The National IRO Manager Partnership

Following consultation with members, the partnership has approved this template for use by anyone in the process of completing their annual report.

This template is intended for use as a guide only. It is provided in a template format in order that the user can more easily add relevant information to the greyed-out fields.

Our aim is to add completed IRO Annual Reports to the national website as part of an approach to peer learning and review.

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Lincolnshire County Council – Children’s ServicesIRO Annual Report 2017-18

The Contribution of Independent Reviewing Officers to Quality Assuring and Improving Services for Children in Care

This Annual IRO report provides evidence relating to the IRO Services in Lincolnshire as required by statutory guidance. Due to the core business of the team also including child protection, short breaks and Reg 44, where appropriate this report contains information relating to those areas.

The IRO Annual Report must be presented to: Corporate Parenting Board and the Local Safeguarding Children Board.

Purpose of service and legal context

The Independent Review Officers’ (IRO) service is set within the framework of the updated IRO Handbook, linked to revised Care Planning Regulations and Guidance which were introduced in 2015. The responsibility of the IRO has changed from the management of the Review process to a wider overview of the case including regular monitoring and follow-up between Reviews. The IRO has a key role in relation to the improvement of care planning for children Looked After and for challenging drift and delay.

The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) research ‘The Role of the Independent Reviewing Officers in England’ (March 2014) provides a wealth of information and findings regarding the efficacy of IRO services. The foreword written by Mr Justice Peter Jackson; makes the following comment:

The NCB research outlines a number of important recommendations with three having a particular influence on IROs work plan priorities:

1. Where IROs identify barriers to their ability to fulfil their role, or systemic failures in the service to looked after children, they must raise this formally with senior managers. These challenges and the response should be included in the Annual Report.

2. IROs method for monitoring cases and how this activity is recorded should be clarified.

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The Independent Reviewing Officer must be the visible embodiment of our commitment to meet our legal obligations to this special group of children. The health and effectiveness of the IRO service is a direct reflection of whether we are meeting that commitment, or whether we are failing.

3. A review of IROs core activities and additional tasks should be undertaken. There is a need to establish whether IROs additional activities compromise independence or capacity.

Update on the priorities for 2017-2018.

Develop a pledge from the Independent Reviewing Service to 'looked-after' children to ensure that there are clear expectations. An updated leaflet about the service and expectations has been developed instead of the original plan for a pledge. This is now in draft and will be rolled out imminently.

Complete the roll out of child friendly reviews and increase the feedback from young people about these and reviews in general

Child friendly reviews are now embedded in practice and feedback from the Tell Us Survey was very positive about the impact of these. Feedback forms were also reviewed and a new revised feedback form is in use. There have been no obvious increase in numbers and obtaining feedback remains a priority for next year. The Young Inspectors are going to do some in-depth feedback interviews with young people in June and July.

Increase participation in reviews by young people

Participation for the year was recorded at 100%. However, participation includes a number of options that can be chosen by a young person such as completing consultation forms or liaising with an advocate rather than attending a review.

Undertake an audit to clarify if the thresholds for the child protection work managed by the team are appropriate and utilise the outcome to address staffing levels.

This has been completed and thresholds found to be appropriate and consistent. A report around staffing levels was presented to DMT in November and two additional posts were agreed.

Further embed the escalation process and report on this more robustly to the monthly performance meeting

The profile of escalations has been raised both within the service and with the Senior Management Team. Escalations are reported on monthly to the Performance meeting. Work is also in hand to have escalations on Mosaic which will allow for easier tracking to ensure timescales are adhered to and also more accurate performance reporting. The form is currently being tested and will be available early next year. There has been an increase in the number of escalations.

To focus on the quality assurance of the service to develop the service, staff members and ensure consistency and that a high quality service is being delivered.

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The audit of conferences and the Chairs role within these has been completed. This included observations of all Chairs. In addition themed audits have addressed issues pertinent to the Chairs and recommendations have been accepted and have fed into team development.

Professional Profile of the IRO Service

The Independent Reviewing Service continues to be embedded within the Quality and Standards Service Area of Lincolnshire County Council.

The Independent Chairs team is made up primarily of two distinct roles: Child Protection Chairs and Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO). In a number of Local Authorities these roles are separate roles, often located in separate teams and this was the case originally in Lincolnshire. However, by 2010 there was one team with a number of staff who were Independent Chairs and a number of IROs. In 2011 the roles were merged and any new appointees were appointed to a dual Chair/IRO role and known as Independent Chairs. Some staff in the team remain on the old contracts and therefore maintain their separate role of either Child Protection Chair or IRO but some have chosen to do both roles irrespective of their contract. Consequently only 4 staff remain on these old contracts: one child protection chair and three IROs. The staff member who is on the child protection chair contract has within the period of this report started doing Looked after Children reviews as well.

