(a)

REACH had received 428 referrals in the first six months of 2014, showing a substantial increase on the previous year;

(b)

REACH are seeing a proportionately higher number of children who were not previously known to Children’s Social Care;

(c)

Plymouth University had gained ethical approval for a longitudinal study on those young people who had not been previously known to Children’s Social Care and who had been reported missing on more than one occasion; this cohort was currently being identified from the data available;

(d)

the REACH team had not yet had the opportunity to discuss the findings of the Jay Report (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, 1997 – 2013, Alexis Jay OBE) with their management.  The team were aware of the findings of the report and are ready to reflect on how they could improve their performance in light of the report;

(e)

REACH were getting things right in the city, and the current relationship they had with partner agencies enabled them to apply various approaches with young children; they were currently operating a discrete youth centred approach that mirrors good practice recommended in the Jay report;

(f)

REACH were on target to meet their Key Performance Indicators, and were performing well on the number of return interviews completed within a 72 hour framework, however there was still room for improvement as there were a number of factors that affected the figures, including staffing capacity pressures and the failure of some young people/families to engage with the team;

(g)

there was likely to be an increase in the uptake of the ‘B’Wise to Child Sexual Exploitation’ education programme as the new academic year started; three schools were currently interested  in the programme.  This was less than REACH would have anticipated, however it was acknowledged that it was difficult to schedule this programme into school timetables;

(h)

Children’s Social Care were proactive on the issue of child sexual exploitation, with the understanding that children in care being more vulnerable to sexual exploitation.  Of the 16 children identified to be vulnerable to CSE by the REACH Service in the first quarter of 2014-15, 14 were already cases known to Childrens’ Social Care and were also identified as vulnerable for reasons other than CSE.  It is therefore not possible to identify all children who may be at risk of CSE in the city solely through the REACH Service, which is primarily focussed upon children who go missing.  It is therefore essential to roll-out the NWG Toolkit for identification of vulnerability to CSE across all agencies, to ensure early identification;

(i)

the four Local Safeguarding Children Boards across the south west peninsula (Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall and Torbay), are working closely together through the South West Peninsula Missing & Child  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

(a)

referral rates to Children’s Social Care had increased by 18.9 per cent in 2013 – 2014, which had resulted in the service continuing to face ongoing capacity issues and workload pressures;

(b)

the service were in the final stages of moving to a single assessment process and the new framework would be in use by 1 September 2014;

(c)

there had been an increase in the number of children subject to a Child Protection Plan (CPP), with the figure rising from 313 – 380,  and partner agencies had also seen an increase in the number of referrals;

(d)

the service were working to ensure that when a child is placed on to a Child Protection Plan the family were made aware of the reason, and every effort was made to help the child remain with their family when safe to do so;

(e)

the number of children in care had remained relatively steady in the four year period prior to 2013 – 2014, there had recently been a slow but steady increase and as of 1 September 2014 there were 418 children in care;

(f)

the same number of children enter and leave care each month, reasons for leaving care included leaving care to return home, being permanently placed for adoption or Special Guardianship Order, or reaching the age of 18 years; in recent months more have entered care than left hence the steady increase in numbers;

(g)

there had been a large number of children entering the care in the last few months, in particular large groups of siblings;

(h)

60-70 children (mainly in the 16-18 age group) had three or more placements within a 12 month period;

(i)

there was a shortage of foster placements available, particularly for older children, and some children needed to be fostered individually;

(j)

30 children were currently in care within a residential setting;

(k)

107 children were placed out of area (in some cases for their own safety), but many were within easy access of the city boundary and remained in their original school until a permanently matched placement was identified and care proceedings had completed before consideration was given to any move of education;

(l)

Plymouth were one of the top ten areas in the country for processing proceedings – in July 2014 the average timescale for completion of care proceedings for children and young people in care was 23.1 weeks and this was higher than the national average;

(m)

Plymouth were actively involved in the embedding of the Adoption Reform agenda, and were working with the neighbouring authorities of Cornwall, Devon and Torbay to increase the number of adoptive placements.

(n)

Children’s Social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

(a)

the Public Sector Mutual (PSM) proposal for PACLS has been reviewed in light of a number of issues;

(b)

the Skills Funding Agency has had funding cuts, which had affected all providers, with the PACLS budget being cut by approximately 14 per cent;

(c)

these funding cuts had resulted in a change to the proposal of a PSM which had now been developed in conjunction with Plymouth YMCA and Shekinah; with the membership of the Board now changed to 50 per cent PACLS staff, 25 per cent Plymouth YMCA and 25 per cent Shekinah;

(d)

formal approval for the new entity – On Course South West CIC Ltd – would be sought from the Council in November, with an intended launch date of 1 April 2015.

(e)

PACLS staff would re-locate to an as yet undisclosed location, and would use properties that were already available;

(f)

the new organisation would not be able to make a profit – any funds would have to be re-invested back in to the community;

(g)

there was strong competition for post-16 education, including apprenticeship schemes;

(h)

it was acknowledged that the current system for registering for a course with PACLS was archaic, and it was hoped that a new online booking would become available in due course.