Agenda item

The following officers were in attendance for this item:

- Barbara Peacock Executive Director (People)

- Philip Segurola, Interim Director, Early Help and Children’s Social Care

The Interim Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care gave an overview of the statistics on missing children and percentage of Return Home Interviews (RHIs) carried out from April 2017 onwards. He stated that the performance of completed RHIs was improving but still needed to improve considerably.

Members were advised that additional staffing had been recruited to carry out RHIs. Their background is in improving family resilience and their focus is on completing these interviews with high risk adolescents on the edge of care.  Staff are holding daily meetings to discuss missing children and agree ways of tackling the issues causing these absences.  Officers added that the organisation commissioned to organise out of borough placements for children in care would be asked to organise RHIs for any such young person going missing, within 72 hours of their return home.

Members welcomed the report. However, they asked for future reports on RHIs to provide not only percentages, but also numbers of RHIs completed.

Asked about the age of children and young people going missing, officers explained that the vast majority were adolescents, with a significant number in the 15-16 year age band.

Members expressed concerns about the possibility of young girls going missing because they were being abused sexually at home. Officers concurred that home circumstances could be the cause of young people going missing. The job of staff carrying out RHIs was to develop a good rapport with the young person being interviewed so that this information could be drawn out of them and solutions developed to tackle abuse.

Asked about the motivation of young people going missing, officers stated that they did so for a wide variety of reasons. One particularly worrying trend, called “county lines”, is that of young people being groomed to sell drugs a considerable distance away from their home town, making it very difficult for local services to combat this practice. Members were also advised of a rise in the number of girls being recruited to get involved in county lines.

Members highlighted the fact that there existed specialist charities focusing on providing support to children in care. Officers concurred, citing” Safer in London” among other voluntary sector organisations carrying out such work.

Officers observed that there was no national benchmark for RHIs but stated that they were committed to raising the percentage of RHIs to 50% of missing episodes.

Members heard that “Achieving for Children”, an organisation working in Kingston and Richmond, usually achieved a 60-65% response rate, which members challenged the council to aspire to. Officers were asked whether they used a range of different ways of contacting young people to conduct RHIs, such as Skype calls. Officers replied that face to face contact was preferable but that officers were flexible in their approach to young people coming back from a missing episode.

It was suggested that the new head of service and an officer who conducts RHIs should be invited to the next meeting of the sub-committee, at which a further update on missing children and RHIs would be considered. Members also asked to receive a sample of the types of questions asked at these interviews.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Learning also encouraged

the members of the sub-committee to attend a training event on Wednesday

6 December, illustrating the journey of a young person through the council’s children’s services.

A member of the sub-committee shared experiences of a recent conversation with social workers. They had told her that they had a very heavy caseload, which included significant amounts of administration.  They had told their managers that their workload was unmanageable but felt that they had not been listened to. These officers had welcomed the outcome of the Ofsted inspection, which reiterated the concerns they had previously shared with their managers.

Members highlighted the safeguarding risks faced by families and young people placed in Bed and Breakfast. They expressed concerns about the fact that no policies appeared to be in place to safeguard the welfare of the young people concerned. They asked to be provided with information on the training provided to staff working in such establishments, where some very vulnerable people were temporarily housed.  

Officers were thanked for their answers to Members’ questions and Members agreed to have updates on missing children at both the February and March meetings of the sub-committee.

RESOLVED:

1) to note the report

2) to receive update reports on missing children and RHIs at the February and March meetings of the sub-committee

3) to invite the new head of service and an officer conducting Return Home Interviews to the February meeting of the sub-committee

4) to receive information on safeguarding provision and training at Bed and Breakfast establishments