In addition to the above two roles, the team also has responsibility for reviewing short term breaks and Regulation 44 Inspections. Both of these roles are also statutory requirements.

In addition there are two LADOs within the wider team who are line managed by the Quality and Standards Manager due to capacity of the team managers. These roles are filled by qualified Social Workers at the same grade as the Chairs and are able to assist with covering work on occasion.

Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs)

Every child who is 'looked after' by Lincolnshire County Council must have a Care Plan. This document details the long-term plan for the child's upbringing, and the arrangements made by Lincolnshire Children's Services to meet the child's day-to-day needs. All local authorities have a statutory duty to review the Care Plan regularly, within legislative timescales, as stipulated in the Care Planning and Case Review Regulations 2010.

It is a legal requirement for every child who is looked after to have an Independent Reviewing Officer appointed to them under Section 118 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The Independent Reviewing Officers' Handbook (2010) outlines the statutory guidance for independent reviewing officers and local authorities on their functions in relation to case management and review for children looked after. The handbook specifies that the Independent Reviewing Officer should provide continuity in the oversight of matters relating to a child being looked after, and that they should strive to establish a consistent relationship with the child. The statutory duties of the Independent Reviewing Officer include the following:

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Monitor the performance of the local authority and their function in relation to the child's case

Participate in any review of the child's case

Ensure that any ascertained wishes and feelings of the child are given due consideration by the appropriate authority

Perform any other function which is prescribed by the regulations

From December 2012, the 'looked-after' children population was extended to include those children placed on remand in a secure unit or youth offending institution under the terms of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This legislation placed a responsibility on all local authorities to treat as a 'looked-after' child, any child, up to the age of 18 years, who is remanded into custody. Each of these children is required to have a Remand Plan which is equivalent to the Care Plan.

Independent Chairs

An Independent Chair is required to chair initial and review child protection conferences as detailed in Working Together 2015. The conference Chair:• is accountable to the Director of Children’s Services. Where possible the same person should chair subsequent child protection reviews;• should be a professional, independent of operational and/or line management responsibilities for the case; and• should meet the child and parents in advance to ensure they understand the purpose and the process.

Short term Breaks

Short breaks are part of a continuum of services which support children in need and their families. They include the provision of day, evening, overnight and weekend activities for the child or young person, and can take place in the child’s own home, the home of an approved carer, or in a residential or community setting. In Lincolnshire the users of short breaks are disabled children and their families. The breaks usually have two aims: to enable the child to participate in fun, interesting and safe activities; and to provide a break from caring for the parents.

The statutory guidance Short Breaks: Statutory Guidance on how to safeguard and promote the welfare of disabled children using short breaks 2010 focuses in particular on the decision as to whether overnight short breaks should be provided under section 17 or section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and the consequences in relation to ‘looked after’ status if section 20 provision is made. The guidance states (para 3.19) that reviews for children who are receiving short breaks under S20 arrangements but who are not looked after should take place at least every six months. Reviews for looked after children must take place in accordance with the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010 and be undertaken by an IRO.

The role of the IRO for children looked after in a series of short breaks is more limited than for children looked after longer term. It is important that IROs are sensitive to the close and active involvement of parents. Given this sensitivity, parents as well as children and young people can highly value their contribution and independent perspective, especially in

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helping to resolve any difficulties with the placement. IROs have a responsibility to alert the local authority if the placement is not meeting the child’s needs.

This role has historically been undertaken by one member of the team but is now shared across the team.

The performance of this part of the service has not to date been collated and so the impact upon the service, and upon children and their families has not yet been presented to OMG. However there are plans to address this in the next reporting year with support from the CWD Team Manager and MOSAIC.

Regulation 44

Regulation 43 of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015 Part 6 Monitoring and Reviewing Children’s Homes, sets out the requirement for the appointment of independent person to visit and report on children’s homes. They visit every month at least once and this may be unannounced. The focus of the visit is to ensure that all children within the placement are being appropriately cared for and their individual needs are being met.

