The Children and Education Scrutiny Sub-Committee of Tower Hamlets Council met on Wednesday 14 April 2021 to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on children's social care and education, the regional adoption agency, and updates on children's social care and early help services. Key discussions included innovative approaches to maintaining relationships with young people during lockdown, the performance of Adopt London East, and the challenges and successes of early help services.

Impact of COVID-19 on Children's Social Care

The committee received an update on the impact of COVID-19 on children's social care services in Tower Hamlets. Social workers and team managers shared their experiences of maintaining relationships with vulnerable young people and families during lockdown. They highlighted the creative use of technology, such as video calls and online games, to engage with children, with one social worker, Mubarak Utman, describing how he used TikTok dances and shared pizza deliveries virtually to connect with young people. Despite the challenges, the use of virtual methods was seen to have some benefits, including facilitating difficult conversations.

Councillor Andrew Wood raised concerns about potential disconnects between virtual and face-to-face assessments, particularly regarding safeguarding. Richard Baldwin, Divisional Director for Supporting Young People and Families, assured the committee that face-to-face visits were always conducted for children on child protection plans or where safeguarding was a concern. The rollout of laptops to looked-after and vulnerable children was also highlighted as a crucial support mechanism for education and communication.

Councillor Kyrsten Perry inquired about mental health support for young people, and it was explained that social workers worked with services like CAMHS and provided access to play and art therapy. The impact of tragic events within schools on young people's mental health was also discussed, with an emphasis on the need for appropriate support mechanisms.

Dionne Grant, a Team Manager in Family Support and Protection, spoke about the welfare of staff, emphasizing regular check-ins, reflective practice, and the importance of staff taking time off. She noted an increase in young people proactively contacting their social workers during lockdown, indicating a continued need for support. The committee also discussed the challenges of domestic violence during lockdown and the proactive measures taken by the team to address this.

Richard Baldwin also provided an overview of the demand on services, the ongoing threat of inspections from Ofsted, and the importance of a restructure of early help and youth services. He stressed the need for a continued focus on the quality of practice and relationship building. The committee discussed the use of data from other boroughs to benchmark performance and expressed a desire to see more detailed data in future reports.

Regional Adoption Agency: Adopt London East

The committee received an update on the performance of Adopt London East (ALE), the regional adoption agency for Tower Hamlets. Lissa-Marie Minnis, Head of Service for Adoption, and Sue May, Service Manager for Adopt London East, presented data on key performance indicators, including the time taken from a child entering care to being placed with an adoptive family (A1) and the time from a court order to a child being matched with adopters (A2). While Tower Hamlets' A1 figures were below the England average, A2 figures showed improvement.

The presentation highlighted a significant decline in adoption orders in the last year, attributed largely to COVID-19 and court delays. However, the number of children placed with adoptive families had increased, with 13 children placed by the end of the 2021 financial year. Sue May explained that national court delays, particularly in family courts prioritizing care proceedings, had impacted adoption order timelines. Efforts were underway to address specific issues within the East London courts.

The committee learned about the success of early permanence placements, where children are placed with adopters under fostering regulations to prevent unnecessary moves. The number of approved adopters had also increased, with 22 approved by the end of the financial year, though the recruitment and assessment team had faced staffing challenges. Targeted campaigns, particularly within Black communities, were ongoing to recruit adopters who reflect the needs of children waiting the longest.

Councillor Andrew Wood, who declared a personal interest due to his niece's adoption, questioned the relatively low number of approved adopters (22) for the population of the four boroughs. He also inquired about the ethnic and religious diversity of these adopters in relation to the children needing adoption. It was explained that 22 adopters was considered a relatively high number in London, where there is a general shortage of adopters, partly due to housing costs. Efforts are being made to recruit more Black adopters, as Black children, particularly boys, wait the longest for adoption.

Concerns were raised about the oversight and accountability of the regional adoption agency, with Councillor Bex White noting the loss of direct councillor line-of-sight compared to local management. Lissa-Marie Minnis and Sue May outlined the reporting structures, including a partnership board, regular updates to elected members, and the role of panels. A local Permanency Summit was also mentioned as a mechanism for tracking cases and identifying performance dips. The committee agreed that it would be beneficial to revisit the performance of Adopt London East once a full year of normal operations, free from COVID-19's impact, could be assessed.

Children's Social Care and Early Help Update

The committee received an update on children's social care and early help services. Richard Baldwin provided a brief overview, highlighting the close monitoring of demand, the anticipation of Ofsted inspections, and the importance of a restructure of early help and youth services. He emphasized the need for a continued focus on the quality of practice and relationship building.

Benjamin Jalil, Interim Head of Early Help, explained that their service works with families who do not meet statutory thresholds, aiming to intervene early to prevent escalation. He described the challenges of delivering face-to-face services during the pandemic and the shift to phone and online support. The service receives approximately 70% of its referrals through the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), with a significant portion coming from the police. Approximately 300 families are worked with on a long-term basis each month, with interventions typically lasting six to nine months.

Nicola Mutale, Early Help Hub Operations Manager, discussed the influx of approximately 500 refugees into the borough over Christmas, housed in hotels, and the challenges this presented for early help and education services. She detailed the ongoing work to screen families, make referrals to social care, and ensure children could access education. Collaboration with community partners for food and clothing, and weekly meetings with Home Office contract holders, were highlighted. Nicola also noted the positive impact of virtual working on the attendance and effectiveness of Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings.

Karen Simpson, Early Help Coordinator, spoke about the service's support for the family liaison team at the Royal London Hospital during the pandemic, providing information to doctors supporting families with members in intensive care. She also detailed the delivery of family support services remotely and the ongoing work with schools, including the early help school social work service, which is a buy-in service for 12 schools.

Mohammed Jalil and Sam Nair also discussed a Department for Education (DfE) pilot project placing social workers in eight secondary schools. This project, funded by the DfE, aims to reduce the number of children entering social care and referrals to social care by providing support within schools. The pilot has been extended for another year, with data being collected by Cardiff University. The committee expressed interest in receiving updates on this pilot.

Sam Nair, Head of the Social Work Academy, presented on efforts to improve recruitment and retention of social workers. He reported a significant reduction in agency staffing figures, from 39.5% in early 2018 to 13.2% currently, with over 87% of the workforce now permanent. The academy has hired over 94 people in the last year, exceeding its target. The strategy includes campaigns like Refer a Friend and aims to achieve a 90-95% permanent workforce within the next one to two years.

Councillor Salvin-Macallan raised concerns about food provision for refugee and asylum seeker families with no recourse to public funds, and Nicola Mutale explained the ongoing challenges with Tesco vouchers and the move towards Aspen cards for greater flexibility. She also mentioned collaboration with neighbouring boroughs, including Hackney, to share strategies for supporting these families.

Councillor Kyrsten Perry inquired about the funding for social workers in schools, and it was clarified that the DfE pilot is fully funded, while the buy-in service is funded by the schools themselves. Councillor Dr. Phillip Rice expressed strong interest in the DfE pilot and requested that the committee receive updates on its progress.

The committee noted the comments and recommendations from the subcommittee, including the request for future updates on the DfE pilot and further discussion on food provision for vulnerable families. Councillor Kyrsten Perry also followed up on a previous discussion regarding nursery charges for PPE. The next meeting of the subcommittee was scheduled for Monday 14 June 2021, with the hope of it being an in-person meeting.