance and Investment Board would track spend and the impact this was having on the outcomes for Children and Young People and families.  One Member requested to know the membership of the Finance and Investment Board, referred to in paragraph 5.1.  This would be sought and sent following the meeting.

In response to Members questions regarding A3 - Quality of Social Work Practice - Plans, Assessments and Planning, it was commented that 1.1 support and targeted work had been undertaken by the Social Work Academy, this included assessment training.  The impacts of the training were already being felt, for example the numbers of child court cases were reducing and positive financial benefits were being seen.  Further impacts would be reported at a later date when the results of audits carried out in December 2024 were available.  

RESOLVED: That the Improvement Plan be accepted as the mechanism by which Elected Members can monitor and scrutinise progress going forward.