The Regulation 44 Officer continues to be based within the team. The role is a statutory one to act as an independent person, visit and report on the children's homes. Lincolnshire has 7 residential homes with a wide range of specialism – one Secure unit, two homes accommodating children with disabilities for short breaks, one long term home for children with disabilities and 3 children's homes that offer long term placement for children who are looked after. The independent person must visit the homes at least once a month, at the end of which they need to provide a report setting out their opinion whether the children are effectively safeguarded; and whether the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. Therefore the role of the Independent person is instrumental in acting as a critical friend in an effort to drive up the standards within the homes, challenge, provide guidance and support the management in their overview of the residential setting. There is an expectation that the Regulation 44 Officer role rotates amongst the team on an annual/18 month basis in order to minimise any prospect of compromise between the Regulation 43 Officer and the children's homes which they visit.

Ildiko Kiss undertook this role until her successful secondment to Team Manager in July 2017 and has managed this part of the service since. Melody Harrison and David Proudlove have shared this role over the last year following comprehensive inductions. They have each visited 3 to 4 homes and rotate these every few months. Melody and David's caseloads were adjusted to take account of their Reg 44 roles.

All new team members are expected to be prepared to take on the additional role of Reg 44 Officer and it is planned that Dawn Oldroyd will take over from Melody Harrison in May 2018.

Other Responsibilities

During the year, IROs have assumed a number of other responsibilities: LSCB Policy, Procedures, Education and Training Subgroup-attended by Eddie

Bermingham. Social Care Forum-attended on a rota basis Munroe Group-Helen Jaques

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Practice Leads for SOS-Marie Cripps, Stephanie Morris. Lisa Thornton, Miranda Whittaker, Emma Wailen, Jemma Parkinson, Carolyn Knight, Chris Sharp and Ildiko Kiss

Staffing

Management Team

There have been a number of management changes over the last reporting year;Head of Service Yvonne Shearwood was seconded to another post in March 2017. Team Manager Carolyn Knight was seconded to the Head of Service post on the same date.Team Manager Theresa Buhryn retired in July 2017 following a long career with Children's Services and more recently within the Quality and Standards Team Independent Chair Ildiko Kiss was seconded into the post as Team Manager on the same date. Lynne Schofield covered the second Team Manager position on an interim agency basis until Chris Sharp was recruited as a permanent Team Manager in October 2017. The two Team Managers are responsible for the direct line management of the Independent Reviewing Service and have daily oversight of the team.

Independent Chairs

There have been a number of changes in the Independent Chairs over the last reporting year; One part time team member who was on a 15 hours contract left for personal reasons at the end of September 2017. One part time team member who was on a 22.5 hours contract went on maternity leave for 12 months in June 2017. One member of the team has taken the opportunity to reduce her hours as part of a flexible retirement plan from 37 hours to 15 hoursTwo new team members, Graham Nicholson and Kim Murray, were recruited in May 2017 on a full time and permanent basis.

Two self-employed workers, Eska Verleg and Julia Dorling have provided additional support throughout 2017/18 as and when required due to increasing workloads and to manage the changes in the team.

Two agency team members were employed in October 2017 to backfill the post for Ildiko Kiss and to support with capacity. Both have since successfully applied for full time posts within the team (one permanent, Tina Pearce, and one for 18 months, Julie Hall,).

Additional funding was secured in November 2017 and two new permanent posts were recruited to. One was Tina Pearce (as detailed above) and Dawn Oldroyd was appointed in February 2018

As a service area, we provide a balance between male and female workers, and also have some cultural diversity within the staff group which helps to meet the needs of the diverse population of Lincolnshire.

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All Independent Reviewing Officers have an identified office work base closest to their home. As a mobile work force they also work flexibly from home, other offices and touch down points across the county to meet the needs of the service.

This practice is one which could result in the team experiencing a sense of isolation. In order to minimise this risk there are regular monthly team meetings, new team members are allocated a mentor who is a more experienced member of the team, the team are encouraged to develop informal support networks, and they also have regular monthly individual supervision with their Team Manager. These factors all contribute to ensuring a highly motivated, integrated and well supported team.

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Carolyn KnightQuality and Standards

Manager

07879 603618

Ildiko Kiss Team Manager

07917 091141

Helen Jaques IRO/CP

07771 902458

Miranda WhittakerIRO/CP

07900 364775

Fiona WattersIRO/CP

07900 607915

David ProudloveIRO

07900 607725

Beth JensonIRO/CP

(maternity leave)

