Issue - meetings

          The Board considered a report which provided an updated position around the Residential and Supported Accommodation Sufficiency programme of work which also incorporated information within the Improvement Plan. Within the wider Children’s Sufficiency Improvement Journey the following key elements were noted:

·       a full restructure of the Commissioning Team had been completed;

·       a refreshed Contracts Register was in place and was supported by a dedicated commissioning workplan, which was shared with Procurement colleagues;

·       the Placement Team had received additional officers within the establishment and roles had been clarified within new and updated job profiles;

·       Commissioning receive a weekly overview of planning applications in the borough and consult on those involving children’s settings;

·       the Supported Accommodation Block contract had been renewed for 12 months;

·       Service Level Agreement with Juno had been approved within the wider Sufficiency Strategy for four children’s homes;

·       the Children and Young Peoples Quality Performance and Monitoring Framework had been completed;

·       the Council was now part of the North West regional QA group and were taking a regional stance on uplifts;

·       a high cost placement tracker had been implemented in April 2024 and as a result there had been an annual cost avoidance of just over £1,000, 000.

RESOLVED: That the report and presentation be noted.