Agenda item

Report by the Director of Children’s Services.

Following the Government paper in 2016, Adoption – A vision for Change, all local authority adoption agencies are required to form Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to assist in increasing the number of children placed locally and improve outcomes for children. In order to work towards establishing a RAA for the Sussex and Surrey area, West Sussex County Council, East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council have been working together under and informal arrangement – Adoption South East (ASE) since June 2016. This arrangement now requires formalising to meet the Government’s expectation that all local authorities become part of a RAA by 2020.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People will be asked to agree that the County Council forms a RAA with East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council to be operational from April 2020.

33.1   The Committee considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services. The report was introduced by Jackie Wood, Assistant Director Corporate Parenting who provided the following key points regarding the new arrangement:

·       The concept of Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) was conceived in 2016 by central government who were unhappy with the number of children waiting for adoptive parents, and the types of adopters being recruited.

·       The rationale for a RAA is to speed up matching and place children with families at a much earlier age to allow them to become settled. Additionally, the ambition is to improve adopter recruitment nationally.

·       RAAs would see a decrease in costs; currently for WSCC to place a child with a neighbouring authority the associated cost would be upwards of £27k per child. By joining an RAA, there would be a central pool of adopters and therefore fewer costs involved.

·       Most importantly, the RAA scheme would see improvements to children’s lives, with fewer transitions between foster carers.

·       50% of local authorities were already in RAAs, with the remainder planning to go live by 2020 which is a government requirement.

·       The RAA would consist of WSCC, East Sussex County Council (ESCC), Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) and Surrey County Council (SCC).

·       Discussions and project groups have taken place with WSCC staff and the partnering authorities. It has been decided a hub and spoke model would be adopted with ESCC as the host authority. Staff responsibility would remain with the relevant local authority, however new staff in the RAA would adopt ESCCs terms and conditions.

33.2   The following points were raised in discussion:

·       Members considered the financial and staffing complexities implicated within such a partnership. The Director of Children’s Services advised the RAA model was being well developed across the country. ESCC hold an Outstanding Children’s Services Ofsted rating and therefore was much for WSCC to gain from this partnership in terms of improvement, quality, a greater range of adopters and potential financial savings.

·       Wendy Wood, Group Manager for Adoption and Permanent Placement Support, advised the partnership agreement would be taken to an executive board comprising directors from each local authority. Each authority was also seeking legal advice to ensure that all were equally represented and have an active input into the final agreement.

·       Members asked how many RAAs there would be nationally, and who decided which partners would form the RAA WSCC would be involved in. The Assistant Director Corporate Parenting advised that geographically WSCC was already working with ESCC, BHCC and SCC and therefore there seemed to be a natural alliance. The Director of Children’s Services advised there were approximately 30 RAAs across the country.

·       Members of the Committee considered if the funding was proportionate. The Group Manager for Adoption and Placement Support advised the funding was calculated in accordance with the number of children WSCC had over the past three years with placement orders, alongside the adopter sufficiency for the County.

·       Members considered the role of members on adoption panels, and if they would still be involved. The Group Manager advised a workstream was looking at the constitution of panels for the whole of Adoption South East (ASE) and clarity would be provided on this after the proposals were considered at a high-level workshop at the end of September.

·       The Chairman asked about the level of response to consultation. The Group Manager advised two staff consultation events had taken place, with another scheduled. Special Guardianship officers would not be transferred as part of ASE. The service were currently liaising with UNISON to ensure the process for staff was fair and transparent.

·       Members considered the risks and possible unintended consequences of the RAA. The Director of Children’s Services advised this was a secure initiative.

33.3   Resolved – that the Committee:

1.   Suggest an item on the effectiveness of Adoption South East (ASE) return to the Committee after April 2021, once the agreement has been in place for one year.

2.   Recommends that, before the County Council enter into a member’s agreement with Brighton and Hove City Council, East Sussex and Surrey County Councils, the Committee have sight of the partnership agreement.