07766 421387

Tina PearceIRO/CP

07825 833035

Emma Wailen IRO/CP

07825 973555

Dawn OldroydIRO/CP

07833 236464

Lisa Thornton CP /IRO

07979 770543

Melody Harrison IRO/CP

07909 535881

Graham NicholsonIRO/CP

07920 182384

Chris SharpTeam Manager

07900 607173

Marie CrippsIRO/CP

07900 607917

Jemma Parkinson IRO/CP

07899 849919

Sue Newton IRO

07900 607894

Kim Murray IRO/CP

07900 607798

Michael Clarke IRO/CP

07771 378339

Eska VerlegIRO/CP

07825 973554

Julia Dorling IRO

07909 568844

Stephanie Morris IRO/CP

07909 535853

Gary Palmer IRO

07900 607901

Eddie Bermingham IRO/CP

07920 213481

Julie HallIRO/CP

07789 867800

What else we have done

This year saw a number of staffing changes including two additional new posts. The team is currently fully staffed and has had a stable few months. There has been significant work undertaken in the following areas:

Performance-Mosaic continued to be a major challenge throughout the year with regular changes to workflow, practice and performance reporting. The team worked really hard to ensure that the data on Mosaic is as accurate as possible and this was reflected in the year end performance figures.

Escalations-there has been a continued focus on these. They are now reported to the monthly OMG meeting and are been tracked more robustly. A form has been developed for use on Mosaic which is currently undergoing testing to enable all escalations to be recorded on the system. Formal ones will be on this form and informal will be within the chair activity form which can be reported on monthly (once the report is available).

Child friendly reviews have continued to be embedded across the service with all staff having undertaken them. The feedback in relation to these has been very positive

Child friendly minutes are written to the child after every review and have received positive feedback, most recently from Ofsted who stated "IROs regularly review children’s planning at well-attended multi-agency meetings. Their commitment to making these more meaningful for children has resulted in high-quality child-friendly minutes that are written to children to help them understand and contribute to their care journeys." ILACS focused visit letter 11th May 2018

Signs of Safety-the team have worked hard to embed SOS into their work. Child protection meetings have been reviewed at a team day on 4 th December with consultant Tracey Hill and a more pure SOS model continues to be rolled out. A further day is planned on 19th April to focus on SOS in LAC reviews.

On 1st February the Independent Chairs had an away day. As a team we looked at what we wanted to achieve over the next three years. The team action plan has been updated accordingly.

Six monthly meetings with colleagues from CAFCASS have continued and the existing protocol has been reviewed

Awareness raising of the interface between the PLO and LAC timelines has been addressed, with presentations to magistrates, FJB, local Solicitor's and Social Care teams.

Part one reviews have stopped being held unless in absolute emergencies. They had become fairly routine prior to June 2017 when the practice was stopped. The team have worked hard to accommodate the need to be more flexible and squeeze additional meetings in at short notice.

One Chair, Helen Jaques and Team Manager Ildiko Kiss visited Surrey whose latest Ofsted grading was inadequate requires improvement. They wanted some support in implementing Signs of Safety into conferences

The Quality and Standards Manager was part of a peer review into the Northampton IRO Service

Some Chairs have chaired complex child in need meetings to support teams One Chair has supported colleagues in doing some auditing work. The IRO service completed an audit of child protection cases that ended at the first

review as the performance figures in January highlighted that 30% of cases were ending at this time. Of the 151 plans examined: 43 children's child protection plans ended because they became looked after. Of these 26 were made subject to a plan

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before they were born and subsequently became looked after soon after birth. The recommendations are awaiting a decision by DMT. A number relate to the Independent Chairs Team and their management of conferences and one of them is that children who are involved in pre-proceedings do not go to an initial child protection conference in order to reduce the duplication of work.

Looked After population and the IRO service

The Looked After population for 2017/2018 has ranged from 659 to 704. Caseloads are managed on a caseload weighting system as most have a mixture of LAC and child protection cases. Caseloads over the last year have been above average due to high number of children in care and towards the end of the year there were high levels of sickness in the team. A total of 1642 Reviews were Chaired by IROs in the year ending 31st March 2018 and a total of 931 child protection meetings were chaired.

The majority (29.08%) of children and young people who started to be Looked After were age under one year. 18.44% were aged 5-9 years, 21.28% 10-15 years and 15.6% were 16+

In terms of permanency outcomes during 2017-2018, the majority 29.06% returned home to live with parents, 8.78% adopted;19.06% Special Guardianship Order; 1.25% Sentenced to Custody; 0% Care taken over by another Local Authority; 1.56% Transferred to care of Adult Services. Mosaic does not currently record those whose plan is permanent foster care. An audit is planned in April 2018 to establish how many children had a plan for permanence at the second review. The workflow on Mosaic is also to be reviewed.

On a month on month basis 99.7% of Reviews were held within timescales.

Looked After population during 2017/18:

April May JuneJuly

August

Septem

ber

October

November

December

January

February

March

630

640

650

660

670

680

690

700

710

LAC Population by Month 17/18

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LAC data

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018January 123 130 109 139 135February 95 123 113 118 102March 116 136 131 188 182April 115 111 133 115May 133 121 154 134June 109 135 105 152July 149 144 123 146August 71 75 80 112September 155 144 158 153October 143 140 125 138November 139 157 164 156December 111 123 113 117

January

February

March

April May JuneJuly

August

Septem

ber

October

November

December

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

LAC Review Meetings

20142015201620172018

Cumulative LAC Review Figures2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

January 123 130 109 139 135February 218 253 222 257 237March 334 389 353 445 419April 449 500 486 560May 582 621 640 694June 691 756 745 846July 840 900 868 992August 911 975 948 1104September 1066 1119 1106 1257October 1209 1259 1231 1395November 1348 1416 1395 1551

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December 1459 1539 1508 1668

January

February

March

April May JuneJuly

August

Septem

ber

October

November

December

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Cumulative LAC Review Figures

20142015201620172018

Entitlements and Advocacy

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked-After Children and Care Leavers Inquiry (2013) asked children and young people what the most important entitlements for looked-after children and care leavers were. The All Party Parliamentary Group selected the five that they children and young people said were most important for looked-after children and for care leavers.

IROs have completed routine checks of children and young people's experience of the ten entitlements and have raised issue with the local authority where appropriate. This data is currently not recorded in a form that can be reported on.

Advocacy provision in Lincolnshire is currently provided by Total Voice as part of a commissioned service.

IROs routinely check that children and young people know about advocacy and how it can support them in having a real say in decisions affecting their lives. The Advocacy Service has worked with 145 LAC children during the year. The Advocacy contract does not to date provide for a breakdown of these numbers however this will be requested and meetings with the Advocacy Service are planned..

Timeliness of reviews

99.7% of Looked After Reviews took place within the statutory timescales. IROs completed some reviews in a series of meetings to ensure the relevant people were involved and the meeting remained child focused and friendly. Two reviews were out of timescales, one due to issues with recording the start date of the child becoming looked after and the second due to a misunderstanding about a remand status.

Children and young people’s preparation and involvement in reviews13

100% of children and young people participated in their Reviews for the year ending 31st

March. Participation includes attending and/or contributing to their Review. All children and young people are sent a consultation form with their invite. Some have phone calls, emails and separate visits from their IROs. Attending a review is the child or young person's decision and not mandatory. All children over 5 have contributed to their meeting in some form, either through attendance or more indirect means, such as consultation booklet, or their views being represented by a trusted adult or advocate.

Number of children who attended reviews

Month

Children Aged 4

and under

Children Aged 5-

10

Children Aged 11-14

Children Aged 15

and above

Total that

attended

Total Number

of Reviews

Overall % of children that attended

Apr 17 0 3 17 34 54 115 46.9%May 17 1 9 19 49 78 134 58.2%Jun 17 1 8 16 54 79 152 51.9%Jul 17 0 18 23 48 89 146 60.9%

Aug 17 3 4 8 32 47 112 41.9%Sept 17 1 10 20 46 77 153 50.3%Oct 17 1 7 29 32 69 135 51.0%Nov 17 3 4 16 64 87 156 55.8%Dec 17 3 12 29 33 77 116 65.9%Jan 18 3 16 24 40 83 134 61.5%Feb 18 1 6 11 34 52 102 42.5%Mar 18 1 13 47 46 107 181 46.9%

IRO have supported and encouraged young people in chairing their own review or setting their own agendas wherever appropriate. Five young people chaired their own review and one of these agreed to a recording been made which along with her feedback about the process has been shared with the team.

Child or young person seen in a separate interview by the IRO prior to the review.

Month Yes No Too young (under 4)

% of eligible childrenseen before review Total

Apr 17* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/AMay 17 46 74 36 38% 156Jun 17 49 80 34 38% 163July 17 50 83 46 37% 179Aug 17 32 42 40 43% 114Sept 17 59 82 31 42% 172Oct 17 60 53 38 53% 151Nov 17 69 63 43 52% 175Dec 17 51 63 28 45% 142Jan 18 65 54 43 55% 162Feb 18 43 32 40 57% 115Mar 18 81 91 50 47% 222

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*Data from Mosaic not available

The Chairs are making conscientious efforts to further increase participation, by undertaking and adapting child friendly reviews to meet the individual needs and wishes of children and young people, by introducing methods of social pedagogy and visiting children and young people prior to the meeting to offer reassurance and guidance.

Three Chairs have recently undertaken the extended Restorative Practice Training and will take a team lead in this area whilst all of the other Chairs will be expected to complete the one day Training. This (together with Signs of safety and Social Pedagogy) will add to the skills and techniques that they can use to support a child or young person positively having a say in their Care Plans.

Quality of Care Planning

IROs continue to quality monitor care plans and report that consistently since April 2017 over 90% of children had an up to date care plan available for their review. In March 2018, this figure was 97.1%. IROs routinely check that the care planning process has helped children and young people to have their say about matters important to them and helped them to understand what is happening and why. Pathway plans (which replace care plans for young people over 16 years 3 months) have not been so available with a low of 61% in October and a high of 84.4% in February and March 2018.

Progress-chasing Activities between Looked After Reviews

All IROs have a duty to monitor the progress of their allocated children and young people between reviews. This is to ensure the care plan is progressing and allows then to intervene and escalate issues where matters are drifting. All young people are provided with the IROs name and contact details at the initial meeting and routinely at reviews

Identifying good practice, problem resolution and escalation

The escalation process, whereby Independent Reviewing Officers raise concerns with social care teams, is in process of being reviewed again to ensure that it reflects the current practice. In the last year there has been an increased focus on designing a system, whereby all escalations can be centrally recorded on the children's electronic file. Progress has been slow due to IT and system challenges, however now a formal escalation process has been devised on Mosaic, has been tested with a live case and now the work is with the Performance team to build the report to support ongoing monitoring and reporting. The majority of concerns are still raised by the IROs informally, and these are now recorded on Mosaic as well. However we are still working with the Performance team to devise a reporting tool that enables our team to meaningfully extract data re themes and frequency of informal escalations. It is hoped that this work will be completed in the next couple of months. Aside of the challenges brought by IT and reporting, the team has been focusing on improving consistency in terms of escalations made and to ensure a better monitoring, reducing drift and delay. Systems have been designed to support managerial oversight as well as helping the IRO's in their duty of tracking escalations. The IROs now are sent weekly reminder emails of open formal escalations so that they can follow these up with the respective teams. Also escalations have been included into the individual IROs appraisal goals and are actively discussed during supervisions. The drive is to make the escalations more robust and to increase the use of formal escalations, whenever this is warranted. Although the numbers of formal escalations continue to be low, there is a

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noticeable trend of increased use of formal means to escalate concerns in comparison to last year. However the majority of escalations remain informal to Social Workers, Practice Supervisors and Team Managers.

All Independent Reviewing Officers are required by the regulations to have access to legal advice. Clearly, given the independent nature of the Service, it would not be appropriate for any such advice to be provided by the Children's Services Legal Department. Therefore, arrangements are in place for this service to be delivered by barristers' chambers in Nottingham. To date, this service has not been accessed.

Number of escalations, by month

Month April2015

May2015

Jun2015

July2015

Aug2015

Sep2015

Oct2015

Nov2015

Dec2015

Jan2016

Feb2016

Mar2016

No 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 3 6 4 4 3

Month April2016

May2016

June2016

July2016

Aug2016

Sept2016

Oct 2016

Nov 2016

Dec 2016

Jan 2017

Feb 2017

Mar 2017

No 9 4 0 3 1 3 4 3 6 2 5 8

Month April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

Aug 2017

Sept 2017

Oct 2017

Nov 2017

Dec 2018

Jan 2018

Feb 2018

Mar 2018

No 2 5 7 5 1 9 4 5 5 8 4 7

Throughout the year, the majority of formal escalations have been responded to promptly, however 2 escalations have been progressed to Head of service and one has been made to the Assistant Director. No escalation has been made to CAFCASS this year. Thematic data available from September shows that the escalations have focused on issues pertaining to drift and delay for young people in relation to 11 escalations, 8 to placement and accommodation issues, 2 care plans not being up to date, 1 related to Adult services not providing adequate service, 6 related to poor practice which incorporates a range of issues around the progress of the case, 6 due to lack of documents being available, 3 resource issues, 1 delayed/ unavailable assessment, 1 related to education, and 1 was unspecified.

In relation to good practice, Chairs feedback directly to individual workers, copied to Managers when good practice is identified. This is collated each month into the performance report which goes to OMG. Assistant Directors then email the workers to congratulate them on positive feedback.

Management oversight

The revised statutory Guidance states that operational social work managers must consider the decisions from the Review before they are finalised. This is due in part to the

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need to ensure any resource implications have been addressed. Once the decisions are completed the Manager has 5 days to raise any queries or objections. Managers rarely ask for any amendments to be made and this process appears to work well.

IROs have continued to monitor the quality of care plans, adoption plans and pathway plans and social reports to review. Where any issues were identified, IROs have attempted initially informally to address these and on a few occasions have formally escalated concerns.

Child protection data

Cumulative Number of CP Conferences 2014/172014 2015 2016 2017 2018

January 83 88 77 97 78February 147 167 155 181 135March 217 258 219 265 202April 292 330 289 348May 351 396 380 415June 432 461 450 493July 506 553 533 560August 556 607 607 628September 619 679 678 685October 699 757 752 774November 765 840 816 843December 832 902 883 910

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Number of CP Conferences2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

January 83 88 77 97 78February 64 79 78 84 57March 70 91 64 84 67April 75 72 70 83May 59 66 91 67June 81 65 70 78July 74 92 83 67August 50 54 74 68September 63 72 71 57October 80 78 74 89November 66 83 64 69December 67 62 67 67

Advocacy

There were 86 referrals which resulted in Advocacy support being given to a child for a CP conference or review in the past financial year. Currently the figures are not broken down into attendance or report provided but this s being addressed going forward.

Timeliness of reviews

100% of child protection meetings were held in timescale.

Children and young people’s preparation and involvement in reviews

It is not currently possible to report on how many young people attended their conferences. This is something that will be addressed next year.

Progress-chasing Activities between Child Protection Reviews

Following a themed audit in August 2017 on children who had been subject to child protection plans over 12 months, there was a recommendation for Chairs to check Mosaic ahead of reviews to determine whether core group meetings have occurred and their frequency. As a result, Chairs now check Mosaic and check progress at the midway point. Another recommendation from the same themed audit was for Chairs to consider holding reviews at three monthly intervals in cases of neglect. For children who are reaching 12 months on a child protection plan there is a process to follow which involves a discussion/meeting with the Team Manager for the child to review progress and agree a way forward.

Identifying good practice, problem resolution and escalation

There is a separate process in place for child protection escalations. These are completed immediately after a child protection meeting and a standardised letter goes to the respective agency. For the period 2017-18 there were 261 escalations to the following agencies:108 to GPs 31 Schools22 Social Workers

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14 Nurseries13 other (inc prison, Housing Associations, Medics, Women's Aid)10 Addaction10 Housing8 Early Help8 other internal staff (inc SEND, Inclusion, SafeTeam, YOS)8 Health Visiting8 Police5 Probation4 School Nursing4 Midwifery3 Community Paediatrician2 CAMHS1 Psychology1 Paediatrician1 Positive Futures The overwhelming reason for escalation was no report and no apologies provided. This escalation process relies on Chairs escalating after the conference and analysing the data it is interesting to note the variations in escalations. One Chair who has been in post 6 months, escalated 80 incidents where as some Chairs have escalated very few. This issue will be raised with the Chairs to explore and agree some consistency.Good practice is reported on in the same way as it is for LAC reviews.

Children’s Views about their reviews and conferences

A children and young people’s feedback system has been in place for many years but a new form was designed during 2017 for looked after reviews and has been promoted with young people. There is also a feedback form for young people attending their child protection meetings. In addition the Tell Us Survey which is undertaken annually was done in December 2017 and received 79 responses. The Tell Us What You Think survey was designed to capture the views of Looked After Children about various aspects of their care experience. The intention is to identify the extent to which services are meeting quality standards and the needs of young people. It is also intended to give children and young people a voice to help identify how services can be improved. It includes a question about reviews. In the last survey, 2016, 42% of young people always had a say in their care plan, with 70% saying at least sometimes. In this year's survey 78% of young people always had a say in their care planning and 99% said that their IRO makes sure they have a chance to speak at their reviews.

Examples of written feedback from children and young people:

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I said everything I needed to say

All the people respected my opinions

Too complicated words but I had a best idea what it was All positive things to help my

future

Reviews are fun, adult things but fun

There have been solutions made for my worries".

I had the chance to discuss everything I needed to

Quality Assurance of the IRO Service

Auditing and observations undertaken by the IRO Manager

Each IRO Manager supervises eleven members of staff. They undertake two observations of each member of staff, if in dual role; this is an observation of one child protection meeting and one LAC review. Conferences are also observed by a number of different professionals, both internal and external staff who want to familiarise themselves with the conference process. Specific team audits focussing on the role of IROs and Chairs were restarted in March due to the amount of time Mosaic took up in the proceeding few months. This combined with high caseloads meant there was insufficient capacity within the team to undertake these. Themed audits have been undertaken by Senior and Team Managers and questions have been asked within these about the IRO and Chair role and feedback and recommendations have been shared with the team in team meetings. The plan for next year is for peer audits to be completed every other month, in addition to themed audits.

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I understood everything

Supervision and training

IROs have scheduled monthly supervision (pro rata) and informal supervision as and when required. All IROs have a Personal Development Plan (PDP) and are encouraged to attend training. All Independent Reviewing Officers are social workers and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). As part of their continued registration, workers are required to undertake five days training/development each year. All of the team have the opportunity to attend Regional Workshops for Independent Reviewing Officers and these are held three or four times a year;

6th June 2017 - Dilemma's in Adoption. 10th October 2017 - The Hidden responsibilities of an IRO. 27th February 2018 - Challenges for IRO's around care proceedings and advocacy

(cancelled due to severe weather conditions and rebooked for 12 th June 2018).

Team members are able to access training which is provided through Lincolnshire Learning and Development Team, as well as that delivered by the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). The team have completed domestic abuse training and the annual information governance. There have been a number of training opportunities identified for the National Accreditation Scheme which staff will undertake in coming months, alongside more Signs of Safety Training and Restorative Practice.

The Team Managers are developing a spreadsheet to log the training attended by the team to ensure that mandatory training is completed and that training is completed in a timely and co-ordinated way.

The team continue to engage in joint development days with Barnardo's Leaving Care Team and the two Looked-After Teams within the Authority. The most recent was held in June 2017 and focussed on transitions from care. A second day planned for February 2018 was cancelled due to severe weather conditions and has been rebooked for May 2018.

Joint team meetings have been held with CAFCASS in May and November 2017 which have provided an opportunity to meet face to face and discuss what works well, what's not working well and what needs to happen. The CAFCASS and IRO Legal Protocol has been updated as a result of these meetings.

Signs of Safety

The team have 4 identified Practice Champions who have been on the 5 day SoS Training Programme (Marie, Stephanie, Emma, Lisa), and several identified Practice. All attend Signs of Safety Practice Lead Sessions to support the local authority's journey of implementing the model as part of the England Innovation Project Part 2 and LCC system redesign which sees SOS at the heart of all practice. 

In the summer of 2018 3 further team members will be attending the 5 day SoS Training Programme (Fiona, Tina and Miranda).

The Champions and Practice Leads are crucial to ensuring that the model is embedded in the teams practice and they offer guidance and opportunities for group supervision to enable the team to build knowledge and skills appropriate for the looked after service.

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The Team had a day with Tracey Hill (SOS Consultant) on 4th December to review the child protection meetings. A new agenda was agreed and rolled out as a result. A further day is planned on 19th April to consider SOS within looked after processes.

Restorative Practice.

The team have 3 identified Restorative Practice Leads (Kim, Stephanie, Graham) who have completed extended training. All members of the team will be completing half /full day training in due course.

The team have an allocated Practice Adviser (PA) for to further embed both Signs of Safety and Restorative Practice as part of the Partners in Practice Work Stream 1. The PA role is one of coaching and mentoring to further support the team and increase confidence.

Social Pedagogy

The use of Social pedagogy is led by Social Workers who have undertaken Social Pedagogy training and is facilitated by the IROs as an alternative way of creating an environment where the children feel relaxed and able to meaningfully contribute to their LAC reviews. Some young people have used this approach in their reviews which worked really well. Some team members have undertaken some training on Social Pedagogy.

Team Away Day 1st Feb

The Team had an away day on 1st February which was facilitated by Barbara Simpson, a well-known trainer. This day allowed the team to come together to reflect on the year before and develop a vision and plan for the next three years. It was a very productive day.

Any resource issues that are putting at risk the delivery of a quality service

There are no specific resource issues that are impacting on the delivery of the service.

Areas for improvement

Targets for the following areas have been identified and the service expects to deliver improvements by

IROs keeping in touch with children between LAC reviews

Mosaic workflow for LAC

QA of chairs-audits to be done and analysed and observations to occur

Dip sampling of Chairs reports to ensure consistency and quality

Chairs reports and completion within timescales managed through supervision and action plans.

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Annual work programme for next year April 2018 – March 2019

1. Updated leaflet to be provided to all LAC children and to be sent out to all new LAC with the introductory letter2. Increase feedback from children and parents3. Escalations to be completed within Mosaic and performance reporting to be available4. Audit of second review reports to be completed by 30th April 20185. Reporting on performance data for CWD to be available6. Further embedding SOS-within child protection conference, LAC processes use of group supervision and appreciative enquiry.7. Understand how advocacy is being used and improve the reporting related to this, including attendance by young people at conferences.8. Raise the profile of the service, IROs have been linked to teams and expected to attend team meetings occasionally9. Implementation of restorative practice

Carolyn KnightQuality and Standards Manager30/05/2018

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